Recommendations for John (taken from www.linkedin .com)

As Chief Executive British Bookshops and Stationers

“John has a unique style of management which I and many others found refreshing and empowering at BBS. He was truly engaged in each area of the business and demonstrated passion, vision and energy which was infectious and made people challenge the status quo and always want to do better and go the extra mile.
John encouraged, supported and nurtured potential and made people feel that they were important and contributed to the success of the business, regardless of position. This skill most certainly led to the positive and inclusive culture that formed at BBS with many people sharing with me how much they loved working at BBS.
On a personal level, John was extremely supportive, fun and charismatic to work with. I can not recommend him highly enough and would not hesitate to work with him again in the future if the opportunity arose.” February 13, 2011 Caroline Surey Head of Human Resources, BBS.

 “John proved to be an extremely experienced CEO with the ability to drive the team to meet his high expectations. By his leadership he empowered staff to make decisions but was there to support, inspire and motive when needed. John is an approachable manager who took the time with all to guide and teach creating a happy, hard working team.
I would welcome the opportunity to work with John again in the future.” January 30, 2011 Samantha Lee, Area Manager, British Bookshops and Stationers reported to John at British Bookshops and Stationers

“John took over at British Bookshops when it came out of administration in 2009 and immediately opened the communication lines with all of us publishers further up the supply chain. His common sense and open approach led to us dealing with the chain directly again while agreeing some stringent and stretching parameters and goals for the account. John and his team delivered their side of the bargain for the first year and more and the turnaround of the business saw significant growth in his time in charge and prompt payment to us as creditors. I suspect that conditions imposed on BBS around his MBO were as much to blame for the difficulties that the chain now find themselves in as much as the poor trading conditions at Christmas 2010 that were felt by the entire bookselling industry.” January 26, 2011 David Roche, Group Sales and Trade Marketing Director, HarperCollins Publishing

“I worked alongside John and the team at British Books to support a major turnaround and business restructure. I found John to be personable and supportive of all around him, whilst steely and absolutely resolute in his determination to secure the long term and profitable future of his business.” September 27, 2009 Nadine Jones, Freelance Business Consultant, Nadine Jones

European Managing Director The Jewellery Channel

“I highly recommend John as a reliable and fair partner whom I enjoyed working for. He has been a pleasure to work with and I was able to learn a lot."” October 28, 2008 Olaf Kliem, Managing Director, Der Schmuckkanal Deutschland GmbH
reported to John at The Jewellery Channel

Trading Director WH Smith
“John is a highly professional executive, who brings huge personal commitment to his work. He has a wealth of experience and a strong commercial focus. It was a pleasure working with him.” April 16, 2009 Cathy Ferrier, Business Unit Director, W H Smith worked directly with John at WH Smith