About me

Like many teenagers at school in the 70s, I was encouraged to think about developing a career. I was drawn to agriculture – I don’t know why as I lived in a small town in North East Hampshire and had never really been on a farm in my life.

Still, not daunted by my lack of knowledge about the farming sector I began to look for a job on a local farm, the aim being to gain some practical experience before going to agricultural college. After making in excess of 200 telephone calls and placing numerous adverts in farming journals I was drawing a blank until one farmer kindly mentioned that Peter Trenear, a local nurseryman was looking for staff. Excitedly I got my Carlton Continental racing bike out of the shed and cycled to see Peter, who immediately offered me a job. It was thanks to Peters, kindness, enthusiasm, and generosity of spirit that I developed a love for ornamental horticulture, so much so, that this became my career focus.

After working for Peter, I studied at Pershore College of Horticulture spending the middle year of a three-year course working at Hillier Nurseries. After leaving college in 1981 I had a variety of roles in the industry including starting my own small landscaping business. Sadly, this business was cut short when I developed a back problem but as they say, “every cloud has a silver lining” and whilst recovering I evaluated my situation and realised that I was cut out for a career in selling. This led me to work for Notcutts Nurseries, where after several years I became sales manager at the nursery in Woodbridge.

Whilst I have always loved plants, I have been more interested in the ‘business of horticulture’. This really developed at Notcutts, when I changed my career emphasis. Prior to joining the company, I would describe myself as a horticulturalist but now, after 41 years in the industry, I describe myself as a horticultural business specialist. So, instead of being captivated by plant catalogues I now get more captivated by profit and loss accounts and balance sheets!

My consulting career began in 1995. After leaving Notcutts in 1994 Caroline and I spent six months in Winston Salem, North Carolina, working as volunteers in a hospice. On our return to the UK, I set up business as a consultant initially specialising in sales development. Since then I have seen my business grow substantially through an increasing demand for my services.

I believe that I am uniquely placed to give advice. Not only have I graduated with an MBA but I also developed my own successful retail business of three stores. With my entrepreneurial but steady hand sales grew in this retail business by 175% in 3 years. This experience means that I can truly empathise with my clients as I know what it is like to mortgage your home to finance and build a business. I am self-motivated and energetic, with a proven ability to establish and grow profitable businesses, and troubleshoot effectively for those in difficulty.