CURRICULUM VITAE

Neil Gardner MBA ACIM

SUMMARY:

An energetic and multi-skilled Marketing Manager with 24 years’ experience gained within technical products

and engineering consultancy services markets. MBA-qualified in 2011, with a successful career progressed

through business development, account management and marketing roles. Results-focussed with a proven

track record of delivering business growth and increased brand awareness. A customer champion who

understands the full business-to-business sales process (suspect to repeat customer) and its marketing support

needs. A ‘hands-on’ approach to task delivery with a full spectrum of marketing capabilities, from strategic

business planning through to promotional campaign delivery using online, print media, press relations and

exhibition management expertise. Enjoys working as part of a team, or on own initiative using effective

communication skills to achieve objectives.

PERSONAL DETAILS:

E-mail: neilgardner@talk21.com

Location: Crawley, West Sussex, UK

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/njgardner

Nationality: British

CAREER HISTORY:

Cobham CTS Ltd, Leatherhead, UK

Cobham CTS develops high-technology products for defence and commercial markets. This includes market-

leading handheld and vehicle-mounted mine and IED detection systems, together with compact satellite

communication terminals, antennas and interference cancellation solutions. The business is a part of Cobham

plc, a FTSE 250 company, employing 11,000 people across 4 continents. www.cobham.com

Marketing Manager – Cobham CTS (January 2011 – December 2014)

Key Responsibilities:

• Management of the strategic and tactical marketing function, including the line management of 2 staff

(a Product Marketing Executive and Digital Media Coordinator).

• Strategic market planning to deliver 5-year business objectives, covering market and competitor

analysis, revenue forecasts and product technology roadmaps.

• Creation and delivery of ‘through-the-line’ product promotion campaigns to support business plan

objectives, including exhibitions, press releases, product announcements, advertising, internet content

management and digital/print marketing collateral.

• Close support to sales teams providing lead generation activities, hosting of product demonstrations,

presentations, customer events and the provision of media content for bid preparation.

• Cobham Brand Champion, responsible for approvals, maintenance and protection of the corporate

brand identity, including the implementation of local processes to ensure brand guidelines are

correctly applied across the business.

• Member of the Cobham CTS Senior Management Team

Key Achievements:

• Secured 2011-2014 business growth with orders up 29%, revenue up 45% and profit up 19% by

strategic focus on key customer requirements and technically differentiated product performance.

• Achieved 2011-2014 Counter-IED product line order growth of 148% by successful implementation of

strategic product awareness campaigns to reach and influence targeted global customers.

• Delivered an annual UK and European exhibition programme of 18 exhibition events, with stand sizes

ranging from 6m2 to 150m

2, with full project lifecycle responsibility to maintain market-lead presence

at key targeted shows.

• Recipient of a prestigious 2014 Platinum Cobham Staff Award for marketing innovation in the use of

virtual-reality technologies for new product demonstrations. Patent registered for the technology.

• Managed the creation, approval and publication of 20 annual news releases and a media approvals

process, increasing the issue of media items by over 65%.

• Introduced a new Cobham brand identity across 3 separate UK businesses. This included a new

company logo, implementation of new brand guidelines, and changes to the trading name of each

business. Brand transition was successfully completed on-time within a 3-month period.

• Created a full suite of online and offline marketing collateral to support high-technology product

ranges, including brochures, datasheets, catalogues and application videos, strengthening brand

identity and improving communication of product benefits.

ERA Technology Ltd, Leatherhead, UK

ERA Technology Ltd (now Edif ERA) is a market-leading technical consultancy providing a wide range of

professional services for multi-disciplined engineering markets. Technical expertise includes infrastructure

asset management, electrical and mechanical engineering, electromagnetic compatibility, product safety,

software integrity and information services. www.era.co.uk

Head of AccessERA and Marketing – ERA Technology (February 2007 – December 2010)

Key Responsibilities:

• Full profit and loss responsibility for a £750k business unit providing information services and training

courses, including the line management of 11 staff.

• Development, resourcing and launch of new information and training course products to maintain

evolving market training needs and changing technical regulatory environments.

• Management of the corporate marketing function to deliver lead generation requirements for all ERA

business units within agreed annual budgets, including the line management of 2 staff.

• Provision of both digital and print ‘through-the-line’ marketing campaigns to support a highly

consultative technical sales process, including the publication of targeted white papers and thought

leadership journal articles to reinforce core competences.

Key Achievements:

• Merged the corporate marketing function with the consultancy-based services business to lower

overhead costs by 8% through staff reduction.

• Maintained revenue and profit to an agreed budget in recessionary trading conditions.

• Reduced staff turnover from 29% to 7% in same period.

• Organised separation activities around the divestment of non-core service lines, completing a full

programme of separation tasks across legal, financial, customer and supplier domains, with no impact

and continued revenue growth within the retained business.

Marketing Manager, System Integration & Test Solutions – ERA Technology (January 2004 – January 2007)

Key Responsibilities:

• Development and implementation of a strategic marketing plan for a £5m telecommunication systems

integration business providing knowledge-based technical resource teams for verification, validation

and testing (VV&T) projects.

• Driving market penetration by acquisition of strategic new customers using a highly consultative sales

process to increase market share.

• Set-up of strategic alliances with appropriate VV&T test tool vendors and trade associations.

Key Achievements:

• Acquisition of Vodafone as a new UK key account, with an initial £500k mobile handset functionality

testing project to test new content services delivered from a WAP-based portal.

• Establishment of a new supplier framework agreement to facilitate increased revenue from BT, an

existing key account.

• Design and production of a full suite of online and printed marketing collateral to support lead

generation activities.

Client Relationship Manager – ERA Technology (January 1998 – December 2006)

Key Responsibilities:

• Key account management of BT, Railtrack, BAe Systems, Eurotherm and London Underground.

• Identification and development of multi-level strategic business relationships with key procurement

and influencing staff within each allocated account.

• Marketing of ERA capabilities within key accounts to promote cross-selling opportunities for other

parts of the business.

Key Achievements:

• Business growth achieved in all accounts, including 170% revenue growth with BT over a 3-year period.

• Implementation of a new CRM database for key account contact management.

Business Development Manager – ERA Technology (January 1995 – December 1997)

Principal Sales Engineer – ERA Technology (January 1993 – December 1994)

Senior Sales Engineer – ERA Technology (July 1991 – December 1992)

Sales Engineer – ERA Technology (April 1990 – June 1991)

Key Responsibilities:

• Sales promotion of ERA’s subscription-based information and training course service to engineering

companies throughout the UK. Promotion to Business Development Manager, responsible for a team

of 3 Sales Engineers.

Key Achievements:

• Achieved an annual record for the number of new company service subscriptions received.

QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

Start May 15 CAM Diploma in Digital Marketing – Oxford College of Marketing (self-funded distance learning)

2008 - 2011 Masters in Business Administration (MBA) - Warwick Business School

2003 Dealing with the Press and Media Workshop – CLEAR Communications (London)

2002 Practical Business-to-Business Marketing Workshop – Cranfield School of Management

2000 Key Account Management: Best Global Practice Workshop – Cranfield School of Management

1985 - 1987 HNC/ONC in Electrical & Electronic Engineering – Central Sussex College

1983 8 O’Levels - St. Wilfrid’s Comprehensive

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

2015 Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (ACIM)

SOFTWARE APPLICATION EXPERIENCE

Business: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Outlook, Visio

Creative: Adobe Design Suite (Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop), Camtasia Studio 8, Hit Film 2

PERSONAL INTERESTS:

Keen road and mountain bike cyclist, organising weekly training club events. Social golfer. Enjoy waterskiing

and snow sports. Help for Heroes supporter, raising over £45k for the charity since 2012. Full driving licence.

Personal and business references available on request.