...tomotive e-commerce solution in 7 years. Sold for £100M
Recognised as ‘One of the top 40 managers under 40 in the UK’
1997 Managing Director BMW (GB). Led the business to 4 years of record growth improving sales by 40% and profitability by 500%
1995 Also Managing Director Lamborghini GB. Rebuilt brand, product strategy and commercial success
1992 Managing Director Porsche GB. Refocused a business close to bankruptcy, in 5 years created the UK’s most profitable car company
2006 - 2011 walked to both North and South Poles (with 18 year old son), climbed the World’s highest peaks – all for Leukaemia Research
International cricketer, rockband guitarist
In more detailKevin Gaskell qualified as an engineer and accountant before building his career in the construction sector, the chemical industry and then the automotive sector.
In 1987 he joined Porsche GB and 4 years later, at the age of 32, was appointed UK Managing Director. Inheriting a business which was close to bankruptcy he refocused the business back to its engineering heritage and in 5 years turned Porsche into the UK’s most profitable car company. He was subsequently recognised as ‘One of the top 40 managers under 40 in the UK.’ In 1996 he accepted the role of Managing Director BMW (GB) where he led the business to 4 years of record performance growing sales by 40% and profitability by 500%.
In 2000 he surprised the automotive community when he left BMW to found CarsDirect.com Europe, a pioneer in the online sales of cars. When the company's shareholders retrenched to the USA the team used the opportunity to create epyx Limited; a business which, in only 8 years, established it’s 1 Link platform as the UK’s standard e-commerce solutions to the automotive fleet sector. In 2009 he sold his share of the business to the management team and HgCapital.
From 2001 to 2007 Kevin held the position of Group Chief Executive of EurotaxGlass’s AG, Switzerland. With his team he converted an assortment of companies in 31 countries into the global leader in the provision of online data, systems and software to the automotive sector. In 2007 he led a €480 million MBO before stepping into the role of non executive President. He left the company in 2010.
After serving as Chairman for 3 years he is now Deputy Chairman of Achilles Group, the global leader in the provision of supply chain data and the winner of the ‘2011 Sunday Times FastTrack’ award for the best private equity performance. He is Chairman of Courland, the global automotive recruitment company and Chairman of Dorney Court Walled Garden, a venture reintroducing people to the fun of gardening.
He has played cricket for his country but now relaxes by playing in a rock band. Constantly searching for a new challenge he celebrated his 40th birthday by climbing on Mount Everest and in 2006 he walked unsupported to the North Pole to raise money for Cancer Research. Three years later he then walked, this time with his 18 year old son, to the South Pole to raise yet more funds for charity. He has recently climbed Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus as part of his next adventure - the ‘seven summits’.
Presentations will be tailored to the needs of the audience and the requirements of the conference organiser. Content is highly topical and pragmatic and based on 25 years experience of managing significant companies and achieving extraordinary results. With an open and involving style practical advice is given to show how the audience can apply the tools and techniques to their own business - ‘How to start doing this stuff on Monday morning!’. According to conference requirements presentation length can be 30 – 90 minutes.
- Building a world class company: Great companies are creative and make progress despite, or sometimes due to, difficult environments. Driving change or leading a turnaround is the key challenge for a leader. How does a company ensure it has a clear vision and an aligned team? What steps should a leader take to drive the business onto the next level of success? How can it be fun for everyone involved?
- Practical leadership in a challenging market: What is the job specification of a corporate leader ? How can the leader create a positive corporate culture and drive a business to success despite a challenging market? What does a leader need to bring to the role and what can they expect to take from it? How can they achieve extraordinary results, even in difficult times?
- Leadership or Heroship*: Success in adversity. Fewer than 100 people have walked to both the North and South Poles. Using practical lessons contrasting the experience of walking to the poles with that of driving business success key messages are discussed and a structured approach to achieving success identified. *This topic can also take the form of 2 x 1 hour sessions where one session focuses on lessons from the polar expeditions whilst the second translates those lessons to the business environment.
- Building a world class brand: Great companies build great brands. How are brands developed and how is long term value enhancement achieved? How does the brand’s position within its market segment affect the product perception? Repositioning of the Porsche and BMW brands are used to illustrate the process.
- Automotive sector commentary: Specific issues including the development of the European retail market, legislation, financial perspectives for retail dealers and vehicle manufacturers.
Testimonials
“Everyone I’ve spoken to from the event is still buzzing a week later. Kevin was awesome, an inspiration and quite simply one of the best speakers we have had the privilege of hearing from. Kevin’s use of practical lessons to identify how success can be achieved even in adversity was particularly useful and he maintained the perfect balance between humour and serious content. Kevin was exceptionally professional and a pleasure to work with and we WILL be inviting him back soon”. Carole Beverley, CEO The Entrepreneur’s Forum
“Thank you for the inspirational speech you delivered to open our Google Think! event last week. Your on-stage presence and natural charisma shone through. This coupled with the strength of your content and the clarity of your messages raised the quality of our event from the outset. You injected gravitas, humour and credibility. You played a key role in opening the minds of the audience and getting them to 'Think'! The overall success of the day was in no small part thanks to you. I hope that you would consider speaking again on our behalf at a future opportunity.“ Richard Trinder, Director, Google UK
“Absolutely motivational, thought provoking and inspiring, you moved and enthused our audience, you were a superstar today in our World Forum, and you thoroughly deserved the award of ‘Best Speaker’ as voted by our audience from among 8 top international speakers, please accept our invitation for our next year forum”. Sepehr Tarverdian, Managing Director, World Management Forum 2011
"Kevin is one of a very few corporate speakers who can both skilfully engage an audience as well as share credible business experience and practical ideas that can be rapidly implemented in any business. He hasn't just dreamt up academic ideas for running more profitable businesses; he's road tested them in the real world, can demonstrate the results and will show you how to do the same for your business." . Matt Crabtree, Managing Partner, Positive Momentum Limited