Credentials
Approach
Our approach is always to facilitate rather than to ‘present’. A range of different learning activities are used including: short case studies, video, role plays, team problem solving, visible mapping and participant presentations.
We would recommend using our online Learning Management System to provide:
introductory articles and videos outlining key concepts, enabling the workshop to focus on the practical use of knowledge and the development of skills
pre-course activities – for example, completing a simple Excel model illustrating how to calculate ROI on buying a new piece of equipment or a marketing campaign
questionnaires – for example, we have developed our own questionnaires on Influencing and Thinking Styles. The questionnaires develop self-awareness and, through discussion with other participants, reveal the need for a variety of negotiating approaches – because people are different!
brand audit – we have developed an online brand audit. This allows participants to provide their views on the brand and provides an excellent basis for discussion and greater understanding of the brand
post-workshop refreshers – for example, summaries of key principles, examples of the principles in action etc
Founded in 1998, we have worked with clients in over 20 countries with a wide range of organisations and across many different sectors. A key differentiator is that we are not solely focused on finance training.
Maninpulating numbers is easy. The difficult part is making sense of the numbers - understanding what they really mean - and how they can mislead. Many of the key drivers in a business do not appear in the financial statements - culture, relationships, skills, attitudes and so on. One needs to understand the business before one can even begin to understand the numbers.
For instance, the most difficult part of evaluating marketing or training or investment in IT is deciding what numbers to use. Sophisticated analysis of the wrong numbers is worse than no analysis at all. Finance cannot be divorced from the real world.
So our finance courses are directed towards the kind of questions that managers want answered. Such as :
- how do I justify investment in new equipment
- how do I calculate ROI on a marketing campaign or training programme
- what will be the impact on the bottom-line if sales are 3% higher or lower
- do we have sufficient working capital to increase stock or to offer extended credit
- should I lease or buy
- should I outsource certain activities
Our company has been providing finance training for managers since 1998 (and for ten years before this under a different guise). Here is a flavour of some of the projects that we have undertaken:
- finance for non-finance managers programmes for Punch Taverns, eDF, Thinc, Ted Baker, Virgin and Ericsson
- finance and budgetting workshops for Gulf News (Dubai)
- measuring marketing effectiveness programmes for Cisco and British Marine
- finance for marketing professionals for Oxford College of Marketing
- finance for sales account managers for Ericsson
- developing business cases workshops for ntl:Telewest
And in a broader context:
- 4 module programme for civil engineers May Gurney encompassing finance, strategy, business planning, and customer focus recently completing its ninth iteration
- 2-day strategic workshops for managers of Rajawali, Indonesian conglomerateGulf News (Dubai)
- 9-day marketing management programme for Oxford University Press
- Paul Taylor has been an accredited facilitator on the Ericsson global leadership programme for over ten years
- designed, developed, delivered and trained trainers for 15-module middle and senior management programme for ntl:Telewest (now Virgin Media)
- development of leadership programmes for Bausch and Lomb, Punch Taverns, Freebridge Housing
Managing Consultant, Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor has worked as a consultant for almost 20-years. Prior to consulting he was a FTSE-100 marketing manager and major account executive with Plessey and Boeing.
He has a Masters Law Degree from Oxford University and an MBA from Cass Business School.
He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
