Nigel Ayres knows how to develop and implement a viable business strategy and has a track record in leading change which transforms service and cost.

Nigel qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1982 with Peat Marwick followed by three years practice in Hong Kong.

In 1987 he joined Lloyds Bank and rose to FD, Lloyds Bank Registrars following its high profile operational failure. He initiated change programmes instrumental in transforming business competitiveness, achieving 57% market share and turning losses to record profits. He reviewed opportunities to use the core competences developed in new sectors setting up a new business unit providing services in the broader outsourcing market.

In 1996 Nigel joined Accor Corporate Services USA a business providing benefit administration services across the US. Nigel was brought in as CEO following a systems failure to restore service delivery and financial control and to identify a strategy to take the business forward. He worked with the existing team to identify and resolve the underlying organisational, control and systems issues.

He then identified the opportunity to exploit the growing work/life sector and built the Work/Life Benefits brand. He used alliances to broaden capability and capture significant Fortune 100 customers such as Chrysler, Sears and Bank of America. Overall in two years he doubled revenues and reversed losses to over 50% gross margins and built a strengthened management team.

In 1999 Nigel returned to the UK to Siemens Business Services as FD to provide commercial leadership to the £1bn NS&I contract which involved outsourcing their full operations and transferring 4,100 staff. It is one of the few public sector deals hailed a success and rescued a declining business.

Nigel managed the systems and infrastructure investment and transformed the finance team from public sector to private sector best practice. He established innovative management systems to drive change, contractual performance and manage risks. He established joint planning with NS and was involved at all levels of the governance structure to ensure the priorities of both organisations remained fully aligned.

In 2002 Nigel became COO of Hays Container Services, a US logistics start up. He managed the set up of operations, finance, IT and HR. He led business development with Wal*Mart and alliance discussions with a key competitor.

Following the successful sale of Hays Logistics, Nigel returned to the UK and set up Xceda. He worked with a leading corporate advisory firm to review a potential investment in an outsourcing business and advised an IT outsourcing business on developing their BPO capability. He then took up an assignment as Business Development Director, setting up a business delivering outsourced services to the publishing sector. Services include sales agency, e-commerce, digital asset management, print management, international freight and IT outsourcing.