About BBI

BBI is an assocation of Management Consultants who provide deep expertise across multiple sectors and markets. Our Consultants specialise in the Financial Services, Travel and Digital Media sectors. They all have long experience of working with clients in China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and other Asian markets. 

In addition to our Members, we have currently some 20 Associates around the world who all meet the established criteria. BBI is a tight-knit, small network of like-minded, trustworthy individuals all of whom have senior management experience in business over a considerable period, most with significant international experience in a range of geographies and businesses. It is an Association or Federation of independent business people providing consultancy and any relevant business services to clients for the benefit of participating members.

Wherever we take on projects, be it in UK, Europe or globally, we work with this trusted network of established local nationals and expatriates. This network will continue to grow selectively and where necessary to meet client needs. We welcome contact from prospective associate members.

You can see more about our Associates below.

David Powell

David enjoyed a 30-year career in the international travel and financial services business,as a senior executive first with American Express and subsequently with Thomas Cook. In this time, he worked and lived in Asia, Australia, the USA, UK and twice in Japan. His last corporate position was as representative of the Welsh Development Agency in Japan, promoting inward investment to Wales and working at senior management level with over 50 Japanese companies, including Sony, Matsushita, Sharp, Hitachi, and Toyota. In 1999, he established a private marketing company, Kudos, in Tokyo, which he sold in 2007. Now based in UK, he continues to pursue private business interests, focussing particularly on UK/Japan opportunities.


Cary Bush 

After an initial 6 years with firm of Chartered Accountants in Bristol, Cary joined American Express working in various areas of Finance for 20 years in the Far East, mainly in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. More recently, he owned and operated, with his wife, a small Townhouse Hotel and Japanese Restaurant in Bath, which was sold in April 2007. He has since engaged in the selective provision of accounting advice and consultancy and involvement in a number of small entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups, currently focussed on two specialist retail boutiques.

Christian Ryan

Christian took his MBA at Cranfield and enjoyed a successful career with Goldman Sachs in Tokyo and London, managing operational risk and all aspects of back-office processing, streamlining of processes and efficiency improvement. With strong project management skills and entrepreneurial flair, he recently resigned his GS role to concentrate on the pursuit of an independent business career and promptly secured himself a rewarding consultancy with Apple Europe. He is based in Fulham with his Japanese wife, Junko, and young son, Jack, and new daughter, Grace.

Greg Sutch

Greg was brought up in Japan and educated in the UK. After reading Japanese at the University of Sheffield, he worked in Japanese local government and then the airline industry before joining Intralink as its general manager in Tokyo in 1996. He spent 10 years working in the company’s Tokyo office, growing the team from two to ten and delivering work for clients across a broad range sectors. In 2001, he set up the company’s operation in Shanghai, followed by similar operations in South Korea and Taiwan. In 2005, he relocated to Shanghai and three years later to the UK. In 2010, he was appointed group CEO of Intralink and in 2011 led a successful debt-financed management buy-out.    

Martin Chillcott FIDM

As Marketing Director of American Express, BA Air Miles, M&G, Thomas Cook and Time Life, Martin has been responsible for leading success in UK, Canada, Germany, Turkey and USA. 

Founding Hotchilly Marketing in 2002, he has planned marketing strategy for over 30 clients 3 VS backed launches.   

An experienced marketing trainer and Course Tutor of the IDM Diploma (and Fellow of the Institute of Direct & Digital Marketing)

He recently joined the Board of Advance Performance a running store retailer 

He lives in the village of Castor near Peterborough and is married with 2 grown up children. He is also an established Local FM Radio and Internet Radio presenter with weekly music shows 

Pablo Kusher [Mexico]

Pablo is a senior–level executive with over 30 years international experience in travel and tourism throughout Mexico (his home base) and Latin America. Responsible for developing global business strategies, managing sales and implementing new products and services, he held senior General Management positions with American Express in Argentina and Mexico and, subsequently, Thomas Cook and Carlson Wagon Lit in Mexico.

He is currently President & Owner of the Horizon Group based in Mexico City and is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Hebrew. 

Andy Davison [Malaysia]

Andy is a Chartered Accountant who has extensive international experience, mostly in Asia. Initially he worked for American Express in finance, becoming CFO Australia, followed by Japan. After a spell in New York HQ, he became Head of American Express business in Malaysia developing and managing the card business. After leaving American Express he remained in Kuala Lumpur to found and launch an independent print and digital media company in Malaysia which is now well established. He lives in Kuala Lumpur with his wife and has four children living there. His company, TEG Media, represents the Government's Malaysia My Second Home programme (see Partners section)

Andrew Cefai [Singapore]

In 1999, Andrew set-off from the UK to study Japanese at Hosei University in Tokyo, as an exchange student from the University of Sheffield and never looked back. After 13 years in Japan, Andrew relocated with his family to Singapore in 2012 and is currently heading-up Regional Marketing & eCommerce for Hilton across Asia Pacific. Over the last two decades, Andrew has had the privilege to learn from some incredible mentors whilst building-up, training and leading winning marketing and business development teams throughout the region. 

Prior to joining Hilton, Andrew was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Capital Services Group; an independent asset management specialist with a US$30 billion Asia Pacific track record. Andrew was recruited to Capital in Tokyo in 2006 and was appointed to the Senior Management and Risk Management Committees in 2008; with oversight across key Asia Pacific markets. During this period Andrew also co-filed two patents focused on trading methodologies and systems. Before Capital Services Group, Andrew worked at major ad agency, Dentsu, (now Dentsu-Aegis) and before that at Kudos, a Tokyo based private marketing company.

Barbara Smith

Barbara comes from a big-business background and worked for the chief executives of Vickers/Rolls-Royce and Thomas Cook before going freelance. She has worked for herself ever since supporting start-ups, small companies, charities and individuals. She has particular expertise in project and event management, public relations and brand management, governance, effective administration and managing stakeholder and client relationships. As a strategic thinker and innovative problem solver she understands the bigger picture as well as the underlying detail. Her approach is tailored to the client's needs, from hands-on support to streamline day-to-day tasks to high level advice on the delivery of wider objectives.

Andrew Clark

Andrew has an extensive background in the international airline industry, financial services and corporate travel related services. He was a pioneer in American Express Travel Management Services as one of the first National Accounts Directors, subsequently moving to Thomas Cook as Director Global Travel Management. He used his commercial knowledge and understanding to then develop into the data identity and information sectors with particular expertise in payments, identity theft protection, databreach and online reputation & brand management. He co-founded Dataspaces Corporation– which was acquired by US based CSIdentity Corporation in 2012.

In 2013 he co-founded Investors in Technology with Paul Venning, a former American Express colleague. IiT provide expertise to emerging and developing businesses including sales & marketing, strategic planning, key recruitment and staff development, as well as highly competitive software and app development. Andrew is also a Non-executive Director and Board Advisor with CEX Solutions Ltd, a fast growth SaaS business targeted at the pharmaceutical sector.

Keith Beecham

Keith was responsible for the VisitBritain (trading name for British Tourist Authority) operations in Japan in the 1990’s. His role was subsequently expanded to include Asia-Pacific, including China and Japan from his base in Hong Kong, before he returned to UK headquarters with the responsibility for marketing Britain and managing VisitBritain’s global network of overseas offices. Latterly, he spent 6 years as CEO of the newly created Visit Jersey agency and is now an independent consultant from his London base.

 

Patrick Harper-Smith 

Patrick is one of the founding directors of Project Leaders International (PLI) Ltd. – a consulting organisation working in the areas of training, consulting and software. He works with a variety of organisations ranging from small start-ups to large multi-nationals, worldwide. He is an accredited coach for the UK Government Growth Accelerator programme. Previously he was Director of training for Asia Pacific for American Express and Managing Director of Kepner Tregoe in Singapore. He is the co-author of an FT Fast Track publication on Project Management. He lives in Surrey with his wife Helen and has 2 grown up daughters.

Max Grosse

Throughout his 39 years with American Express, gained extensive knowledge of the Foreign Exchange and Travel Service Industries. Primarily based in the UK, with appointments in both Italy and Sweden where, in 18 months, he turned a failing operation into a profitable business.  The last ten years were spent building and managing the American Express Franchise Partner Network across Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. This included identifying, training and appointing new partners in markets as diverse as Kazakhstan and Cameroon. Concurrently he worked to re-build the American Express Business Travel franchise across the Middle East. Currently, Max is employed as an independent business consultant for YBA Kanoo, a Bahrain based company, who purchased the retail Foreign Exchange and Travel operations from American Express in the UK and France.

Kip Parker 

Kip spent 17 years with Sky TV running one of their news information services.   After leaving Sky he set up his own consultancy and provides business development services to a number of organisations including the Queen’s Award winning easitNETWORK and Raileasy, one of the UK’s leading on-line sellers of rail tickets. He manages Raileasy’s innovative Train Tickets For Charity scheme and is also helping them to build their corporate rail business. As well as being a regular voiceover artist he has produced successful TV commercials and corporate videos. He lives in Berkshire with his wife and 2 children. 

Peter Gunton 

Peter spent 20 years with American Express, starting his career travelling the world as an Internal Auditor for American Express before being assigned to Tokyo where he was Director of Marketing for the newly launched cards business, subsequently transferring to Hong Kong as regional Marketing Director Asia Pacific and then developing and expanding the Membership Rewards program in the Asia Pacific Japan region.  He joined MasterCard for 1 year in 2000 as Vice President to launch their MasterCard Consulting unit in North Asia.

Peter then joined Korea First Bank in Seoul as Head of Card Services and Insurance for 5 years assisting a private equity led transformation of a formally insolvent South Korean Bank, which was subsequently sold to Standard Chartered Bank. During this time Peter was also a Board Director of BC Card, the largest payment processing company in South Korea.

Since 2007 Peter has assisted in entrepreneurial initiatives including an insurance entity in Japan as well as managing his own investments in areas of Biotech, Fintech and Mining.

Bienvenido Claravall [Philippines]

Bienvenido Claravall is a Philippine tourism industry practitioner since 1969. He has work experience with leading travel and tour organizations, such as the Grey Line Sightseeing Group of Companies, American Express International Travel Services and Blue Horizons Tours and Travel. He does consultancy work for the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Myanmar, Palafox & Associates Urban and Regional Planners, CHL Consultants (Ireland) and Berkman International, among others. 

Mr. Claravall is a resource person of the Department of Tourism (DOT), a subject matter expert of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), a member of the Tourism Industry Board Foundation Inc and the chair of the Industry Working Group (TIBFA-IWG) for travel and tour services. He is also active in education as a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Philippines, Asian Institute of Tourism since 1988, and the author of the textbook and workbook entitled “Travel Management and Tour Operations in the Philippines” currently on its 3rd Edition. 

Charles Middleton   

Charles Middleton brings the strategic focus and mature business judgment gained during two decades of top tier CFO experience in a dynamic global blue chip market leader. A career Finance professional with extensive global experience, Charles has a strong record of driving improved profitability across diverse markets and products in the financial, travel and software services sector. Operating at the board level, Charles is an expert in leading Finance organizations to set and deliver business objectives:

  • Results focused with target-driven P&L management and delivery
  • Strategic and annual planning activities, financial modelling analytics and forward looking business intelligence
  • Driving business transformation through re-engineering and restructuring
  • Active M&A and divestiture activity including cost benefit analyses, financial evaluation, partner selection, negotiation and due diligence
  • Devising and implementing business and financial risk control processes and compliance programs

During six years as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for American Express Business Travel Europe and Global Foreign Exchange, Charles helped lead both businesses into profitability, achieved, through cost and headcount reduction programs, real estate consolidation, new technology deployment, supplier contract negotiation and elimination of overheads. Of his 10 years overseas, Charles spent 5 years in Paris as VP Finance directly supporting American Express global Corporate Card and Travel businesses

Charles is now an independent businessman, specialist in establishing legal entities, statutory and regulatory compliance, implementing appropriate financial and business processes covering accounting, reporting, forecasting, budgeting, investment appraisal, long range planning and strategy formulation. Companies include those in the PR and software services sectors.

Mark Palmer

Mark Palmer is a writer, journalist and media consultant. He began his career in New York City where in 1982 he became the first Englishman to win the Cub Reporter of the Year award. On his return to the UK in 1985, he became Bureau Chief of the Middle East Times before joining the Evening Standard.
 In 1988 he was appointed editor of Southside, a free magazine in south west London, where he spent a year before joining the Sunday Telegraph, where he became News Editor. In 1996 he joined the Daily Express as Executive Editor. His first book, Lost in France: the story of England’s 1998 World Cup, was published in November of that year.
 During the 2000s, Mark set up Mark Palmer Associates Ltd and was hired variously as media editor of the Evening Standard, media commentator for The Times, while also contributing widely to newspapers and magazines, including The Spectator, Country Life, Heritage Today, The Oldie, Tatler.
He became Travel & Property Editor of the Daily Mail in 2010. He is the author of Built to Last: The Story of Britain’s Best-Known Shoe Firm, which chronicles the history of Clark’s shoes from its inception in the early 19th century until the present day.

Paul Venning

Paul’s early career was in sales and marketing at Reed Elsevier, the leading multinational media and publishing group, before moving to American Express for thirteen years, where he founded American Express Travel Management Consulting Services in EMEA. He then joined one of the major executive search firms initially in Europe and was then approached by a major competitor to run their multiple location operation in the USA, based in New York. Building on his expertise in retail and consumer financial services, cards, payments and ecommerce, he founded Venning Thorn Inc in 2000 and VT Resourcing in 2008.

In 2013 he co-founded Investors in Technology with Andrew Clark, a former American Express colleague. IiT provide expertise to emerging and developing businesses including sales & marketing, strategic planning, key recruitment and staff development, as well as highly competitive software and app development. Paul is also a Board Advisor and investor with CEX Solutions Ltd, a fast growth SaaS business in the pharmaceutical sector and a Trustee in the Not for Profit/Charity sector.