Metaphor

I started Metaphor to work with owner-managed businesses after a varied business career (manufacturing, mining, financial services, retail, publishing, distribution) and a number of roles: management accountant, systems consultant, project manager, head of IT strategy, information systems manager and SME business adviser. 

If there is one lesson I've learnt it is that - above all else - businesses are about people. Businesses are people. 

I qualified as a coach-mentor and facilitator because my experience is to get the best out of people you have to believe that the best is already in there. To improve performance you need the right catalyst; and in most situations the catalyst is a good coach-mentoring relationship. 

I’ve also learnt working with clients that simply trying to reach an agreed view of a problem can itself be problematic! Often there are several equally valid ways to interpret a situation. This means accepting and having to work with a high degree of ambiguity, despite the sense that it would all be easy if only everyone could see it your way. Perhaps we all feel like that …

I read Materials Science at Nottingham University then qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant FCMA before moving into management consultancy with Andersen Consulting (Accenture). I worked abroad in the US, Greece and 4 years in South Africa. More recently I took an M.Sc. in Managing Information Technology at the University of Salford and a Certificate in Business Coach-Mentoring with the Oxford School. I am a Member of the Institute of Business Consulting and hold SFEDI NVQ L4 in Business Support.

Outside work and family my main activities are sailing – as Commodore of Portishead Yacht and Sailing Club – hill-walking, cycling (including our new tandem) and badminton. I also enjoy local and family history, old motorcycles, wine, and contribute to the work of Bristol Civic Society. Since 1999 I've been a Trustee and Non-Exec Finance Director of Learning South West in Taunton.