Banking: Sam Kerr
Head of New Business for Bank of Scotland Business Banking (part of the HBOS
group)
Sam's current role is Head of New Business Bank of Scotland Business Banking
(part of the HBOS group), looking after UK wide Business Banking sales for
businesses turning over less that £1m per annum. Sam also heads up Bank of
Scotland Professionals client money deposit business which currently holds
around £1.5bn of client money liabilities for the bank.
Sam has worked with the bank for 18 years in a variety of roles including
Regional Manager for Regulated Sales in Scotland, Head of Sales Operations
for the retail bank in Midlands and East Anglia and has spent the last 3
years in his current role.
Sam is an associate member of the Chartered Insurance Institute and is ACII
and APFS qualified. In recent years he completed a post graduate diploma in
Business Management and is currently studying for an MBA at Durham.
Advertising and Marketing: Ben Fennell
Managing Director at advertising agency BBH London
Ben joined BBH straight out of Oxford in 1994. At Keble college he won a Rugby
Blue having represented England at Colts and Students level.
During eight years in London Ben worked across a range of BBH business and ran
accounts such as One2One and Lynx. Ben was appointed to the BBH board in
2000.
In 2002, Ben moved to Singapore to take the position of CEO, BBH Asia Pacific.
During Ben's time there, BBH Asia Pacific doubled in size and won Ad Asia's
agency of the year two years out of three. In his role as Regional CEO, Ben
was also responsible for launching BBH’s Shanghai office, and developing the
Agency’s offering in Tokyo and Singapore.
In March 2006, Ben returned to the UK to take up the role of MD of the UK
business.
Finance: Tony Cohen
Head of Entrepreneurial Business at Deloitte, the business advisory firm
Tony, a tax specialist, has more than 20 years experience in advising private
individuals with an entrepreneurial outlook. The objectives of the
individuals or families he advises and the performance of their businesses
tend to be inextricably linked. Tony’s clients generally have substantial
investments in a number of areas and are looking to achieve their business
and wealth creation goals in a tax efficient manner. Tony's role is to
deliver financial counsel, and tax structuring and planning, by establishing
strong client relationships built on trust.
Sales: Simon Hughes
Director for Small and Medium Sized Business at Microsoft
Simon Hughes has recently been promoted from head of the midmarket sector for
Microsoft and now heads up the small and medium business group. In this role
Simon is responsible for addressing the long-term business demands of small
and medium sized businesses in the UK. Simon’s experience working in the
Partner group has given him an intimate knowledge of sales for all sizes of
business. This has proven an invaluable resource in his new role, helping
Simon and his team advise SMEs on how they can strengthen their voice and
meet their business objectives in a highly competitive market.
Before joining this business group, Simon was Head of Customer and Partner
Experience for Microsoft UK, responsible for improving the experience
Microsoft provides its customers and partners. Simon has also worked in
Microsoft’s corporate headquarters in Redmond, USA, on the licensing of
Microsoft’s products and on the launch of the Windows 2000 Server product.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Simon gained an MBA from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. He also has a bachelor’s
degree in Computer Science from Manchester University. Simon started his
career with BT.
Management Consultant: Andy Lees
Heads the private sector practice in the UK leading a team of 180
consultants for Atos Consulting
Working with leading blue chip companies in the consumer products,
industrials, manufacturing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries, the
team provides strategic advice to create innovative solutions that help
clients address and overcome their business challenges.
Andy has a long track record of helping organisations with strategic and
tactical issues having started his consulting career 10 years ago with KPMG.
As an experienced, business consultant , Andy has led the delivery of
multi-million pound consulting engagements across a wide variety of industry
sectors.
He is a Chartered Engineer and holds a MBA from the ENPC in Paris in addition
to a 1st class honors degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from
the University of Hertfordshire.
