Biography
Barbara has over 25 years in the field of buying and selling at Director level. She currently holds a number of roles including: Managing Director with Cormack Consulting Group who facilitate business between international countries helping companies globalise and is a trainer and advisor in exporting for Scottish Development International and has recently completed a programme in International Selling and Negotiating with Invest Northern Ireland.
She holds a Doctorate in Customer Retention, an MBA in Retailing and a Degree in Marketing. She is a lecturer in International Sales Management, Entrepreneurial Leadership and Professional Selling with Napier University, and is currently writing a new Batchelors Degree “The Science of Selling”, she is also an Associate with Teesside University working across the SME agenda focused on local business growth and MBA programmes, and a visiting lecturer with the Stockholm School of Economics delivering lectures on Consumer Behaviour, and International Selling. Through the universities she is also a consultant to local businesses helping with business development and growth.
She is also an invited speaker at European business conferences and seminars across topics such as “Internationalising your Business”, “Working in the UK Market”, “Managing Risk in Exporting” and “The UK Food and Drink industry”.
She has also written bespoke training modules such as Inside the mind of the buyer, Key account management and Sales Management today.
She started her trade with Tesco working her way up to Trading Director with a final responsibility for over £400 million sales and a team of over 30 people. Her career expanded into other areas such as General Manager, Commercial and Sales Director for a number of different companies and within different industries. Her experience allows for a fuller understanding of selling, procurement and exporting across large and small companies.
She also is a business consultant and has worked with some of the biggest brand names such as Mars, Masterfoods, Unilever, Dolmio, Heineken, Hellmans, Flora, Nivia, Walkers and Johnson Brothers.
Barbara is also a mentor with the Scottish Chamber of Commerce.
Her publications include: “Customer Retention through the equal incorporation of continuous improvement, culture and customer service” and “A holistic framework to embed good company practice for customer retention”.