With a CV that the Times described as “takes some beating,” Hamish Taylor has an award-winning record of driving innovation and change in a number of very different environments and is now recognised as one of the world’s leading experts in innovation, change, customer focus, brand management and performance.
Hamish brings a rare combination of an outstanding CV with a fantastic ability to inspire audiences, delivered through both the use of stories from his own experience, tailored advice and practical tools as well as his enthusiastic, humorous style.
In the past few years, over 200 organisations in 30 different countries have sought Hamish’s inspiration and he is regularly featured in the broadcast media. Without fail, he receives outstanding testimonials from his customers, from Prime Ministers and CEO’s to front line staff; from major multi-nationals to small groups; from sales/marketing and executive teams to HR, risk, finance and many other functions. Whatever your audience, Hamish’s lessons provide relevant and practical ways of achieving breakthroughs for you and your team.
Hamish was trained in brand management at Procter and Gamble as a Management Consultant at Price Waterhouse, Head of Brands at British Airways, CEO of Eurostar, and CEO of Sainsburys Bank – all before the age of 40. He has been dubbed the “master thief” by the Inspired Leaders Network due to his record of stealing ideas from one environment to use in another (including Yacht designers for aircraft interiors, Disney to help with airport queuing, and rugby referees for new approaches to risk/compliance).
Hamish began his career with Procter & Gamble Ltd. From 1984 to 1990, he held a variety of brand management positions culminating in responsibility for the household cleaner portfolio (Flash brands). Following this, Hamish was a Management Consultant with PriceWaterhouse from 1990 to 1993 specialising in marketing effectiveness studies. He was appointed Head of Brand Management at British Airways at the end of 1993, taking responsibility for the airline’s passenger brands (First, Club, Concorde, Shuttle, etc) and also playing a role in the growing group of BA franchise partners and Alliances. Innovations there included major product relaunches of Club Europe, Club World and First Class.
In 1997, he moved to Eurostar as Managing Director of Eurostar (UK) Ltd. The business was three years old and his remit was to reduce the major losses the operation was suffering. After two successful years in this role, he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Eurostar Group. In 1999, Hamish was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Sainsbury’s Bank, a joint venture between J Sainsbury’s plc (55%) and the Bank of Scotland (45%). The objective was rapid growth in profit from the breakeven position he inherited. The ability to innovate and move away from traditional Banking approaches to behave more like a retailer proved the key to the significant growth that resulted.
In 2004, Hamish Taylor established his own company which focuses on enabling organisations to achieve breakthroughs by looking outside their current environment. Processes, product and people development are all part of this mix. He has also consulted and/or spoken for a wide variety of organisations including Microsoft, RBS, BAA, Camelot, Inland Revenue, Kimberly Clark, Post Office, Ernst and Young, Diageo and the Economist.
View Hamish Taylor’s masterclass: MasterThief – Stealing with Pride
