Hi everyone,
I joined this forum back in October, but did not introduce myself. The following is blagged from another forum I joined last week, so please forgive the copy and paste.
About me.
I am Gerry Pridham. I was born in Ashton-u-Lyne and my parents took me to Australia when I was 8, returning to the UK when I was 16. I graduated from Imperial College in London as an engineer, and have lived in seven countries and worked in countless more.
I became self employed at the age of 26 and after a business failure carried a debt the size of a semi-detached house for the next five years until I got the opportunity to work overseas again.
This millenium has been very kind to my family. We came to the UK for the children's education. After six months, I joined a FTSE100 company as a contractor for three months and ended up staying for seven years!
My wife and I own three businesses (UK, Dubai, Spain). We have spent most of 2006 and 2007 rapidly building a UK and overseas property portfolio. We intend to maximize the asset value of that portfolio during 2008, since we have already reached about 80% of our target.
What I am looking for from this forum.
Like many of you who will join this forum, I have been inspired recently by reading about how ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results. I don't communicate well with negative people, but spend a great deal of time trying to motivate people to be positive in their outlook. I thrive in the company of entrepreneurs, who motivate me to step up to the next level. I look forward to communicating with like minded people with a positive outlook on life.
What do I have to offer others on this forum?
I have over twenty years of experience in business planning, both as a consultant for corporations, and as an individual responsible for the continuing success of our own private companies. I am told by my peers that I have excellent planning and execution skills in a wide range of businesses. I have managed over 240 projects during the past ten years, ranging from 3 days to 12 months.
I am a Chair of Governors of an extraordinary Grammar school in the independent sector, and my personal interest in this respect is participating in adding value to the education of young people. This school is extraordinary because its intake has a high proportion of pupils with special needs, which builds enormous self-confidence in the cohort who achieve much higher grades on exit than the national average.
I am passionate about truth, standards and extraordinary performance achievable by otherwise ordinary folk.
In August 2007, we set up a Spanish company in Fuerteventura as a vehicle by which our Spanish investments will expand.
