Operator · Investor · Builder
My background runs from counterfeit detection work for the Bank of England, through twelve years supplying McDonald’s, to building seven and eight figure Amazon brands in the categories most people avoid. Today I work with a small number of experts and manufacturers, for a share of the upside rather than a fee.
Who I work with
At one end: people who are genuinely expert at something, and factories sitting on products the world never sees. At the other: owners who want their business ready for a buyer. Twenty-five years of operating sit in between.
Doctors, PhDs, scientists, elite practitioners. People whose knowledge is world class and whose income still depends on their hours. I turn what they know into products, brands and recurring revenue that earn while they sleep, built to a standard their reputation can stand behind.
Factories holding proven, stability-tested formulations that earn nothing under their own name, because the brands they fill for keep the shelf. I build the brand, the channel and the compliance file. The factory keeps doing what it already does brilliantly: making the product.
Amazon and D2C founders who want out, or want the business in the shape a buyer actually pays for. Clean compliance, healthy accounts, de-risked operations, and an honest read on what it is worth before anyone lists anything.
The work
Digital first, physical second. A course, a community, a diagnostic, then, where the market supports it, a physical product line. Each step is tested with real spend before anything is scaled.
Liquids, aerosols, chemicals, cosmetics. The categories with safety data sheets, hazmat rules and cross-border headaches. The paperwork that scares others off is the moat: once it is done properly, it is a barrier your competitors have to climb.
Before a product is built, I can see what its market already sells, at what price, at what rate. Decisions get made on evidence.
Post-Brexit trade infrastructure, responsible person arrangements, packaging and customs compliance. Cross-border is a design decision, not an afterthought.
Whether or not a sale is the goal today, every venture is built so that a buyer could one day look at it and say yes. De-risking a business raises its value faster than growing it.
Track record
Innovation work for the Bank of England on counterfeit detection.
Twelve years as a McDonald’s supplier.
Built and operated seven and eight figure Amazon brands in regulated categories.
Designed post-Brexit compliance infrastructure used by brands trading in the UK, EU and US.
Rescue and scale work on distressed marketplace accounts, taken on for equity rather than fees.
Currently partnered with clinicians and scientists on product ventures.
My first Amazon sale, in 2010, was a desktop UV banknote detector, the same one I was supplying to McDonald’s restaurants at the time. One order became five the next week, and it grew from there.
How I work today
Most of my work is structured around shared upside, through equity, revenue share or success fees, rather than hourly consulting, because I would rather be paid for outcomes than for time. I take on a small number of partnerships at once and say no to most things.
If you are one of the three kinds of people above, the first conversation is free, and the second one usually involves homework. Mine, not yours.
Personal
I live in the Irish countryside with my young family, support Everton FC with more loyalty than reward, and give time to a project renovating a very old listed country estate.
Get in touch
If you are a credentialed expert, a manufacturer or a brand owner heading for a sale, email me a few lines about where you are now. You can also find me on LinkedIn.