Our Mentors

I am an experienced entrepreneur, property investor and landlord with over 20 years of business and property experience.
I currently volunteer as a Business Mentor with Business Wales, supporting entrepreneurs and business owners by sharing the practical knowledge and experience I have gained throughout my career. My approach to mentoring is based on real-world experience — having built, operated and developed businesses across a range of sectors.
My original background was primarily within the hospitality industry, where I gained extensive experience in operating, managing and developing hospitality businesses. Although property and real estate are now my main focus, I continue to maintain a strong interest in the hospitality sector and still retain restaurant and commercial interests within my wider property portfolio.
Over recent years, I have concentrated increasingly on property investment, development and real estate. I now manage a substantial portfolio with more than 100 tenants and have experience across a wide range of property strategies, including commercial-to-residential conversions, buy-to-let properties, Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs), serviced accommodation and Airbnb, as well as commercial property and restaurant lettings.
One of my particular strengths is identifying opportunities to add value to properties and businesses that may initially appear challenging or underperforming. I take a very hands-on approach to my projects, from identifying opportunities and planning developments through to refurbishment, management and long-term operation.
Through careful acquisition, development and value creation, I have successfully developed projects that have allowed me to recycle capital and reinvest it into further opportunities. This practical experience has given me a strong understanding of how to identify value, manage risk, improve profitability and build sustainable businesses and property portfolios.
Unlike many investors who take a purely financial or remote approach, I remain actively involved in the management and maintenance of my properties. I believe strongly that maintaining high standards benefits both tenants and landlords and helps create sustainable, successful investments over the long term.
My experience has also been recognised within the property industry, including winning property awards and appearing twice on the BBC television programme Homes Under the Hammer.
I am passionate about sharing my experience with others and helping entrepreneurs, landlords and business owners avoid common mistakes, identify opportunities and develop practical strategies for growth.
Whether supporting someone starting their first business, developing an existing company, exploring property opportunities or improving the performance of an established operation, I aim to provide honest, practical and commercially focused advice based on genuine hands-on experience.
My areas of experience include:
• Business development and entrepreneurship
• Property investment and portfolio building
• Commercial-to-residential conversions
• Buy-to-let and residential property
• Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
• Serviced accommodation and Airbnb
• Commercial property and commercial lettings
• Hospitality and restaurant businesses
• Property development and refurbishment
• Adding value to underperforming assets
• Business growth and profitability
• Practical business strategy and problem solving
I am particularly passionate about helping people turn ideas and opportunities into successful, sustainable businesses through practical advice, commercial awareness and real-world experience.

Basic Welsh Speaker

I’m a people-focused entrepreneur with 10 years’ experience founding and scaling Big Blue Adventures, an award-winning private group travel and events business. Through my vision, drive, and ability to build a strong network of partners, the business grew from small local day tours into a £1m+ annual revenue business, delivering dozens of multi-day events across Europe for global teams of 100+ people.

I learned a great deal during that journey, through both the successes and the mistakes. Key lessons included the importance of working on the business as well as in it, setting clear goals, understanding how the highs and lows affect us personally as leaders, managing people effectively, and, of course, handling the occasional crisis.

My time as a business owner came to an end in the summer of 2026, mainly for personal family reasons. However, I’m very proud of the decade I spent building the business and am now motivated to pass on what I’ve learned. I’m looking forward to mentoring other entrepreneurs who may be facing familiar challenges, helping them work through problems and move closer to where they want to be.

Some of my favourite aspects of running a business were mentoring and coaching my small team and striving to create a great culture. For me, business success is about helping people and making a positive impact along the way. I also worked with many HR leaders, helping them achieve their people goals through tailor-made offsites, and I absorbed valuable insights from high-growth tech C-suite leaders that I’ve carried forward.

If you’re seeking a modern mentor who is personable, a good listener, and has a growth mindset, then let’s chat.

Hello, my name is Dan. I have 30+ years’ experience in Logistics, Energy (Oil & Gas) and Retail sectors.

CEO of Retail Merchandising Services (RMS) and founder of Flex, Daniel has used his experience in delivering transformational change to grow and strengthen his late father’s legacy.

Darren Walsh is Director & Leadership Coach, with Making Lean Work Ltd. He has over 30 years’ experience leading transformation with the likes of Sony Aiwa, Sega, Boston Scientific, Parker, Zodiac Aerospace & with the Lean Institute.

I am a serial entrepreneur with 25+ years' experience of starting, running and selling businesses. I have successfully sold 3 businesses, but also had some failures, all of which has contributed to me learning many valuable lessons.

As a founder, I have worked in a hands-on capacity in nearly every aspect of a business during my career: leadership/management, sales, marketing, operations, customer service, engineering, finance, HR, legal etc. I have established and built out these functions and then recruited excellent people to take them over.

My focus over the last decade has been building a multi-product SaaS platform to serve the safeguarding sector and working at board level devising and overseeing the strategy.

Critically, through running these businesses (both the successes and the failures), I have discovered the recipe for success: creating the right culture; recruiting the right people and motivating them to achieve a shared vision; having laser-like focus whilst simultaneously being open to changing direction; knowing when to take action; over-communicating the message; enjoying the journey; and, how to eat an elephant.

My mission for GSD is quite simple. I want to help entrepreneurs and the SME market flourish and be the best they can be every day.

I have worked for over 40 years in different Industries. The first 20 years as a Food Technologist and Manager in the Food Industry.

During the 1970’s David studied Engineering and working for British Aerospace on a variety of projects for Concorde, environmental testing for a solar array for Intelsat IV and redundancy theory in respect of missile systems.

I have over 15 years in the charity sector with responsibility for developing the staff and volunteers across Wales, through staff co-ordinators and a team of volunteer tutors.