Experience

IT Schools Africa
• United Kingdom
• E-learning
• 1 - 100 Employee
• Chief Executive Officer

  • Mar 2023 - Present


European Schoolbooks Ltd.

• United Kingdom
• Wholesale
• 1 - 100 Employee

• General Manager

  • Sep 2019 - Mar 2023

  European Schoolbooks Ltd is Great Britain's leading specialist wholesaler of books and other media in European languages. It provides marketing, sales and distribution services for European publishing houses from an 11,000-square-foot warehouse and offices in Cheltenham. Its retail arm includes the European Bookshop and Italian Bookshop in London, as well as its eleven websites. Customers include booksellers, educational organisations and private consumers. Its multinational staff includes experts in 11 languages.Highlights include:• Brought new partnerships and developed existing partnerships with UK universities, schools and language schools, resulting in an 18% increase in partner sales in 2021 and a 21% increase in 2022.• Led the development of the company's websites, resulting in staff having more promotional opportunities and online sales rising annually. Online sales doubled from 12-14% of annual turnover in 2016-19 to 22-24% in 2020-23.• Enabled homeworking for on-site staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and stayed to keep the warehouse operational each day, ensuring uninterrupted supply and no on-site transmission of COVID.• Advised the shareholders in strategies to advance the company, including through new supplier and stock models, modern IT solutions and additional sources of income.• Engaged with senior managers and owners of international publishing companies to create opportunities for promotions, events and sales.• Met book-trade customers, including wholesalers, online booksellers and national bookshop chains.• Improved warehouse operations and supported the warehouse team, including ordering from suppliers, liaising with European distributors and shippers, and navigating new import regulations after the UK's exit from the European Union.• Recruited staff for multiple departments. Show less

• Commercial Director

  • 2016 - Aug 2019

  Highlights include:• Achieved annual increases in company revenue.• Represented the company at events including the Language Show, London Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair.• Led the Marketing team in the creation of new marketing initiatives, with improved tracking and reporting of sales.• Completed an exclusive distribution-and-marketing agreement with a major Spanish publisher.• Promoted to the Board of Directors.



Peters Books and Furniture

• Business Development Director

  • 2012 - 2016

  • One of two working executive directors, with 100+ personnel.• Instrumental in increasing revenue and profitability annually - and returning the company to profit. Annual turnover increased from £8M to £13.6M.• Responsible for multiple departments, including book sales to schools, the library-furniture department, showroom sales, ecommerce and IT systems, buying, operations (distribution), and a team of librarians and bibliographic editors.• Departmental achievements included growing the sale of books to schools by £1M (41%) within 1 year; increasing annual book sales through the showroom by £1.2M (77%) within 2 years; accelerating library-design (furniture) orders annually; launching 2 eCommerce websites, with a niche website for book sales to school libraries generating orders of £2M+; initiating improvements with publishers' distribution centres to reduce average inbound supply times by as much as 8 working days; and negotiating annual improvements in book-buying costs from publishers, including a saving of £350K in 2016.• Rewrote tender documents and presented to public-sector buying organisations, resulting in new business from public libraries in excess of £1.5M p.a. Show less

• Business Development Manager

  • 2011 - 2012

  • Devised and implemented a showroom promotion which generated book orders of £1M+. • Grew turnover in the furniture department to £1.16M and net profit to £95K (from £23K in the previous year).• Negotiated and managed a partnership which created additional book sales of £500K p.a.• Organized the design and creation of 2 new eCommerce websites for the sale of books and furniture.• Promoted to the company's board of directors.Peters Limited (trading as Peters Books and Furniture) is a reseller of children's books and a seller of own-brand library furniture. Show less



Pickabook UK

• United Kingdom
• Education Administration Programs

• Managing Director

  • 1998 - 2011

  Led the start-up and growth of one of the UK’s first online book retailers, eventually offering over 4 million new book titles, eBooks, audiobooks, print-on-demand books and DVDs, with competitive discounts and same-day dispatch from stock. Grew the business by capitalizing on the full digital marketing mix, creating seamless integration and automation of computer processes, and offering credit accounts to educational and training institutions. Customers in over 70 countries included private consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Sold the business to the Kent Book Company in 2011. Show less