Chris Ogden is founder and Managing Director of BusinessNext.
Chris has worked with many blue-chip companies and with small start-ups in the U.K., Canada and Europe over his 30-year consulting career.
His early career was at Queen's University Computing Centre where he designed and installed software for the University's main systems and later managed the computer operation.
He joined DMR Group and has worked as a project manager, systems architect, strategist and executive educator over a period of nearly twenty years in Canada, the U.K. and Europe.
In specialising in helping companies develop strategy, he's come to realise that many Chief Executives, Board members and senior Directors find the business of "planning for the future" difficult. This is unsurprising; for most of the time, their job is to run the business.
As well, many consulting organisations often use confusing and arcane language that only succeeds in overwhelming the client. Chris and his Associates strive to use simple language and to avoid using "consultant-speak".
Chris is known for his original thinking and for his tenacious yet relaxed facilitation skills.
Chris is a Fellow of the Institute of Business Consulting (FIBC) and is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). He has an M.Sc. in Computing and Information Science from Queen's University, Canada and a PGCE in Executive Coaching from University of Derby.
Chris is also a qualified executive business coach. He obtained a PGCE in Executive Business Coaching from the University of Derby in 2005.
View Chris Ogden's profile
Peter Wesley - Partner
After taking a business degree Peter learned his trade in FMCG marketing. He then spent 13 years with Citicorp in European card businesses before becoming the first SVP Sales and Marketing for TeleWest (now Virgin Media). He then worked in the dotcom world launching a b2b trading platform.
More recently Peter has consulted for many organisations principally in the services sector including: M&S, Costa Coffee, La Tasca Restaurants, Arbitron Marketing Information Services, and Livebookings Reservation Systems.
Peter’s skills are in organising and focusing marketing and sales activities so that they achieve corporate goals.
In tough times, like those we are experiencing now, that may mean taking a hard, objective look at the profitability (or otherwise) of different types of customers and at the returns actually achieved by marketing investments, and then changing the way business is done.
As the business environment improves so innovation steps forward as a priority. Peter has spent much of his business career “boldly going” working on the bleeding edge of innovative businesses.