Grounded in the sector
Counter sales, trade-counter management, area sales and regional sales leadership created a lasting understanding of how the building-products chain actually works.
Executive profile
Corporate-tested. Customer-led. Built for the long term.
A career grounded at the trade counter, developed through national leadership and tested at board level—bringing practical commercial judgement to businesses facing their next important chapter.
I thrive around challenge and future-building: understanding what has changed, finding the commercial opportunity inside the difficulty and helping a team believe in—and deliver—a better direction.
My sector career began in 1986 at Jewson in Redditch and moved through trade-counter management, area sales and regional sales leadership before I returned to Jewson as Branch Manager in Northampton in 2000. Over the next 24 years I progressed through six increasingly senior leadership stages to Managing Director and senior board responsibilities.
That progression matters. It means my commercial decisions are grounded in the realities faced by customers, branches, salespeople, operations and suppliers—not just in a board presentation. It also gave me access to Saint-Gobain's strategy, finance, governance and leadership disciplines, tested in live markets and across economic cycles.
“My value is not a single formula. It is a well-developed toolbox—and the judgement to know which tool the business needs now.”
The progression
From front-line understanding to enterprise leadership.
Regional P&L and operational leadership
Branch Manager to Area Sales Manager and Area Director, including leadership of people, customers and a £45m regional P&L.
National, board and Managing Director responsibility
National sector strategy, major customers, sustainable construction and the leadership of GreenWorks—with board-level responsibility from 2007.
Venture creation, acquisition and transition
Created Build Aviator, combined it with GreenWorks, integrated acquired estimating capabilities and supported the major divestment of Jewson to STARK.
Applying the toolbox with pace
Bringing large-corporate disciplines and direct commercial judgement to investor-backed, owner-led and growing businesses that need customer focus and momentum.
Leadership beliefs
How I work.
Commercial ambition works best when it is matched by customer truth, operational realism and respect for the people expected to deliver it.
Start with the customer
Look outside the organisation before accepting internal explanations. The customer journey reveals where value is created—and where it leaks away.
Make the challenge clear
Teams move faster when the problem, choices and accountabilities are visible. Complexity should inform decisions, not hide them.
Build with people
Transformation is stronger when leaders and front-line teams help shape the answer, understand the commercial logic and own the operating rhythm.
Leave capability behind
The result should be a stronger organisation, not a dependency on the person who led the change.
The next chapter