Andy Youard

Like many people my career led me to a wide variety of business situations.  After a dozen years in the Army I gained experience in managing specialist manufacturing for the print industry, in implementing warehouse management software and in 20 years of global supply chain management for medical device companies.  Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) became the day-job while complex projects including acquisitions, integrations, ERP systems and technical manufacturing transfers provided a wealth of exposure to different organisations and business cultures.  During the course of those years I lived and worked in the UK, Germany, Denmark and the USA and worked on a daily basis with teams spanning much  of the globe.

Some of my most valuable insight was gained in managing small plants in Denmark and the UK where the daily interactions with the entire business from sales to shopfloor production and literally everything in between including product quality and ownership of the P&L provided an invaluable ‘in at the deep end’ experience.  In addition, both then and in my later career with bigger organisations I learned much from successful projects but just as much, if not more, from the failures and mis-steps.  

I have managed and collaborated with people at all levels throughout my career, from shopfloor to the boardroom, and have seen time and again that treating, and leading, people with respect makes all the difference to the outcome.