Jon Clarke MEng Curriculum Vitae 

Key Achievements

• Proactively sourced and implemented flexible trade financing options for Magmatic Ltd

in excess of US$250,000

• Managed a diverse, multi skilled team that resulted in 250% company growth for two

consecutive years, from US$500k to US$4m, covering UK and global export markets

• Negotiated the contractual terms under which the 20 global distributors of Magmatic Ltd’s

products operate, and worked with solicitors to create all applicable contracts and terms

of sale

• Set up two businesses that achieved profit within their first years of trading

 

Personal profile

• Driven and committed; quick to define goals, set targets and push constantly to achieve them

• Adaptable and flexible; picking up any new skills required quickly and to a high standard

• Empathic communicator; always establishing the needs of others and acting with their requirements in mind

• Committed and reliable; used to working under pressure from a diverse range of challenges and producing results

I can use the dynamic skills and experience from rapid growth start up business with the systematic and thorough approach of a trained engineer. I want to use this to benefit small growing businesses in need of reliable and effective systems to allow them to realise their potential.

Recent Career History and Experience

April’09 to July’09: Volunteer at COMPRAS

COMPRAS is a logistics and sales provider based in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, that works with various Fairtrade coffee cooperatives around the Chiapas region to assist coffee supply into North American and European markets, including the UK.

• Liased with the staff at COMPRAS in Spanish to define relevent targets for my work to ensure that the organisation would meet FLO standards during the next audit
• Based on these requirements, performed an audit of the electronic filing systems for shipping documents and created a paper filing system from scratch
• Developed my awareness of Cooperative business and Fairtrade process through discussions with the staff and the tasks that I performed

The Dunham Institute in Chiapas, Mexico, provides English lessons to local students with qualified teachers that are native speakers.

• Trained to TEFL standard within a month and attained distinction grading after evaluation

• My role involved teaching beginner level English to three separate classes with students between the ages of 6 and 20 in varying group sizes of up to 12 students

• It required flexibility to react fast to the needs of the class, patience and an appreciation of different learning styles and abilities to allow the individual students to realize their potential

• I developed the ability to relate complex ideas and communicate without using language as the only resource

• I was responsible for planning and executing all lessons, formulating tests to check progress and evaluating and reporting on student development

• Additionally, I was involved in the TEFL training program at the Institute, observing and giving feedback to trainee TEFL teachers

Nov '06 to Jan’09: Magmatic Ltd - commercial manager

Magmatic Limited designs, manufactures and distributes travel products for children and families. Initially recruited to cover sales and marketing, I identified areas in which the business could develop and created new systems or optimized existing ones to achieve agreed targets with the director.

• Started working as one of a two people within this start-up company and my role grew with company requirements to a position of managing the UK distribution and global export operation within 12 months. This consisted of servicing 10,000+ annual UK consumer customers, 550+ UK trade customers and 20 worldwide distributors with the assistance of four in-house staff. Under these circumstances I assisted a company growth of 400% within two years.

• Sourced a US$250,000 trade loan to supplement working capital for increased product demand. This money was used to allow for more frequent shipment of products, and assisted a global sales increase of 250%. The increase in product turnover also allowed Magmatic to negotiate better payment terms with manufacturers and shippers

• Created all recruitment and HR procedures for Magmatic Ltd and recruited and managed all key staff

• Instrumental in developing the company plan and brand development strategy, which covered local and global market development goals, alongside the Director

• Worked with outsourced Chinese manufacturing agents and global logistics firms to produce and deliver products to 30 countries, creating effective logistics processes to manage complex export and import operations. Product quantities ranged from unique samples to 40ft high cube container shipments, the majority sent by sea routes

• Communicated with people on every level; directors, managers, consultants, staff, suppliers, UK customers, international customers from over 20 countries and sub-contractors

• Organised and managed company presence at trade shows in Germany, Hong Kong and the USA

Nov '05 - Nov '06: www.studenthousehunt.co.uk and Bristol Residential Inventories - founding partner

StudentHouseHunt.co.uk was a website created to allow university students to search property to rent online that was advertised by local letting agents. Bristol Residential Inventories was a company that created documentation to prevent housing deposit disputes between landlords and tenants in the property rental market.

• Both companies were started from nothing and achieved financial sustainability within a year of trading

• Both were created after noticing a market need for a service that was not being provided anywhere

• Market research was conducted with surveying of the target customer base to justify demand and refine the service offering of both businesses, leading to a customer base of 72% of local letting agents using Student House Hunt to advertise

• Multi-channel marketing was undertaken to raise awareness of the services of Student House Hunt, and captured 84% of the local student population who either used or visited the website

• Customer feedback was constantly used to improve both the business services and maintained a 100% retention rate

• From an early stage the value propositions of the businesses were incorporated into planning to prepare for sale in the long term

Education and qualifications

2001 - 2005 University of Bristol; Masters degree 2:1 MEng in Aeronautical Engineering 

My engineering training allowed me to take a systematic and thorough approach to my work. Included in the extensive syllabus were units on project management and complex system development

1995 - 2000 Dorchester Thomas Hardye School; A-levels (2xA, 1xB, 1xC), GCSE’s (3x A*, 4xA, 1xB, 1xC)

RYA windsurfing instructor level 1, including 1^st aid and powerboat qualifications

TEFL certificate, Distinction

Hobbies

Sport and outdoor activities; Mountain biking, yoga, surfing, windsurfing, snowboarding and climbing.

At university I volunteered to act as treasurer for the windsurfing club; I had key involvement in pioneering the first national level event hosted in Bristol which contributed to the club being awarded “Sports Club of the Year”

Travel; Destinations include Europe, India, Asia, South and Central America, North America and Africa

Personal details and additional skills

Email: jtgclarke@gmail.com

Date of Birth: 13^th January 1982

Marital status: single, no dependants

Fluent ICT skills; MS Suite, MAC and PC computers, Email and internet use

Basic ICT skills; IDEAS CAD, InDesign desktop publishing, SAGE accounting

Driving license; Full, no endorsements

Languages: Native English, intermediate Spanish and basic French

References available upon request