Name
Charlie

Position
Board Advisor

Location
Edinburgh

Big Business Experience

Blackcircles.com / Michelin

Esso Petroleum Co.

Small Business Experience

Ashtons Franchise Consulting

Farmer Autocare

Summary

Charlie is an experienced board director & franchise consultant with a track record of growing B2B and B2C businesses in various sectors including automotive; e-commerce; retail and the service sector.  He has developed & implemented franchise strategies for corporate & SME clients in the UK and internationally.

Passionate about supporting & mentoring SME businesses in their strategic development and growth, Charlie has experience both as an owner / operator of SME businesses and also working in SME scale-ups with direct accountability for strategic development, sales & profit performance.

Charlie has held senior management positions including Franchise Consultant at Ashtons Consulting; Director of Franchise & Network at Blackcircles.com, responsible for growing the network from inception to 1,250 partners. He was involved in the business’s acquisition by Michelin.  Previously, he was M.D. of Farmer Autocare.  Being passionate about developing new business talent, Charlie is a mentor for young entrepreneurs and has NED experience.   Early in his career, he was a franchisee with Esso.

Qualifications

BA Economics – Heriot-Watt University

MBA – University of Edinburgh (2004)

Key Areas of Expertise

• Managing Director; Management Board & NED experience
• SME specialist with significant expertise developing & successfully growing & selling businesses in a wide range of sectors including start-ups
• B-2-B and B-2-C expertise in service orientated organisations
• Change Management
• Designing, Developing and Implementing Franchise Strategy, Systems, Processes & Operations
• Delivering revenue streams to drive sustainable growth
• Coaching; Mentoring; Supporting SME business owners
• Relationship Management
• e-Commerce
• Project Management

Experience

Ashtons Franchise Consulting, Franchise Consultant

Assessing, developing and implementing franchise strategies for SME businesses in a wide range of sectors to scale-up

Commercial strategies to support network start-up, development & growth

Coaching & support to assist SMEs to achieve their aims & objectives

Blackcircles.com (Michelin plc), Director of Franchise & Network Strategy

Responsible for designing & implementing the franchise network strategy for fast-growing e-commerce business

Delivered an industry leading & innovative bolt-on franchise model for independent fitting partners

Recruited 1,250+ SME franchises in 6 years, delivering significant improvements to operating practices, customer service & network fitting capacity during rapid scale-up

Strategy resulted in new, growing revenue stream for this entrepreneurial venture

A member of the senior team during Michelin’s acquisition

Lightweight Medical Ltd, Investor & Non-Exec Director

An entrepreneurial design and consultancy business, specializing in innovative medical devices & solutions

Mentoring & coaching on strategy; business planning & growth from start-up to become an award-winning, successful & progressive SME business

5 Zero Business Architects, Director / Business Consultant

Specialist consultancy services focusing on retail, franchise, SME & Business Start-Ups

Farmer Autocare, Managing Director

Developed & delivered the strategic direction this SME automotive fast-fit operation

Full P&L, business leadership, operations, marketing & business development responsibility for 15 auto repair centre, £10M pa+ SME company