Wayne Bird

Experience

• 

  Olan Mills Photography

  Oct 1997 - Apr 2007

  National Operations Director

  Led an efficient and profitable performance, through the delivery of direct sales, new business development, and training. Responsible for meeting budgetary and sales targets through motivating and developing staff, consistently achieving and surpassing Key Performance Indicators. Led 40 Studio & Business development Managers, delivering a turnover of £28.3mAchievements• Led sales strategy, planning and execution for a loss-making operation, reviewed and refined the sales process, expenditure accounts and resourcing models, delivering a 23% increase in revenue and a 28% in profit. • Designed and implemented a new call centre consultation service, reducing cancellations by 27% and the no purchase percentage by 43%, improving customer satisfaction, customer retention and revenue.• Introduced a skills academy to improve the efficiencies, productivities and retention of team members. Developed multi skilled customer focused employees; reducing payroll costs by 19%, whilst improving customer satisfaction scoring.• Developed and implemented a new performance management and forecasting framework across all studios. • Directed teams across various channels, such as customer services, photography and production; whilst driving business results through telesales, sales and exhibitions.• Supported the Executive team in developing strategies, cost estimates and value proposals to support the concession partnership with Mothercare plc.• International Performance Leader of the year award 2006. Show less

• 

  IKEA Group

  Aug 2007 - Nov 2010

  Led the development of the business area in order to optimise sales and profitability and therefore strengthen the IKEA position as the best home furnishing retailer in the local market. Leading and managing 25 store co-workers in sales, design and logistics whilst delivering a turnover of £12m.Achievements • Increased previous year’s sales by 6%, improving the departments UK positioning from 14th to 6th place.• Coached the team to work in an efficient, lean and simple way, maximising skill sets to ensure a successful relationship with the customer. Resulting in all sales co-workers achieving 100% in mystery shopper scores.• Improved service sales training, resulting in the highest sold kitchen to installation sales % in the UK.• Consistently achieved monthly inventory KPI’s through monitoring and controlling product availability efficiencies.• Designed & facilitated an active selling training course, increasing the appliance to kitchen sold ratio from 2:1 to 4:1. Show less Led the development of the sales floor and supporting areas in order to optimise sales and profitability in the long term, focusing on local customer needs, shopping habits, competitor activity and individual/team development.Leading and managing 5 Managers whilst delivering a turnover of £42m.Achievements• Member of the store commercial team; delivered sales growth and improved efficiencies across all areas of the store• Implemented daily add on sales reporting structures and analysis, delivering improved management information, integral to subsequent add on product positioning strategies, resulting in an annual revenue increase of £1m• Duty manager during the opening of the Coventry new concept store, leading across all departments to ensure standards, and a high level of customer experience was achieved for the first day of opening. Show less

  • Buisness Area Manager

    Aug 2008 - Nov 2010

  • Sales Manager IKEA Service Office (Projects)

    Aug 2007 - Aug 2008
• 

  PHOTO CORPORATION OF AUSTRALIA (UK) LIMITED

  Nov 2010 - Nov 2011

  Regional Operations Manager

  Led all aspects of operations, including the development of people, business development, sales, productivity and profits, for an assigned area comprising of 34 employees in sales, photography and management, whilst delivering a turnover of £5m from accounts, Boots, M&Co, Matalan & Mothercare. Initiated and managed event planning/logistics and photography/sales operations for 15 mobile concessions weekly. Managed profit and loss to meet annual operating budgets. Performed monthly financial analysis to maximise regional financial performance. Achievements• Addressed downward spending trends and met sales turnaround and growth goals by identifying opportunities with targeted partnerships (Matalan), achieving a 9% increase to the 2011 sales plan. • Drove revenue increases by 12% from previous year, through the implementation of improved service delivery KPI’s and the implementation of an improved performance management framework. • Designed and executed sales plans and service delivery models; forged strategic collaborations with targeted retailers, with a focus on sales channel partnering. • Improved selling behaviours through product sales facilitation, resulting in a 5% increase in sales averages.• Assessed various staffing needs to determine methods to address current and future conditions, including retention management, realignment, recruitment planning, and career development. Show less

• 

  Working Links

  Jan 2012 - Dec 2018

  Lead accountable for the strategic and operational direction of a Saudi Arabian contractor (Elm), delivering the Government’s flagship employability programme. Led the SMT to regain control, plan for success and deliver a return on investment, through the design & execution of the business transformation strategy & continuous improvement plan.Revived a struggling operation to a turnaround success, delivering gains in, performance, revenue, profit, invoicing efficiency and cash flow, customer satisfaction, market share and brand identity. Grew client business from £10- £14m, distinguishing Working Links as a leader in the delivery of valuable buisness advisory services.•Project managed change management plans, including, risk mitigation, organisational alignment, process design, team behaviour change and management development, to achieve sustainable employment outcomes for 38,000 job seekers •Negotiated a 29% headcount increase, delivering a 72% revenue to staff cost ROI and a 9% increase in profit contribution•Led the change impact assessment towards the move to a new CRM platform. Led internal & external clients, to scope, design & build controls; mitigating the risks to funding non-compliance, performance under-achievement & audit failure •Instituted a quality standardisation framework, critical for the identification of quality & compliance requirements, integral for the transition of continuous quality assurance responsibility to individual team members •Created, led and managed the Target Operations Model & Performance Management Frameworks, designed performance-driven sales-incentive programs, driving performance improvements by 23%•Achieved competitor 1st place performance table positioning 1st half- year 2018 (123%), increasing market share by 5%•Achieved the highest Government contractor audit score (83%) & Leadership & Management audit score (99%)•Forged a long-term commercial partnership, securing over £2.5m of new business contracts Show less Accountable for the operational performance & quality and compliance standards, driving delivery and profitability through the performance management of managers and partners. Led the management team of multi-site government contracts, ESF NEET, DWP 18-24 In Work Support & Surrey LA 14-18 Youth Transformation programme with a combined turnover of £5.3m.Achievements• Orchestrated the development of a poorly performing contract from 16% to 76% job start to employment conversions.• Negotiated additional SFA funding (£385k). Won through contract performance and quality improvements.• Developed an integrated NEET reduction strategy with schools and key stakeholders, commended “as a model of best practice” by the International Matrix Standard. Recognised as a best practice NEET provider by ESF works.• Forged strategic partnerships with digital career guidance experts ‘U-Explore”; supportive to the delivery of cost effective advice and guidance and workforce learning, critical to the delivery of positive contract performances. Show less

  • International Business Consultant (Middle East) Operations Director

    Jul 2014 - Dec 2018

  • Contract Implementation Manager

    Dec 2013 - Jun 2014

  • Performance Improvement Manager

    Jan 2012 - Dec 2013
• 

  Go MAD Thinking

  Mar 2019 - now

  Thinking Engineer (Head of Business Excellence)

  THE CHANGE& BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT SPECIALISTSEnabling leaders and teams to improve results and solve their biggest problems. How? By thinking differently and applying seven proven success principles. www.gomadthinking.com