The Early Years
My understanding of exceptional service levels and demanding brands was firmly established spending four years as part of the sales team at Claridge’s, then part of the Savoy Group.
From the world of hotels, I joined the opening team of the London Capital Club in the city to work on my first of many membership marketing campaigns.
In the mid 90s, I moved to Asia to head up the membership launch of a pioneering club in Hanoi. From Vietnam I moved onto The American Club in Singapore where I was responsible for introducing new services, programmes and special events to a membership base of over 10,000 people.
During my time in Singapore, I was also employed in a regional membership marketing capacity and worked on club launches and member acquisition programmes in Indonesia and the Philippines.
A stay at the world famous destination spa Chivasom then prompted a move to Bali and a regional sales and marketing role with leading spa operator Mandara Spa (operator of the award-winning spa at the Datai in Langkawi).
Back in the UK in 2002, I worked at the ultra-modern Reebok Sports Club in Canary Wharf (the then largest health and fitness club in Europe) and then the classic environment of the Royal Automobile Club, before setting up my own consultancy Sleeping Lion in 2005.
Sleeping Lion
Since setting up Sleeping Lion in 2005, I have worked with many different businesses, helping them sell more of their products and services – through effective marketing strategies and business development programmes.
In the last few years, I have studied the whole area of business sustainability – through courses with Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership and Delft University of Technology, plus I’ve read a stack of relevant business books on the topic.
In 2019 I wrote The Ethical Business Book (a practical, non-preachy guide to business sustainability). It won a commendation at The Business Book Awards 2020, and has now been reprinted with brand new material (this is a fast moving topic).
The book is a gateway to this complex area. It gets the reader started on all the important elements of ethical and sustainable business practice, but it is deliberately concise. If you are a business owner or leader, the book is designed to provide you with practical tools to start making a difference. If you work for an organisation that needs change, the book will give you ammunition to lobby the decision makers and present a compelling case for adopting a more sustainable approach to the business.
Why Sleeping Lion? I believe it’s not about how busy you are, it’s about effectiveness: trying to avoid all the time wasting trivia and focusing on the important stuff. A lion sleeps for over 18 hours day, and yet is still the undisputed king of the beasts. It is the master of minimal effort, maximum return.
This is at the heart of Sleeping Lion – keeping things simple, but having a big impact
When it comes to ethical and sustainable business practices, simplicity is also important. Transforming into a sustainable, environmentally conscious business can seem very daunting, but it is important to take it one step at a time. You’ll never achieve everything at once. Instead of being paralyzed by the sheer scale of the challenge, head towards the paths with the biggest impact. If every company can redefine what long-term success looks like, society and the planet will be in a much healthier place.
