Chris brings to his clients a practical background in business development, an analytical approach to setting strategic direction and a genuine enthusiasm to maximise potential through training and coaching.
His career has covered many diverse roles. He spent over twenty years working in a variety of functions in the international arm of Barclays Bank and more recently he held the role of European Director of Marketing and Communications in two leading international law firms, Dewey Ballantine and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. These roles involved the coordination of all marketing and business development activities across the firms’ European offices.
At Barclays, Chris had front-line business development experience in Italy, where he was responsible for building from scratch a portfolio of international corporate clients in the bank’s Milan office. His experience at Barclays also included three years running a team of international investment sales executives operating out of six overseas locations, achieving a year-on-year doubling of investment sales. Chris’s analytical and strategic skills were developed in a number of planning roles at Barclays, including three years as Deputy Finance Director for the bank’s European retail operations.
In his more recent roles in the legal world, Chris has drawn on his experience with Barclays to introduce practical and measurable solutions to the challenges of developing business in the professional services field. In particular, he has focussed on working closely with partners and associates to develop the skills required to achieve success.
Chris provides specific ‘soft skills’ training and coaching in two key areas - presentation skills and networking. When working with clients on presentations, he brings a practical understanding and experience in all aspects of creating and delivering effective presentations and speeches, from content and design through to the style and techniques employed for the presentation itself.
Chris has operated on both sides of the presentation fence, delivering and coaching over a number of years. During the course of his career he has given presentations to a wide range of audiences - from sales pitches to seminars, from project review meetings to conferences. He has run coaching and training sessions on a variety of topics and also has experience of after-dinner speaking. With his insightful and energetic input, he helps his clients maximise the relevance and impact of their presentations, and also builds the confidence that allows them to confront the challenge of presenting with a smile on their face. Chris’s long experience in the worlds of banking and professional services gives him an understanding of a wide range of markets and industries, allowing him to work confidently across a range of subject matters and audiences.
Chris obtained a degree from CambridgeUniversity in Modern Languages and has spent well over ten years living and working in France, Spain and Italy. His lifelong passion and fascination for languages has maintained his fluency in French, Spanish and Italian and he has delivered coaching and training sessions in each of those languages.