Ian Brookes BA, ACA, MBA is a chartered accountant with a PwC background and over 30 years hands-on business finance, leadership and board-level roles in professional services, plc, technology and start-up environments.
After eight years with PwC in a variety of consulting roles in the UK and overseas, he was founder CFO at an IT Services business, taking the business to a FTSE listing and latterly spent five years as CEO. In this time, the company grew from an £18m private company to a £200m turnover plc.
Today he guides and mentors exceptional entrepreneurs, helping them turn their innovative ideas into successful high-growth businesses. His focus is on technology and software development, as an investor, advisor and non-executive director.
Besides start-ups and high-growth businesses, Ian also works with established organisations who have got ‘stuck’ in their thinking and need an external catalyst to either stimulate a new direction or create breakthroughs, in more focused commercial strategies, re-energised sales focus, new product and services development.
Ian summarises his consulting style and approach to working with clients as ‘I help the blue sky thinking and washing the pots’ in terms of bringing discipline, clarity and focus to their strategic thinking, planning and execution.
Ian has worked as curriculum designer, tutor and mentor on undergraduate, postgraduate and executive learning courses and MBA programmes at Manchester, Lancaster and Sheffield University Business Schools.
Outside of work, Ian’s passions are sport (now a spectator rather than on the pitch), reading and visiting lighthouses — he’s curating a book on the story and history of the 200+ UK lighthouses. This makes for great outdoor treks, albeit frequently in cold, wet and ridiculous cliff top locations.
