PROFILE

Heavyweight programme manager and crisis resolver. Experienced in managing change with a sensitive and diplomatic approach and solving complex commercial and technical problems. Established track record in high profile IT, telco, education, and government programmes. Prince 2 Practitioner.

CAREER HISTORY

Clark Interim Limited – Independent Interim manager 2003-present

· City of Guilds of London Institute – Delivery Programme Manager
City & Guilds is the UK’s leading provider of vocational qualifications. It embarked upon a collaboration with the leading academic awarding body AQA to deliver the new Diploma qualification for 14-19 yr olds.

An twenty month interim assignment, responsible for all aspects of the delivery of the new qualification. The primary task was to help the two organisations, across three main sites, to work together for the first time. Established appropriate management, reporting, processes and controls before handing back to business-as-usual after the successful delivery of the first qualifications in 2009, under the watchful eye of the Regulator. The Delivery team comprised over seventy staff.

The two awarding bodies described the collaboration as ‘bringing together the best of both worlds’. ‘This unique collaboration provides the combination of strengths…to give unparalleled service and support’.

· Cambridge Assessment – Director of the Electronic Script Management Programme

Cambridge Assessment incorporates three examination boards: CIE, the world’s largest provider of international qualifications for 14-19 year-olds, ESOL provider of the world’s leading range of certificates for learners of English and OCR, one of UK’s leading providers of qualifications.

A two year interim assignment leading a programme which has delivered two million national and international examinations marked on screen. Brought to a successful completion when the new ways of working were incorporated into business-as-usual processes and governance.

The Chief Executive highlighted the importance of the £20+ Million technology and change management programme as "the industrial revolution of assessment".

· Post Office Ltd Banking (‘POL’) – Interim Change Manager

Brought in to set up and run a stakeholder programme to address user difficulties with PIN pads. Ran the high-profile enhancement programme across 16,000 branches, 36,000 counter positions, and turned around major opposition from disability groups. Stakeholders included the POL Executive Committee, the consumer watchdog, the Regulator, Members of Parliament, and the Chip and PIN Disability Working Group.

The Disability Rights Commission acknowledged the wisdom of the approach and the RNIB changed from campaigning against the Post Office to co-branding.

Logica Consulting – the London-based management consultancy 2000-2002

Senior Consultant, Interim Consulting Director in London office.

Ran the largest ever change to the UK’s phone numbering system, ‘The Big Number’. Over 11 million numbers changed. The £22M programme involved all the UK phone companies. Acclaimed by the Regulator as a technical and public education success. BBC TV stated “They said there would be chaos – but there wasn’t”.
Managed the Secretariat for twenty telcos in the Operators Group. Enabled effective cross-industry lobbying to take place.

Monitored and facilitated the negotiations between BT and ten UK telcos for determining wholesale line rentals, worth millions. The records were used successfully by the phone companies to take their case to OFTEL.

Logica UK – the leading global software and services company 1984-2000

Principal Consultant responsible for advising clients on communications infrastructures and managing multi-national development programmes:

Advised Ove Arup, Reuters, St Regis, BT Broadcast, Lloyds Registrars and others on communications strategies and implementation. Advice always accepted. One client was told that a customer crisis was imminent and shown how to avert it; a major hole was found in a disaster recovery plan for another.

Devised architecture for a start-up Czech phone company. Showed how a mix of bespoke and off the shelf software could meet a tight budget.

Set up interconnected usability laboratories in London, Tokyo, Geneva and New York. Enabled customer centred product design for a multinational.

Set up and ran multi-lingual team in Brussels to help transform the working practices of Advisory Committees of the European Commission; included European Monetary Committee, the Public Procurement Group, EUROSTAT, and the Advisory Committee for the Co-ordination of the Internal Market.

Ran research on the impact of new technologies in four companies and five universities across Europe. Became the first national applications demonstrator of ISDN between France and Japan. UK’s first ever use of broadband ISDN.

Advised Indian government on project management and interconnecting universities by satellite; with the British Council and the United Nations DP.

Logica VTS Ltd – supplier of word processing equipment 1978-1984

Managed the development of a word processor, the ICL DRS8801. Voted in a Marplan poll as ICL’s most popular product with its customers. Won for Logica the Queen’s Award to Industry for Technological Innovation.

Xerox Research – Rank Xerox Development Laboratory 1972-1978

Principal Engineer: Developed and patented photocopier/laser printer technologies.

International Computers Limited – ICL’s Development laboratory 1969-1972

Development Engineer: Optical Character Recognition.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

PRINCE 2 Practitioner (Reg. No. P2R/029324, P2RR/002813)

Member of the Institute of Interim Management

Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET).

Chartered Electrical Engineer (C. Eng)

FEANI Registered European Engineer (Eur. Ing)

Founder Member of the Telework Association.

B.Sc in Electrical & Electronic Engineering at University of Leeds.

PERSONAL

DoB 31/12/45. Married, one daughter. Clean driving licence.

Secretary and former President of local Rotary Club (club motto ‘Service above self’)

Awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship for contribution to the work of the Rotary Club and in the community.
Runs websites for the parish church and for the community.