Following a successful career within hospitality management, I spent a number of years as MD of a specialist hospitality recruitment company, which I co-founded. Having recognised that the time & resource allocated to recruitment was rarely matched when it came to retention activity, in September 2001, I founded learnpurple to help companies to engage, develop and retain their people. We work across a variety of service industries and love helping them to achieve great results. We work internationally, from an office in Covent Garden, London. In addition to running learnpurple and, since 2005, its sister company; talent toolbox, I hold two non-exec directorships; am a member of The Talent Foundation; President of the HCPTA; a fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and a trustee of Arena. I am also a visiting fellow at both Oxford Brookes and Sheffield Hallam Universities and a frequent contributor to the press, regularly invited to give speeches and media interviews on people issues.