Business leader with commercial, marketing and customer focus
Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom
- Current
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- CEO at TrueTalk
- Past
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- Group Commercial Director at Stone Group
- Sales & Marketing Director at Sharedband
- Commercial Director at Dixons (DSGi plc)
- Education
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- London University (Bedford College)
- Recommended
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38 people have recommended Keith - Connections
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500+
connections
- Industry
- Computer Hardware
- Websites
Keith Collins’s Summary
Keith is a highly creative and inspirational business leader whose excellent track record for adding value and delivering results wins respect from customers, partners and colleagues. His excellent commercial acumen is based on a breadth of experience in marketing, sales and procurement.
A self starter, who has established his own consultancy and raised investment for a technology start-up, Keith is also an accomplished business leader having built, inspired and aligned teams in large matrixed corporations like Dell and Xerox.
Keith Collins’s Specialties:
Commercial marketing product service professional experienced strategic leader skilled communicator strong team motivator channel partnerships alliances direct public sector education retail merchandising vision sales business development P&L budget merchandising purchasing research propositions product planning forecasting branding advertising DM on-line internet events speaking presentations PR analyst relationships restructuring acquisitions start-up growth B2B B2C funding investment
Keith Collins’s Experience
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CEO
TrueTalk
(Marketing and Advertising industry)
June 2005 — Present (4 years 6 months)
TrueTalk is a marketing consultancy business which focuses on marketing valuation and resource optimization for IT businesses. Looking at strategy and tactics employed and researching the business stakeholders to understand the market perception and real value.
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Group Commercial Director
Stone Group
(Computer Hardware industry)
June 2008 — May 2009 (1 year )
Stone Group manufactures computers, laptops and servers primarily for the UK public sector / education market. As well as being awarded all major educational and public sector frameworks, the Stone Group has well-established relationships with leading IT market suppliers i.e. Intel, Microsoft. The role of Group Commercial Director encompassed, product development, marketing, solution sales and strategic alliances.
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Sales & Marketing Director
Sharedband
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Networking industry)
October 2006 — June 2008 (1 year 9 months)
Sharedband is an early stage technology business which sells a patented software solution to ISPs and Telco's in the UK and US. The software bonds internet connections to improve broadband performance and resilience specifically targeting small and medium sized businesses. Initial seed funds were raised from angel investors in 2006 enabling the market trials to commence in Q1 2007.
The sales and marketing director responsibilities include business development, sales revenue, customer pipeline, channels and customer propositions, market and brand strategy, business planning, product roadmap, contract development, publicity, website / collateral development, fund raising, and strategic alliances. Key achievements in the first year were a successful trial phase leading to initial customer revenues and subsequently a contract with BT wholesale to supply the UK market. -
Commercial Director
Dixons (DSGi plc)
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Retail industry)
September 2005 — April 2006 (8 months)
This position was a fixed term contract to manage the final peak season prior to integration with the Currys chain. The responsibilities included business direction and communication with store operations, advertising, promotions, brand management, point of sale materials and collateral, events and PR, KPI measurement and strategic direction for the trading teams. There was a central management team of 9 and a program budget of £12m covering TV, national press, collaterals and PR.
* The main success was a dramatically improved trading season for Christmas 2005. It was best peak season for 5 years recording year on year growth of over 8%. This was attributable to good availability of key lines, focused promotions and clear communications. The results of the successful trading period led to a series of recommendations for the development of the chain once transitioned to Currys management. -
UK Marketing Director
Dell
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Computer Hardware industry)
August 2003 — May 2005 (1 year 10 months)
The UK marketing director position was responsible for supporting the B2B relationship sales teams a matrix of seven sales functions. There was functional responsibility for product management, web marketing/store, market intelligence, strategic alliances and sales training. With a team of 24 and a program budget of $16m covering TV, press, direct marketing, events, publications and PR. Key achievements included:
•On joining the UK marketing team had the lowest employee morale in the company. After 6 months leadership, with good recruitment and team building the results had improved 40%. The improved morale led to increased productivity and better support which helped fuel growth in sales.
•Trebled marketing activity without incurring additional expenses by leveraging strategic alliance marketing budgets. These joint marketing programs with alliance partners also helped drive the corporate objective to enhance enterprise credibility. -
European Communications and Channel Marketing Director
Xerox
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Computer Hardware industry)
March 2002 — July 2003 (1 year 5 months)
After a significant restructuring in 2002 - the printing business integrated with the traditional office copier business, Keith assumed the overall responsibility for channel marketing and marketing communications. Key achievements included:
•A pan-European integrated marketing program in one theme included advertising, direct mail, web marketing and over 90 events. This program met all its objectives and successfully launched the reformed Xerox Office Group to customers, trade partners, press and employees.
•Created a channel branding program and infrastructure which dramatically simplified and made coop marketing far more efficient. It also ensured that partner activities were branded and targeted to meet corporate objectives. -
European Marketing Director
Xerox
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Computer Hardware industry)
January 2000 — January 2002 (2 years 1 month)
In January 2000 and Keith assumed the role of marketing director for the merged Xerox office printing business. This position covered responsibility for all marketing functions and budgets across Europe. The central team grew from 18 to 30 – and program budgets from $18m to $30m.
•Implemented an innovative and effective forecasting process built around channel reports, market trends and sales feedback. The process was responsible for significantly reducing stock levels, providing clear business direction and accurate financial forecasting. -
European Product Marketing Director
Tektronix
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Computer Hardware industry)
March 1999 — January 2000 (11 months)
Soon after joining Tektronix’s colour printing business it was acquired by Xerox in January 2000
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European Product Marketing Director
AST Computer
(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; Computer Hardware industry)
June 1996 — October 1998 (2 years 5 months)
AST was the 6th largest PC manufacturer in the world in 1996 and the business was acquired by Samsung during 1997. Initially responsible for the consumer product range Keith established a streamlined product range across Europe and radically overhauled the supply and demand process to reduce excess and obsolete stock which had been damaging the business profitability. Following his success with that strategy he assumed responsibility for the entire product range including notebooks and servers. Finally Keith helped transition the successful and profitable notebook business into Samsung’s product portfolio.
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Merchandise Manager
Staples
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Retail industry)
January 1993 — February 1996 (3 years 2 months)
Selected as part of the start-up management team for this retail joint venture in the UK the role was responsible for the computing, peripheral, software and accessory range. This included vendor selection, management, purchasing, promotion, marketing and store merchandising. The launch phase of Staples business was fast and extremely successful – opening 30 superstores in just 3 years. The key achievement during the roll out was driving over a third of revenues from this range and consistently being considerably over plan.
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National Sales Manager
Amstrad
(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; Computer Hardware industry)
February 1984 — December 1992 (8 years 11 months)
Responsible for PC and office equipment sales, successfully established new distribution channels to support a market leading position in the UK with annual revenues in excess of £150m and up to 14 sales staff.
Keith Collins’s Education
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London University (Bedford College)
B.Sc. (Hons) , Physics & Computer Science , 1977 — 1981
