Martin Stanton

07980 012382
martin.stanton@emcltd.co.uk

Martin Stanton is a highly motivated, professional company director who has spent more than 20 years on the main boards of both UK and German companies. Specialising in ‘customer-facing’ and communication disciplines, he brings valuable experience and skills, both strategic and tactical, to any business seeking to improve sales, marketing, internal and external communications, training, and general business performance.

Martin’s early years were spent as a scientist at the National Physical Laboratory, researching the practical applications of laser technology and, later, developing artificial intelligence computer systems. Perhaps, more interestingly, he was part of a government agency set up to research the growth in potential extra-terrestrial sightings. He later became a systems developer working on the creation of the Police National Computer Unit with Hoskyns.

His sales background is founded on sound, traditional sales training at Honeywell Information Systems where he sold IT hardware and software into blue-chip financial organisations in the City of London. As sales manager with a team of some 16 sales people, he consistently exceeded targets by between 30% and 70%.

Having then spent two years at PA Management Consultants as a strategic marketing analyst, specialising in PC technology and cellular telephone networks, he was headhunted to Feedback Data in 1983 as sales and marketing director where he spent eight years developing the business. Key achievements include the setting up of four European subsidiaries, the acquisition of Feedback’s main competitor and moving the business focus from end-user to dealer-based. Results matched the activity with a 40% increase in turnover over a three year period which included a major economic recession.

The next move was to Espera Scales Ltd in 1991, the UK subsidiary of a German food processing equipment manufacturer, where he was recruited as managing director, primarily for his sales and marketing skills and knowledge of the German language and culture. During his nine years at Espera he grew the business by 400% with a margin improvement from 37% to 46%, and created a company that was recognised as the market leader in the field.

In 2000 Martin became an independent management consultant with EMC, assisting clients to increase sales and margin through creating and implementing more effective sales, marketing, and communications processes.

Examples of assignments include:

• Joining Crowson’s Fabrics, a £28m market-leading retail and wholesale producer of fabrics, as interim operations and training director, Martin was tasked to reduce the extremely high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. By carrying out a needs assessment against the company business plan, he was able to create and implement a training plan, covering all aspects of the business from sales to manual handling, and management skills to health and safety. Dramatic improvements in staff morale and job satisfaction resulted in a consequent reduction in lost working time.
• Appointed part-time interim director of sales, at a £5m UPS supplier whose growth had ceased. In this role he completely re-engineered the sales and marketing process by establishing the business goals, removing non-performing members of the sales team, recruiting new sales and support personnel, appointing a marketing manager, creating a new lead-generating web-site, implementing a CRM system with the disciplines to operate it, carrying out both sales and management training, setting up a high-profile PR campaign, and mentoring the MD to drive the business forward. Results showed a 44% increase in turnover between 2004 and 2005.