About Chris
I am still running businesses, not advising from the sidelines.
I have spent more than 25 years in sales, management, operations and business ownership. I now work with a small number of established business owners to find what is holding performance back and help fix it.
- Experience
- 25+ years
- Perspective
- Built, sold and bought back
- Base
- Shropshire, UK
A focused diagnostic. £500 + VAT.
The advice comes from operating, not observing
I have built businesses, sold one and bought it back. I have grown teams, made payroll in hard months and been the person important decisions came back to.
That experience shapes the way I work now. I look across sales, marketing, delivery, people, process, cost and technology to find where money, time or opportunity are being lost, then help the owner and team address the right problem.
The work is practical. Sometimes the answer is sales. Sometimes it is marketing, operations, cost control, a clearer handover or better management information. Sometimes AI or automation can remove worthwhile work. And sometimes the answer is much simpler.
The point is to fix the right problem, not sell you a predetermined solution.
I have been recognised as Professional Services Managing Director of the Year. Through Reclaim Tax UK, the business has worked with more than 1,000 companies and helped recover more than £100m.
Why the range matters
Business problems do not stay neatly inside departments.
A weak sales process can look like a lead problem. A software request can really be an ownership problem. My background helps me connect the commercial, operational and technical parts before deciding what should change.
01
Commercial growth
Chris held early sales and commercial leadership roles in the motor trade, worked in business development at Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, and grew a business unit at a supplier of OEM fastening systems from approximately £800,000 to £1.1 million in revenue.
02
Operations and leadership
He has expanded teams, managed supplier and customer relationships, made payroll in difficult months and dealt with the daily decisions that come back to an owner when processes and accountability are not strong enough.
03
Business ownership
Chris built Reclaim Tax UK with his business partner Richard Canfer-Taylor. Together they sold it in 2021, repurchased it in 2024 and remain involved in operating the business.
04
Technology and software
From developing the early video-CV proposition People Portal to building Keystone AI, Keystone Site and Gain Momentum, Chris has used technology to solve operating and customer problems rather than treating software as the answer by default.
How I work
Start with the business, not the solution.
I want to understand what is actually happening, what it is costing and who owns the result before recommending a tool, system or programme.
One connected view of the business
- 01 / Commercial
Distinguish a weak market opportunity from a sales process that is simply not being followed.
- 02 / Operations
Reveal when a technology request is really an ownership, handover or management problem.
- 03 / Technology
Identify where integration, automation or AI can remove worthwhile work: and where it cannot.
- 04 / Ownership
Keep advice grounded in cash, capacity, people and the consequences of implementation.
Current operating work
I remain hands-on in the businesses I own.
That matters because I am still dealing with sales, people, systems, customers, cash flow and growth in my own working week. It is also why I only take on a maximum of two hands-on programme clients at a time.
Tax relief and incentives
Reclaim Tax UK
Business partner with Richard Canfer-Taylor
My business partner Richard Canfer-Taylor and I built Reclaim Tax UK after seeing how often legitimate tax reliefs were left unexplored simply because nobody had the time or specialist knowledge to investigate them.
See Chris's involvement
AI and customer response
Keystone AI
Founder
Keystone AI came from a problem I kept seeing in trade businesses: a good enquiry arrives while somebody is on site, then the response depends on memory and spare time.
See Chris's involvement
Site-to-office operations
Keystone Site
Commercial partner with his brother
Keystone Site began as a proprietary response to job information scattered across messages, camera rolls and office systems. Chris later partnered with his brother to bring it to market as software for other construction businesses.
See Chris's involvement
Growth accountability and CRM
Gain Momentum
Co-Founder with Gavin Belton-Rose
Gavin Belton-Rose and I co-founded Gain Momentum to address the gaps between a new enquiry, a reply, a proposal and the next action when those stages sit across different tools and people.
See Chris's involvement
Life organisation and planning
LifeVault UK
Founder
LifeVault UK was built around a practical question: if something happened tomorrow, would the people you trust know where to find the information they need?
See Chris's involvement
Branded workwear and merchandise
Good Kit Co
Founder
Good Kit Co came from how awkward branded kit usually is to order: high minimums, unclear artwork approval and no straight answer on what will actually turn up.
See Chris's involvement
What happens next
Know the business should be performing better?
Start with an Owner's Review when several issues are connected and you want to know what deserves attention first. If the work needs implementation, I can stay involved and help put the agreed changes into practice.