My 19 year journey in digital
I am a Digital Non-executive Director, Advisor & Consultant, helping businesses navigate the online world, enabling them to identify opportunities for their business to grow and become more efficient using digital. I'm there to help whether you are already active online and looking to grow, have challenges with suppliers, or are new to it and need some support.
I understand what it takes to create, grow and run a successful business having done it myself. I have also worked with start-up companies so know their challenges, at a senior level in a fast paced, growing FTSE250 Plc as well as a digitally focussed, even faster growing international tour operator. So I know how to do what I do at scale and how to produce results.
Digital can appear faceless, jargon filled and technical and i'm looking to change that by building relationships with my clients, as people buy from people. I care about the work I do and the businesses I help. If you need proof of that read my LinkedIn recommendations where there is a good mix of what i'm like as a person and my experience and achievements. I left a very well paid senior job to do what I do as I wanted to make a difference and get a better work/life balance for my family, and its the best thing i've ever done. I wrote an article called ‘How I Found My Why’ which provides a good overview of my experience and explains why I do what I do now.
I don't take on too many clients, I make sure that I have a real connection with the ones I have and that I have enough time to make sure I know their business and them as individuals. Only then can I help them implement change that can really help their business grow.
On a personal level I spent the first 9 years of my life living abroad in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Kenya before moving back to Glasgow where I have remained ever since. I attended Strathclyde University Business School and finished with a degree in Marketing & Tourism. I now live on the outskirts of Glasgow, 20 minutes from the city and 30 minutes to Loch Lomond with my wife Karen who is a branding consultant and daughter Georgia who is 11 and is going to be an amazing young woman.
If you think I can help your business contact me and we can have a chat about your challenges and where I think I can help you. I can be as involved as much or as little as you need. If I can't help I will tell you and will likely know someone who can.
21+
Years experience
There are very few digital coaches with over 19 years experience who have founded and run a successful business and worked at board level in a £5bn turnover FTSE250 plc. There are even fewer who have also worked internationally.
60+
Businesses helped
I have helped many businesses large and small across numerous industries implementing significant business change, unlocking their online potential, delivering more revenue and improving efficiency. Perhaps more importantly though i’ve helped business owners achieve their goals through digital.
45+
Websites & Technology projects
One area that can be particularly daunting for business owners and senior teams are website and technology projects. How do you decide what you need, how do you write a good brief, how do you find the right agency and make sure you are getting value for money? I can help by coaching you through the process or taking the lead if you need more hands on help.
35+
Staff recruited
I have spent my career helping businesses to assess and improve in-house teams coaching them to perform better and where needed bring in specialist help. Without experience its hard to know what staff you need, who is capable of doing a good job and how you recruit specialists into areas like SEO and paid search. I can help you through that process.
A selection of LinkedIn testimonials from former colleagues, clients and suppliers
“Graeme made a very positive contribution to our business. He has excellent technical knowledge in the whole area of digital marketing and combines this with a strong work ethic. I have no hesitation in recommending him.”
— Andy Bruce (CEO - Lookers PLC)
“I worked with Graeme for a number of years at Lookers plc. Graeme headed up the digital team based in Glasgow and brought a huge focus to the company’s approach to digital and social marketing. His experience and development of our digital strategy brought a significant increase in lead generation. True professional and genuinely nice guy!.”
— Duncan McPhee (Franchise Director - Lookers PLC)
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work alongside Graeme for over 3 years, in that time I’ve found him to be a great font of knowledge in the world of online marketing (SEO, PPC etc). His team and his leadership of the team has led to some real transformational results in Lookers online KPIs. He is also equipped with a rare ability to span the different domains of customer experience, technology, partner management and marketing.”
— Attiq Qureshi (CTO - Lookers PLC)
“Graeme was an integral member of the SLT. He is calm, organised & thoughtful, with a great sense of humour - all invaluable attributes. Graeme led the marketing team through a period of transformative change. He was instrumental in delivering Macs a new website, which is performing extremely well, generating a high volume of high quality leads for our sales team. The search & customer portal features he brought in by project managing the developers was leading edge. I have never experienced a systems implementation which came in on time & under budget! Graeme also improved our SEO & PPC return on investment by bringing in ex colleagues of his. A significant contributor to the continued growth of Macs.”
— Vicki Woods (Finance Director - Macs Adventure)
“I have worked with Graeme at Lookers for more than 2 years. He is efficient, detail-oriented, extremely organised and has never missed a deadline for an assignment. Graeme is dependable, responsible, honest and courteous. He is also conscientious with regards to budgets and respectful of others’ opinions. Graeme has received recognition for his contributions from the most senior members of the leadership team on several occasions.”
— Heike O’Leary (Group Marketing Director - Lookers PLC)
“I was a colleague of Graeme’s at Macs Adventure. He is a savvy marketer, professional and a thoughtful and caring team member. His work clearly demonstrates deep experience in, and an in-depth knowledge of the digital marketing world. He’s technically strong and really grasps the details while at the same time keeping the big picture in mind. He's a strong manager, driving results toward strategic goals and completion of big long-term projects. His direct reports clearly respond well to Graeme and have a great amount of respect for him. He’s a genuinely nice guy and a pleasure to be around. I would work with Graeme again in a second!”
— Alex Norton (Head of North America - Macs Adventure)
“Graeme and I worked together as part of the senior leadership team of the Macs Adventure Group. In his role as Head of Marketing he was responsible for the development and implementation of the marketing strategies for all three Macs Adventure branches: Macs Adventure UK, Macs Adventure US and AbenteuerWege - the office I am managing in Saarbrücken/Germany.
Graeme managed and supported our marketing team in Germany and as they were constantly overachieving our very ambitious goals, we have been growing very fast - more than 120% increase in revenue during Graeme's time with us. This is even more remarkable as the German business is in a very different development stage than the UK/US ones with different market situation, customer base and competitive environment.
In autumn 2019 Grame led the development and launch of a new website for the whole Macs Adventure Group which has been a phenopmenal success as with its market-leading design and set up it generates twice as many new leads as the former website. With his clear analytical thinking and his calm self-confidence Graeme was a big asset to the Macs Adventure Leadership Team.
Personally, I enjoyed working with Graeme as we had a very open, supportive and constructive relationship. Of course I would be delighted to work with Graeme again in the future - he is a star!”
— Alex Zewe (MD - AbenteurWege)
