Jonathan's focus and achievements have always been fundamentally based on recruiting outstanding teams and their subsequent nurturing and development.
Accreditations and Qualifications
Jonathan is an accredited Business and Personal Coach. His career working as a Chief Executive, Non-Executive Director and Board Member for over 25 years has enabled him to acquire a wealth of experience about how companies operate and the role that individuals play in organisational performance. As a CEO he has been coaching teams and individuals for the past 18 years and now focuses his time helping executives across industry to navigate their way through the hectic and sometimes lonely occupation that is responsibility.
After Graduating from Reading University with an honours degree in Horticulture Jonathan, started his career in a sales role with Rank Hovis McDougall’s Agriculture Division. After a short period he moved on to establish an export trading business based in the City of London for a subsidiary of Associated British Foods. As a Director of that company he gained significant experience in risk management and international commodities' trade across a business which had offices in UK, Canada, France, Belgium and Holland.
In 2014 Jonathan established an Executive Coaching Consultancy and gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Business and Personal Coaching through Barefoot Coaching from Chester University. He is a qualified arbitrator and an active member of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce mentoring programme. He sits on the ‘Harvesting the Growth Panel’ for the Rural Leadership Programme run by Scottish Enterprise and is an Accredited Growth Coach for the UK Business Growth Service. He is also a Mentor with Entrepreneurial Spark.
Business Expertise
Jonathan has leadership experience gained in multi-national commercial businesses, SMEs, not for profit cooperative organisations, the public sector and Higher Education Institutes. He has wide industry knowledge incorporating, research and development, education, consultancy, commodities, renewable energy, veterinary surveillance and the cereals' food chain.
Operating at a senior level has brought with it broad strategic review experience across a number of different businesses along with responsibility for the implementation of significant change management and relocation projects.
In his various roles he has acquired extensive P&L experience, has proven skills in managing turnarounds, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, pension administration and corporate governance including audit and finance. As well as developing his sales and negotiation skills both nationally and internationally he has gained extensive Marketing and Communication knowledge including brand development.
Responsibilities have extended to a regular requirement for communication with government at ministerial level across all four UK countries and a subsequent close working relationship to develop relevant initiatives and strategies.
His positions have included:
In 1996 Jonathan became the Managing Director of a provincial farmer cooperative. Over the next seven years the company grew and quadrupled in size to become a national business, with clients and customers across the UK and world wide.
In 2004, as Chief Executive of one of the five UK Agricultural Levy Boards, he was part of the Project Management Team charged by government with delivering a rationalisation initiative.
In 2009 Jonathan became the Consulting Director & Board Member for Scotland’s Rural College based in Edinburgh. With over 26 Offices, 8 Veterinary Laboratories and 6 Campuses, this was a complex business at the very heart of rural life in Scotland.