The Team

The Team

The consultancy was formed in 1988 by Chris Lenton and has provided strategic and planning advice for 24 years. We can provide a range of specialist consultants with many years of experience.

Chris Lenton DipM, FCIM, FCCA, FCIS, Chartered Marketer

Strategic Planning, Corporate Governance; Mergers and Acquisitions, Company Secretarial Practice in the Not for Profit, Institute, Association and Charity sectors

Background

Chris is Chairman of this business consultancy practice. He is the current Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Marketing having been elected in 2007 by the membership to serve on the board and was subsequently elected Chairman by the board. In 2010 he was re-elected by the membership and the board as Chairman for a further term of two years. Chris has held a number of roles previously at the Chartered Institute of Marketing including that of Chief Executive and four other director roles including Group Finance Director and Secretary .

He left the Institute in 2003 to take up a series of non-executive directorships and was invited to become the Chairman of two companies. Chris chaired the London Academy of Professional Education and Research (LAPRO), an educational group, whose international operations are centred in London. He later became the Finance, Operations and Marketing Director of The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, leaving in 2009 to join LAPRO. Chris’s career as a director has centred on strategic planning, marketing and corporate governance. Ethics and corporate social responsibility have played a key part in his business philosophy. Chris has qualified as a Chartered Marketer, Chartered Secretary and Chartered Certified Accountant.

Chris has been a company director (both public and private) for the last 25 years. His interests include representative rugby and international rowing (he still rows competitively), actively supports rugby and enjoys the theatre, music, literature and the arts. Chris was a gold medalist in the coxed four at the World Masters Championships held in Vichy, France in 1989. Chris Lenton born in 1960 is married with two daughters.

Chris Sanders MA, FCIM

Marketing Planning and Executive Coaching

Background

Chris is the current Chief Executive of the practise.

After graduating from Oxford University, he spent twenty-five years in the marketing industry, working with major blue-chip clients in the business to business sector on both client and agency sides.

In 2003 he qualified as a business and executive coach, specialising in leadership development. He runs his own practice, as well as being much in demand as a freelance coach for other coaching and career development organisations. Chris is specialist in strategic marketing planning and marketing communications. He conducts board performance evaluations and helps boards to work together.

Chris Sanders is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, where he currently sits on their Learning and Development Advisory Group and where he formerly was Chairman of CIM Holdings. He is also a member of the International Coaching Federation.

Kevin Thomson FCIM

Marketer, Speaker, Author and Specialist in Business and Brand Communication

Background

Kevin specialises in building brands through the people in the organisation. He is a professional body marketing specialist having helped and advised a number of major bodies. Kevin is an international speaker, trainer, author and authority on communication inside organisations and is accredited by Myers Briggs. Kevin's current focus is on collaboration between and across organisations, and all their communities. He has a background of business, brand, marketing, workplace and change communication in the public and private sectors. Kevin was a member of the BSI committee on Web 2.0 disability communication, a new BSI standard BS8878. He has been on the UK, European and worldwide board of the International Association of Business Communicators. As an IABC board member he was part of a major marketing and organisational change for the association.

Kevin has written numerous books and articles on internal marketing and communication including the ground breaking ‘Employee Revolution’ FT Pitman and Emotional Capital (Capstone). His books have been translated into numerous languages. He is Founder of Collaboration Academies launch date Dec 7th 2010, to coincide with the launch of BS11000 Building Collaborative Relationships; a new BSI breakthrough standard. Kevin is a member of the global Collaboration Consortium chaired by Cisco through his association with Peoplematters a learning and development agency.

Kevin's initial career in external marketing involved innovating and launching new products and brands like Action Man. Kevin began specialising in internal marketing and communication in the early 80’s and built and ran Europe's largest specialist internal marketing consultancy which he sold to WPP. As the driving force of these businesses, he has led a large number of major change programmes in UK public and private sector organisations including re-branding, culture change, mergers and acquisitions, customer service, Total Quality, Business Process Re-engineering and a learning academy for a global telecoms organisation.

John Darragh MBA, MA, FCIM, FIBC

Strategic and Operational Planning for the Not for Profit, Institute, Association and Charity sectors

Background

John has operated as a Consultant, Interim Director and Trainer since 1997 with 20 years' experience advising organisations on how to develop and grow. This includes being a consultant at Bain & Company, strategy director at Staveley Industries plc, an associate at Ashridge Management College and a management accountant at Procter & Gamble.

Facilitated over 200 board level workshops on strategy formulation and implementation. Hands-on experience on serving 9 substantial membership organisations at the independent financial services intermediary (Legal and Financial Needs Ltd) as Interim Managing Director in 2001 and Advisor to the Board 2001 to 2003.

Facilitated a number of forums for Professional Associations, membership organisations and charities on topics from marketing, Governance, web 2.0, internationalisation, performance improvement to revenue generation.

He has advised a number of professional bodies in respect of their strategy and has successfully led a number of workshops on a wide variety of operational and strategic issues facing this sector.

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Lenton & Associates

Corporate Consultants and Chartered Secretaries