My background is in mechanical engineering having worked for more than 20 years for an internationally based company who designs, manufactures and supplies machinery and solutions for the tobacco industry.   Having started as a mechanical engineering apprentice, working through the various workshop disciplines, including the machinery installation team, before progressing to the project planning office. I then became a member of the management team, responsible for operations at the UK base before being appointed to lead the project management team for the group of companies based in The Netherlands.  I am a Prince2 qualified Project Manager (practitioner level) as well as APMP accredited and have been responsible for the introduction and integration of the Prince2 principles within the UK manufacturing facility of the company. This integration involved setting up project management procedures, adapting established operational methods and coaching staff.

Having worked at the top level of an international engineering and manufacturing company, responsible for the scope definition, execution, delivery and performance measurement of a wide range of equipment projects and services, I am well placed to provide fundamental and practical advice to those companies who identify challenges in delivering unique projects but are unsure or too preoccupied to define how these can be overcome and success delivered.

My experience is based in the tobacco industry, working with clients from some of the largest companies in the world, where client quality expectations are exceptionally high and where both production demands and legislative restrictions provide a unique operating environment.  For a project to be successful in these environments requires a full, detailed understanding of the project scope, the process of execution, what resources are required, how these resources interact and how success can be measured. A successful project is measured by the typical KPIs such as quality (meets scope) of delivery, on-time delivery and budgetary control.

Whilst the tobacco industry is the basis of my experience, my activities ensured that I worked closely with many suppliers and partners who typically operate within numerous industries so I had the opportunity to experience many different approaches to common processes and problems.  Where the tobacco industry is perhaps not as cost sensitive as others, the restrictions placed by legislation and high production demands as well as exceptionally high standards of product quality provide the focus to remain highly efficient and continuously improving.