TONY HARRIOTT CV

My name is Tony Harriott. I am a successful Business Manager specialising in the design, development and delivery of Recruitment, Training and Event Management programs in tune with business objectives for companies wordwide, most recently luxury automotive companies in UK who desire to achieve the highest levels of sales, customer service and brand awareness from their permanent or temporary personnel.

Industry Experience

Automotive (Current)

IT Business Sales and Management (Silicon Valley)

Banking (IT Management Canada and UK)

My Current Role

I am Co-Founder/Director of Connected Car Services Limited, a company I started in 2023 with my partners Brandon Weston-John and Baz Desai, two talented former BCA Managers www.ConnectedCarServices.co.uk

Formerly Head Of Training at BCA Fleet Solutions, I have been immersed in the UK auto industry for the past 10 years. Working closely with high-end clients to understand their needs, the scope of my role was very broad with responsibility for the design, development and presentation of Product and Soft Skills Training, as well as Driver Recruitment, Transport Management, Client/Sub-Contractor Onboarding and Client/Event Management, playing a key role in the company's transition from auto services to tech services in line with the industry transition from ICE to BEV.

My clients included: Lotus, Genesis, Polestar, Audi (Sytner VAG) and Ineos Grenadier.

My role was a diverse and multi-faceted hybrid role that saw me working partly from home in Beverley Yorkshire, partly visiting clients onsite and staff in satellite offices all over the UK.

Selection of Current and Prior Achievements

Recruitment of a 100-person team of white glove handover specialists. Designed and implemented a multi-media training and support strategy for approximately 100 PVHS (Premium Vehicle Handover Specialists) for key white-glove clients including: Polestar, Lotus, Genesis, Audi and Mazda (in line with the transition from ICE to BEV). This involved the use of private YouTube Studio's for How-To training videos, setup of WhatsApp business admin and peer support groups, hardcopy cheat sheets and customer contact scripts.
Event-Managed a large multi-company logistics team to ingress and egress 150 demonstration cars at a major sponsored televised golf tournament.
CEO/Founder of a Caribbean-based Visa/MasterCard payment processing company specialising in fraud control for acquiring bank eCommerce transactions , subsequently acquired by a Silicon Valley public company who I stayed on with for 2 years as VP Sales and Business Development.
As IT Business Manager and subsequently Account Development Director, I Introduced commercial Internet services to Eastern Canada for ISM, a division of IBM Canada and subsequently in Bermuda for Internet Bermuda Ltd. In both jurisdictions the scope of my remit involved everything from government legislation compliance and business planning to sales, marketing and technology implementation.
AS IT Project Manager, I managed the installation of North America's largest Traders Floor for one of Canada's largest retail banks (CIBC).

In the course of my career, my family and I have lived in some very exciting jurisdictions including: Canada, USA, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Antigua, Switzerland and Bulgaria.

My Strengths

I'm able to think on my feet and remain calm under pressure. I've gained the ability to maximise financial performance against budget and policy with proven strengths in the areas of account relationship management, client retention, event management, team building and mentoring, with the ability to communicate effectively and with gravitas to stakeholders at every level, and to spearhead growth -- helping businesses to grow, service levels to improve and people to succeed.

Summary

An expert at people recruitment, coaching, motivation and mentoring, capable of effecting change in business cultures by creating a fun and stimulating environment for people to learn and thrive; I am a people manager, a good listener who applies iterative project methodology, creative operational processes and technology-based solutions to business objectives, always in line with increasing sales and developing new business.

Who am I?

First and foremost, I'm a family man.
I love cars, boats, dogs, travel and reading.
I love all sports especially competitive sailing, football and snooker.
Kind hearted with a friendly nature, always looking to help others.
My personal motto is: 'Learn Today, Teach Tomorrow'.

Auto Industry Qualifications

HGV qualified since March 2018 (to better understand the role of logistics management)
CPC and ACT courses numerous but includes:

SSW Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
SSW Workplace Transport
Fire safety awareness
Safe driving for employees
Manual handling operations in motor vehicle repair.

My Interests

Family: Happily married to Catherine Harriott, a published author of fiction and non-fiction books, with two beautiful daughters and three wonderful grandkids.

Cars: I've owned many cars including Lotus, Mercedes, Jaguar, BMW, Mustang, Chevrolet. I am currently leasing my first EV: a VW ID.3 because I care deeply about the environment but I must admit, I still love things that go Vroom!

Boats: I have succumbed to 2-foot fever many times with numerous boats ranging from a 17' Bayliner Ski-Boat to a 33' SeaRay Sundeck Cruiser. I was also a crew member on a tall-ship event sailing around Europe.

Tech: I keep myself on the leading edge of tech, it's an addiction -- I need help!

Animals: Especially dogs and donkeys but I love all animals and ultimately I would love to run a dog hotel and live-in with the dogs, but as my family often remind me "It's not gonna happen!"

Wine: I've been a member of the Wine & Spirits Education Trust for many decades. Membership enrolment involved a 3-week residential course and an examination where I had to sample many bottles of wine. It was a tough job but someone had to do it!

Environment and Charities

Wy wife and I support numerous charities, including Greenpeace, The Christopher Reeve Foundation, Woodlands Trust, Michael J. Fox Foundation, and for many years we have provided business micro-loans in 3rd-world countries via Kiva.org

My Contact Details

I can be contacted in the UK at:

Email: Tony.Harriott@gmail.com

Mob/WhatsApp: +44 (0)7842-896092

Publications

Below are various press releases charting just a small part of my career, including newspaper and magazine articles and press releases. Plus some family photos.