It is an honour and privilege to recommend John Francis. I am currently the General Manager for Connect Security Products Ltd (CSP), where I have worked for seven years. Four years ago John Francis began to work closely with our CEO, Jason Mackie, in a business advisory role (I was Finance and Office Manager at the time). Initially John addressed profitability within the company, guiding us towards achieving – and maintaining – 35% gross profit margin. John schooled the team on product and service pride and the importance of protecting our margin, and engaged a third party to deliver Customer Service training. In parallel, John and I began implementing more structure around our administrative and operating processes, bringing transparency – and consequent accountability – within the Management Team. In the latter part of 2017, I assumed the role of General Manager at CSP, and John’s and my relationship of mentor/mentoree began in earnest. John’s strong background in sales and customer service dovetailed beautifully with my finance background, and CSP began moving forward in leaps and bounds. With John’s guidance, we have completely reshaped the internal culture of our company to one that is customer-centric, solution-focused, happy, productive and with a strong sense of pride and personal contribution. Our biggest wins are: Almost doubling the revenue of the company in four years Maintaining 35% gross profit margin, year on year Encouraging challenge around operating costs (currently to budget) Scoring 93% customer satisfaction survey ratings across the company Cultivating and retaining a staff that consists only of A-players Creating an environment where accountability and continuous improvement are not goals, but simply the way we work each day On a personal note, working with John is one of the greatest joys in my day. Cheerful and personable, John has an enviable ability to bring the hard truths to the table in a constructive manner, forward-focusing on adaptation rather than retrospection. He has a wide range of experience within and across industries and is tremendously connected: we have been able to form a number of solid business connections via John’s network. To my mind, it is this enormous experience in relationship-building that complete John’s skillset. He has assisted in the recruitment of a number of our current A-players, and guided us to upskill or re-home those who weren’t the right fit for our organization. He is a great barometer for our team: the staff each have a personal relationship with John and understand he is available to them in a formal or informal capacity as needed. I cannot picture an organization where John would not be able to add value in some capacity: working with him has re-shaped my goals for our company, our stakeholders and our team. I would be delighted to discuss this reference further, should it be required.