Royal Tunbridge Wells, England, United Kingdom
TRACK RECORD: £100M exit. 3× UK CEO of the Year. 29 consecutive years of rising EBITDA. 40+ acquisitions. Author of The Street-Smart MBA - Mastering Business Acumen Without Going to School. Co-host of the Billionaire Business Podcast. I am involved in many exciting things ... My consultancy, Trident Advisory advises UK companies, Private Equity, and international companies and financiers (eg New York debt funds) trying to get into the UK. Sep 25 - launched the ‘Billionaire Business’ video podcast with co-host Chris Godsmark. We’re helping the next generation, by exploding the myth that you cannot create a billion pound business in Britain. We interview people who have done it and listen to amazing stories. But it’s not just about inspiration - it’s about how we create the next one. So, we talk to people about how to raise debt and equity, and how to grow rapidly. It reached over 1 MILLION VIEWS and over 200,000 SUBSCRIBERS in 125 days from launch. Our LInkedIn posts about the podcast have nearly 2 MILLION VIEWS. Dec 24-Dec 25, after 43 mergers/acquisitions, I swapped sides, so-to-speak, and finally moved into Corporate Finance with Evolution Capital. I joined EC, not just because they have great people, but also they have the best next-gen interactive Financial Due Diligence technology that I have seen. I stood down at the end of 2025 as (with me acting as a business owner/serial acquirer) we had developed a data analytics platform that can transform a Managed Service Provider into 'Best In Class'. May 23-Feb 26 - Chair of Airband: broadband network to rural areas. In my 3 year tenure we raised c£250m. In some ways I returned to my roots as in the first fibre roll-out (Cable TV) I ran 2 of Telewest’s 4 regions: Liverpool-Manchester-Blackpool, and then I merged 5 cable businesses to create a region that ran from Gatwick, Kent, Essex and London north and south of the river. 03-23 - founded AdEPT - after 16 years as CEO, became Chairman on 1/1/19 and sold the business in Apr 2023 in a £100m transaction. I started the business in a spare bedroom and took it to c £75m revenue, 50% public sector. I'm one of the longest-serving directors of an AIM-quoted company serving 17 years on the Board, 13 as CEO and 4 as Chair. I reported increased EBITDA for 29 consecutive years. Many thanks to everyone who made that possible. Nov 16 - Apr 25 - UK Cabinet Office SME Panel member: how to increase public sector spend with SME's? Apr 20 - Published The Street-Smart MBA. Dec 24 - co-authored Survive & Thrive II, with the legendary founder of Reebok, Joe Foster.
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Along with Chris Godsmark, I host the Billionaire Business podcast. Our objective is to help startups and scale ups by exploding the myth that you cannot create a billionaire business in the UK. We'll listen to people who have done it and get inspiration, but it's not just about inspiration - it's about how do you help create the next one? So, we'll be talking to people about how to raise equity, debt and how to scale up rapidly.
Rural fibre provider
The SME Panel is comprised of a group of industry experts who are advising the Government on how to place more contracts with small and medium sized enterprises.
I am honoured to be the Chair of the Cabinet Office Working Group looking at the practical implications of asking Government Suppliers to have Carbon Net Zero plans. The UK is the first country in the world to try to use the power of Public Sector spend to encourage suppliers to become Carbon Neg Zero by 2050.