Connecting People with
their potential

The formative years of my career were like many others (both then and now).   I had no idea of what I wanted to do but was keen to exit the routine of education and make my way in the world.

Fortunately for me, after a number of false starts, I found a natural  home in sales in the exciting  new world of Technology.  This was an incredible experience and I consider my myself very fortunate to be a part of it.  The fledgling industry was populated with individuals possessed of  enormous pioneering spirit and great entrepreneurial attitude.  The days were  long and spectacular fortunes were made and lost in equal measures.

I quickly rose through the ranks of Xerox and joined a major Technology  Reseller business. My reputation as a passionate and successful new business sales individual  was growing fast and I was inundated with job opportunities. In 1991 I made the decision to join GE Capital IT Solutions which had acquired a number of Technology companies to head up a new business team. Within a year, I was promoted to Sales and Marketing Director, UK.

During this period, I needed to recruit a significant number of people to match the exponential growth of the business.    I selected 3 agencies to engage with to drive the campaign.  It rapidly became obvious that there was a disconnect with the level of interest and business awareness from my suppliers which was demonstrated by the randomness and quality of candidates.  This was mutually  frustrating and disappointing for both the  business and the candidate, resulting in  wasted time, energy and confidence.

I began to recognise that there was a space in the market for a focused, business aware headhunting service. I had experience from both sides of the fence, engaging recruitment firms to search on behalf of the business and also as the recipient as a potential candidate.

I founded PC Executive Search in 1997.

I deliberately chose to work with very few companies, and consequently I have built deep and longstanding relations with stakeholders at all levels. These companies include Microsoft, Dell EMC, Fujitsu and Computacenter. In more recent years I have further developed my network with a number of Private Equity firms who specifically invest in boutique companies in the tech sector with high growth potential.

I believe it is the ten years of extensive experience in Technology sales and leadership which have differentiated me as a  head-hunter.  I have met some truly exceptional people throughout my career and I consider myself privileged to be afforded their advice and expertise, particularly in respect of my fledgling business, Amonite.

I was catapulted into sales via a temporary job selling PC’s in the early nineties when I was supposed to be pursuing a career in the theatre! However, selling PC’s paid me more in a week than I earned in a year and it was fantastic high energy fun with a bunch of like-minded adrenaline addicts.

As I started selling on the phone, this led to running the Inside Sales Team for a £100m systems integrator in their London City office.

Showing a proven ability by working with dynamic, leading edge businesses focused on driving fast growth led to the role of Sales and Marketing Director at a boutique start-up Specialist infrastructure provider to the London Insurance Market. This grew to £4m turnover within 4 years and was sold to an insurance system software provider.

From there, I then moved to a Tier 1 ERP provider driving complex large scale contracts into enterprise clients.

As I have always relished the opportunities of an entrepreneur, I established my own business in 2011. As an IT sales sector specialist, the business concentrates on lead generation, business development and sales enablement via mentoring. 

My superpower is the deep understanding of the (often complex) relationships between sales and marketing to ensure goals and expectations align, communication and feedback flows effectively, and the momentum and energy of an engagement is maintained. My mentoring focuses building sales teams who show the attitude (that cannot be taught) and the aptitude (that can).

The clients for my business range from the largest global enterprises such as SAP to niche boutique end user computing specialists. Understanding a small business culture with world class clients demonstrates a professional agility. 

Like me, Amonite clients may have arrived at a stage in their career through a combination of individual talent and sheer chance. There wasn’t a career in technology sales when we started! Helping them make the right choices and navigate the industry maze is a natural and exciting new chapter for me.