Get Your Business on Track.
Commercial Strategy + Sustainability
Berkshire · Surrey · Thames Valley
What it means for you
Commercial Strategy + Sustainability are connected.
Your profitability, customers, markets, products and positioning don't exist in isolation from changing customer expectations, sustainability requirements and business risks.
I bring two areas of expertise together.
Commercial Strategy. Understanding where the business makes money, where it is losing ground, which customers and markets matter, how the proposition needs to evolve and where the best opportunities lie.
Sustainability. Understanding climate transition impact on business, ESG, customer, procurement and wider sustainability requirements that can affect your costs, contracts, customers, products and future competitiveness.
Together, we look at what those changes mean for your business and what you should actually do about them.
Where do we actually make money?
Which markets and customers should we target and which should we leave behind?
Is our positioning still credible, or are we making claims we can't support?
What should we stop, improve or develop?
What should marketing and sales do differently?
What capabilities and data are we missing?
Which sustainability requirements actually matter to our business?
Where can sustainability reduce cost, protect customers, reduce risk or create commercial opportunity?
The point is not to create another report. It is to agree on what needs to change, what happens first, and who is going to make it happen.
How I work
The work starts with understanding what is really happening in the business, commercially and strategically and through a sustainability lens.
I bring commercial strategy and sustainability expertise together to help owners and leadership teams understand what needs to change, agree the priorities and make those changes happen.
That might mean:
Leading a specific commercial or sustainability project.
Working alongside the leadership team on a defined challenge.
Taking responsibility for a wider commercial or strategic transition.
There is no fixed consultancy package or prescribed process. The work is shaped around the business and the challenge in front of it.
Selected Track Record.
My background is in commercial strategy, strategic marketing and running businesses, alongside more recent work and training in sustainability and responsible business.
Commercial realignment and proposition restructure. B2B content
Reworked the commercial model and proposition, growing revenues to £6m and improving operating margin by £900k.
Commercial strategy and customer sustainability requirements. Retail marketing and logistics
An 18-month advisory engagement covering customer RFP requirements, sustainability positioning and commercial strategy across internal teams.
Strategy and commercial audit. Global online publishing
Reviewed and repositioned the commercial model and value proposition for the next phase of the business.
Sustainability strategy and commercial roadmap. SA Brain
Developed a practical sustainability strategy that gave the leadership team a clear foundation and pathway for moving forward.
Responsible business workshop. German National Tourist Board
Ran a workshop exploring what sustainability means for marketing and how it can become part of a credible customer proposition.
About Me.
I am a Commercial Director with more than 25 years’ operational and board-level experience in commercial strategy, marketing and running businesses.
My background includes Commercial Director at BBC Worldwide, Marketing Director at Universal Pictures and Commercial Marketing Director at Capital Radio Group, followed by Managing Director roles leading £2m–£10m B2B media, marketing, publishing, events and intelligence businesses.
Alongside that commercial experience, I have developed specialist expertise in sustainability and responsible business helping organisations understand the commercial implications of changing customer expectations, sustainability requirements, risk and regulation.
Credentials & Frameworks:
MBA · FCIM (Fellow, Chartered Institute of Marketing) · Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) · Carbon Literacy Facilitator · Future-Fit Accredited Advisor (In progress)
Contact
Berkshire · Surrey · Thames Valley
Some Recent Client Testimonials
“I've worked with Gavin for the past two and a half years and have found him to be a truly inspirational leader. His expertise in running businesses (and turning them around!) is second to none. I have learned more from him about business strategy, commercial awareness and people management in the past two years than I have during my entire 17-year career in publishing.
CEO, Dialogue Content Agency
“What really sets Gavin apart is how well he gets both the sustainability world and the commercial one. That mix meant we ended up with a strategy that wasn’t just ‘nice to have’ but something people could get behind and deliver. He brought our teams along for the ride and helped us talk to clients about it in a way that felt honest, inspiring, and practical.
He made a big difference to our journey. I’m really glad we had him on board and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking to do sustainability properly." November 2024
-Group Managing Director, Retail Marketing & Logistics Company
“Gavin combines commercial thinking with practical sustainability expertise. He focuses on what sustainability means in real business terms rather than theory or ESG reporting.
He provided clear, actionable advice and a coaching style that helped us rethink how we approached the challenges we were facing. He also delivered a written strategy document that gave us a practical foundation and pathway for moving forward.
It was a strong mix of commercial clarity, practical sustainability insight and hands-on support.” May 2026
-Nick Payne, Managing Director SA Brain
"We had a brilliant workshop with Gavin – lots of fantastic insights and a whole new perspective on sustainability and marketing in a sustainable world."
-German National Tourist Board
