Tim Guest CDir FIoD

Experienced Executive and Non Executive Director. Leadership Mentor. Business Strategist. Cultural Change Agent. Speaker

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About Me

I’m Tim Guest – Chartered Director, ex Managing Director, Non Executive Director, Business Strategy Consultant, Leadership Mentor, Husband, Father, Brewer.

In January 2020 I successfully exited from my own business. During my time the company transformed into one that was led by the people with structures and processes in place that meant my involvement was no longer necessary. We grew year on year culminating in 14% growth 2019 vs 2018 and were successfully acquired by a larger multi national group. I remain as NED.

I now use the skills and techniques I have learned to work with other ambitious business leaders to get them to where they want to be in life.

Whilst I was MD I also held 2 Non Executive Director positions and spent my spare time doing ad hoc consultancy work, public speaking and mentoring of school pupils.

Having worked in such a wide range of industry sectors including SAP / ERP Consulting, B2B Distribution, Engineering, Recruitment, Brewing and Beer, Property and many more has given me a huge amount of experience – My Clients find this experience & knowledge combined with many diverse contacts a valuable resource in their own quests to reach their desired goals.

Work With Me

Business Consulting

Are you spending too much time bogged down just running your business?

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Non Executive Director

Should you have a Non Executive Director on your Board?

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Leadership Mentoring

What’s the difference between Leaders and Managers?

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Public
Speaking 

I really enjoy presenting to audiences of all sizes and varieties.

See more here

Expertise

Company Direction, Board Governance and Effectiveness


“having been on company boards since 2013 and gained a Distinction in the IoD’s Developing Board Performance course, I have a very good working knowledge of how an effective board should operate. My experience includes risk management as well as helping to set up and monitor robust governance procedures to ensure boards meet with all statutory and regulatory compliance.

Effective boards also have to be diverse and meetings have to generate outputs and action points assigned. I’ve helped change the dynamics of company boards and implemented communication channels to ensure conversations can continue outside the board room. This helps ensure action points are completed and any new risks are identified early and can be mitigated against.”

Business Change Management


“In order for any organisation to survive, it has to be constantly changing and evolving. This obviously impacts the way a company’s board and it’s staff will go about their duties. It’s imperative any major change is agreed at board level and all Directors are fully committed.

My experiences have included major HR, Process and Technology changes – End user buy in and engagement is vital to any project’s success and my listening and communication skills enable me to do this. I’m able to identify, win the trust of and influence stakeholders, meaning any changes made are fully adopted. Involving the users from the start means they fully appreciate the benefits and feel comfortable actually suggesting further changes and striving for continuous improvement.”

Financial Management


“Finance is the beating heart of every business and it surprises me how many company directors don’t know their basic figures when asked. Having passed the IoD examinations in Finance and run my own business using SAP Financials I live and breathe the numbers on a daily basis – This helps forecast potential problems and enables effective business planning based on facts, not guess work.

My experience includes regular Forex trading as well as some knowledge of Blockchain and Crypto Currencies – In early 2020 I plan to do a course on the topic with the Oxford Said Business School.”

ERP Implementation and Process Improvement


“Having worked for an SAP Partner and been one of the SAP Mentors  I still have a passion for SAP based technology. I also have experience of other ERP systems and understand the benefits of both On Premise or Cloud solutions.

The key aspect of any ERP implementation is not to allow the software to dictate your processes but also to not keep your processes so rigid the software has to be heavily customised. An ERP Implementation is an ideal time to map your “as is” processes and work with your team to spot process and / information gaps and work with your team to make improvements.

An ERP solution should be flexible, and a company’s culture should inspire it’s employees to make suggestions for process improvements in regular open forums.”

Executive Leadership


“To be a leader, you need to inspire people to follow you. I believe my combination of empathy, tenacity, courage, diligence and humility has helped me gain the trust and respect of the people I work with.

My style of leadership is very much of empowerment, development and transformation of those I work with. This gives them the autonomy and confidence to act and make decisions for themselves within given parameters.

In a crisis situation I am able to remain calm and work to a logical solutions, calling on the support of others when needed.”

Stakeholder Relationship Building and Influencing


“In any role it is essential to be able to communicate with many different types of personalities. In my diverse career I’ve forged relationships with people of many differing types from traditional suit and tie executives, salt of the earth oil & gas engineers and people of the younger generation in my student mentoring role. Being able to listen to, empathise with, find commonality with and gain respect from people is vital to building relationships and trust. Once you have that person’s trust and respect it is then easier to get their support and buy in for decisions and changes that may effect them.

My life experiences have given me the skills and emotional intelligence needed to adapt my communication style when needed. This has helped me build lasting relationships with people who trust and support the decisions I make as a leader.”

Corporate Culture and Values


“As a Public Speaker on Corporate Culture I use a quote by Peter Drucker “Culture easts strategy for breakfast”. The values, principles and culture of an organisation are crucial to it’s success – I have experience of changing cultures that actively blocked change to ones that drive change and innovation. The culture we built at Zoedale Ltd saw 65% of existing staff leave over a 3 year period – The new team are now smashing sales targets and recently scored 87% on a popular Employee Engagement Survey.

I have also worked on a consultancy basis for other organisations on defining and embedding values and culture. This ties in with Leadership as an organisations culture must be driven from top down and reviewed regularly.”

Non Executive Directorship


“I have held Non Executive Director positions since November 2013 and play an active role in regular board meetings. As a NED it’s vital to remain impartial but also to keep asking that question of the Executive “Why”. My experience on company boards involves everything from P&L budgeting & review, risk management, Governance review, board re structuring and embedding corporate values.

My role as Vice Chair of The BVAA has given me the opportunity to chair some meetings – Managing strong willed board members, allowing less vocal members their time to talk then giving the board time to reflect and reach and agreement is a challenge, but vital to it’s success.”
 

Success Stories

Sherpa Marketing Ltd

A Niche B2B Digital Marketing Agency offering a range of solutions including demand generation, lead generation, paid and social, data insights, content creation, email marketing and branding. They also have experience in designing go to market strategies, marketing automation and brand repositioning. Their customers include high profile technology companies like Dell, Sage, Adobe and many more.

I was called to meet their full team in an advisory role, specifically regarding Channel Marketing of ERP solutions and the associated add on products. Having come from an SAP / ERP background working for a Channel Partner and currently serving as NED on the board of UK and Ireland SAP User Group, I was well placed to listen to their needs then advise on this topic

“Tim came in as an expert in his field to help answer questions, speak to the team about his product knowledge and advance our understanding of ERP solutions. He was undeniably knowledgeable and was keen to understand the context of our questions so he could give us the most useful, contextual responses. He illustrated his advice with lots of relevant examples and was able to adapt his technical knowledge to the audience. Tim has a calm, considered manner which left our marketing and sales team feeling confident and inspired”
Pascale Smith, Director at Sherpa Marketing Ltd

Osprey Engineering Solutions Ltd

Osprey are a specialist Fluid Power and Engineering Recruitment organisation focusing on traditional contingent as well as retained “Head Hunting” activities. The organisation is growing rapidly thanks to the network of contacts and skills of it’s Owner / Manager Matt Reilly.

Matt initially came to me for help in defining and embedding a set of corporate values, then later on to help with a 12 month business plan looking at all areas from finance and reporting, marketing and sales to compliance and governance.

Matt now has a set of values and principles by which he uses to recruit, review and retain talented people to help his organisation. We are also continuing to work on a long term strategy to help him get less “hands on” and be able to spend more time on business strategy and growth instead of getting bogged down in the daily processes.

Having been in this exact situation myself, I can empathise how hard this is! But with the plan we have in place and our regular catch up calls he is making good progress.

“Tim has worked with Osprey as a business consultant for the past 6 months, Tim is a seasoned business professional and has helped myself and Osprey immensely… He cares about helping and is always available should I need a chat.. I would highly recommended Tim services.”

Matthew Reilly, Managing Director at Osprey Engineering Solutions

The British Valve and Actuator Association

A not-for-profit organisation that represents +200 UK companies which contribute +£1 billion annually to UK GDP mainly. The Board comprises senior and C level executives from several member organisations including FTSE 250 companies. I was appointed as NED then Vice Chair and served 7 years on The Board.

Key Activities:

  • Provision of strategic direction with a sharp focus on the objectives of the Association, helping to shape the future strategy, administration and finance as well as articulate the organisation’s values and principles:
  • Co-designed a Future Leaders Programme to nurture and retain talent in the Valve and Engineering sector:
    • Programme now in its fourth year, CPD certified and hailed as a success in the industry
  • Work with the Board and CEO to set the annual P&L budget and forecast following close analysis and evaluation of financial data, and utilise regular reports to make recommendations to the Board:
    • Positively influence P&L performance by consulting on major decisions (supplier/project selection & review)
  • Provide support and guidance to the CEO on operational matters
  • Responsible for defining and embedding cultural values for both Board Members and Association Members

“I have had the great pleasure of working with Tim on the BVAA Board, most of his 7 years with us being as the Association’s Vice Chairman. Tim always had a superb grasp of the issues, and importantly always instinctively knew the correct way in which we should tackle them, even when sometimes these could be challenging or unpalatable. He was a major contributor to lots of activity strands, committee work, projects and regular presenting at events, where he received superb feedback. A chap I’d be delighted to work with in any field!”

Rob Bartlett – CEO of the British Valve and Actuator Association

Zoedale Ltd

Over a 5 year period the People, Processes and Technology at Zoedale Ltd changed dramatically. The culture and values that now exist have helped the business grow by 25% and we were successfully acquired by the OEM International AB group in January 2020. I was responsible for every aspect of the transaction from initial negotiations, due diligence and completion.

Zoedale Ltd is a major supplier of flow control solutions to many industries including Anaerobic Digestion & Bio Gas, Oil and Gas, Process Control, Brewing & Beer Metering, Food & Dairy, Water and Construction. 

Find out more about Zoedale Ltd in this short video.