Testimonials, Awards, Presentations

A few of the comments and honours from James’s previous places of work

Testimonials

“James has been a Director of the Open Food Network UK for five years. During this time he has played a very active, engaged and supportive role on the Board; taking on various practical tasks which he performed very promptly, effectively and professionally. James has never missed a board meeting and always prepares carefully for each meeting so that he can ask pertinent questions and provide mentoring and support to the management team at each meeting. James has also been very helpful between board meetings in providing advice and administrative support as necessary. He has been an exemplary Director”.

Nick Weir, OFN UK CIC, Exec Director

“Over the past seven years of us working together, I continue to hold James as a most trusted mentor, strategist and shareholder. James has guided me from a university project dreamt up on the side of a motorway, to seven figure investments, blue-chip contracts and international sponsorships. My experience tells me that the success of such ventures is steered by the company you hold along the way. I, and anyone else who has the pleasure of working with James, soon learns this”.

Charles Anderson, Freightsafe Ltd, CEO

“James has been a fantastic Trustee for The Road Safety Trust. His interventions were helpful and constructive, offering an independence of view and enabling us to benefit from his legal background. The Executive team and fellow Board members all valued the time and energy that James put into charity matters, he was reliable and consistent throughout his Trustee tenure, with an attendance record to match.”

Sally Lines, RST, CEO

“SO SORRY to lose you!! You have been an amazing Trustee and we’ve benefited hugely from your insights and interventions over the 5 years. We absolutely understand how difficult it can be to keep juggling voluntary roles alongside paid work, especially for members of the RSIC, and are just extremely grateful that you’ve been able to spend the time with us that you have.”

RST RSIC Committee

“James played a significant role in supporting good causes across the county and was a champion of environmental causes – he is already sorely missed”.

David Owen/SCT Chairman

“Heartfelt thanks for keeping us on the straight and narrow governance-wise – I am really grateful to you for your wise counsel”

Donna Renney, The Gust, Chair

“It’s been a pleasure – and I have missed you on the KBT board!”

Rich McIlwain/ KBT Deputy CEO

“James has been an invaluable source of expert support on contracts and many other business issues over many years. I would thoroughly recommend him to anyone as an excellent resource to advise on business issues, strategy and negotiations, as they arise. He is a very safe pair of hands.”

Marc Powell, CEO, Emailogic Limited

“We had the pleasure of working with James from 2023 to 2025, and his support was invaluable. James played a crucial role in guiding both our public community consultation and our internal volunteer consultation, offering thoughtful advice on how to structure the process, ask the right questions and reach the widest audiences.

James’s expertise was also instrumental in reviewing our project plan for a grant funding submission, and he provided insightful feedback on some of our draft funding bid questions. This support strengthened our case and improved the overall quality of our application.

James also completed a Trustee Skills Audit and delivered tailored fundraising training for our Board of Trustees, which was well-received and incredibly beneficial. His unique insight into the fundraising landscape, strategic thinking, and thorough approach will make a difference to our future funding and community engagement work. We highly recommend his services.”

Marisa Vaughan, Fundraiser, Painswick Rococo Garden Trust

Awards

1990s:

BT Winning Communications Award

Independent Grocer of the Year (finalist)

Securicor Customer Care Award

ECMOD E-Commerce Award

London Electricity Investing in Technology Award

Booker Retail Initiative Award

DTI Information Initiative Award

KPMG/London Business School Entrepreneur of the Future

2000s:

Parcelforce Business of the Year Award

Orange Customer Service Award

Queen’s Award for Voluntary Services, Platinum Jubilee Year

Business Literature References

1990s:

Mail-Order Made Easy (Columbine Press), Leslie Geddes-Brown

The Food Lover’s Christmas (Ebury Press), Henrietta Green

Goldman Sachs: European e-Commerce Food Retailing investment report

Financial Times: Supply Chain Challenges management report

Corporate Intelligence on Retailing: UK Retail executive report

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson: Home-Shopping Fait Accompli executive research report

2000s:

20/20 Hindsight Start-up to Success (Virgin Business)

Shopped (Harper Collins/Fourth Estate), Joanna Blythman

Business Conferences and Academic Lectures

Business Conference Presentations (1998-Present)

1990s:

Insight Research/Future of Home-Shopping: New Games, New Rules

IGD Trends in Technology: Delivering the Goods

William Reed Non-Shop Shopping: Delivery & Payment

Marketing Week Conference: Convenience – preparing for a C-change

Insight Research/Home-Shopping: Exceeding Customer Expectation

2000s:

Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette Food on Web Conference

E-Food Conference: The Third Way – a mobile marketplace

ECMOD e-Commerce Conference: integration for urgent food delivery

ECMOD e-Commerce Conference: What’s for dinner tonight

Visiting Academic Lectures

1990s:

City of London University Business School: MBA Course on e-commerce

2000s:

British Computer Society, Oxford: Logistics & Fulfilment

Cranfield School of Management MBA Series: Strategies for Success

Cardiff Uni Business School: Building a Team & Managing Investor Relations