About
Tom is Professor Emeritus at the University of Liverpool Management School and holds an Emeritus Professorship at Gresham College London. Born in Liverpool, Tom’s career embraces the public and private sectors, academe and new ventures. He was Founding Dean of the Management School at Stirling University and subsequently Director of Manchester Business School (MBS). On leaving Manchester, Tom was Chief Executive of the UK Government’s Management Charter Initiative and later the government’s Management and Enterprise National Training Organisation. Subsequently he was Chief Executive of the Respect London, a charity set up by Anita and Gordon Roddick. Before joining the University of Liverpool he ran Ideopolis International a research company focusing on high growth Cities.Earlier he was the Mercer's School Memorial Professor of Commerce at Gresham College, one of the oldest Higher Educational institutions in England based in the City of London and founded in 1597 out of the Will of Sir Thomas Gresham, the financial agent for four successive monarchs from Henry VIII to Elizabeth. Tom has held academic appointments at Warwick, Middlesex, Durham and Buckingham Universities and visiting Professorships at Universities in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Asia as well as non-executive Directorships in UK companies. Over his career Tom has successfully supervised 50 Doctoral Candidates. He is External Examiner at the British University in Egypt. In his work on entrepreneurship and small business, Tom has engaged with over 20,000 entrepreneurs and ventures.
Tom has strong links with policy makers in the EC, UK, Australia, USA, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, India and Pakistan. Tom has worked with the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the US Department of Commerce, the governments of Dubai, New Zealand, Vietnam and India besides the Cities/Regions of Helsinki, Nantong, Hong Kong, , Barcelona, Valencia, Berlin, Wallonia, London, Manchester and Liverpool. He chaired the New Vision for Business study initiated by the Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, the then UK Prime Minister. He has worked with blue chip firms such as American Express, Microsoft, Airbus, Tesco, BT, NatWest Bank, Body Shop, BP, General Electric, Virgin, IBM, Trinity Mirror, Shell, ICI, Body Shop, Dow Chemicals, Ambrosetti Group, HSBC, Ernst & Young, and Goldman Sachs. Tom pioneered work on the Third Generation of Science and Technology Parks. He has developed expertise in benchmarking Cities against the Ideopolis indicators and measuring the economic impact of events and assets such as Science Parks and NTB based growth industries.He pioneered research into the business, economics and finance of sport notably soccer but embracing an array ranging from the Olympics, through Gold to the America’s Cup. Most recently he led the University's successful bid to deliver the unique Thoroughbred Horseracing Industries MBA sponsored by the British Horseracing Authority and the Horse Race Betting Levy Board
He has given Public Invited Lectures for among others: Graduate Management Admission Council, International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation, European Commission, US Small Business Administration, World Mega Cities Development Forum, OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct, Confederation of British Industry, Institute of Directors, City and Guilds, Institute of Management, Foundation for Management Education, Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development.
He has published 25 books the best selling, Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs and How To Get Ahead in Business for Virgin Publishing and twenty research and text books such as Women at Entrepreneurs with Sara Carter, Corporate Responsibility and Marketing. He has published almost a hundred academic and professional papers besides writing regularly as a columnist in The Guardian and The Financial Times. He broadcasts on TV and radio.
Prizes or Honours
- Honorary Doctorate (National University of Vietnam, 2009)
Funded Fellowships
- Fellowship of City and Guilds (City and Guilds of London, 1997)