andrew bird

Chief Executive Officer at W A Chump & Sons

Bio Summary

A former award-winning Partner in global advisory services.

An entrepreneur who has had two successful exits.

A strategic leader with a deep passion for innovative technology and product development.

Currently engaged with the European Research Group (ERG) regarding promoting innovative technology and services to support the UK agri-food sector.

Named "Game Changer of the Year" in 2016 for launching a sustainability-focused technology service into Wall Street.

An effective communicator centred around a strong sense of purpose, fairness and inclusion.

Able to identify and develop multiple-level partnerships at a corporate level.

Skilled at building and maintaining positive relationships and partnerships with a wide variety of stakeholders, including investors.

Experienced in taking new products and services to market, including in the USA.

A strong leader who is able to inspire, motivate and coach senior leadership and staff members.

Committed to building a supportive, coaching culture of inclusion, integrity and participation throughout business life.

Able to develop and implement a well-researched, evidence-based strategic plan and renowned for insistence on empirical and objective data.

Well-connected with venture capital, private equity and family office investor groups in the USA, having raised more than $60m in venture funding.

Employment History

Chief Executive Officer (freelance)

W A Chump & Sons

January 2019 - present

London, UK

WA Chump & Sons is a technology and innovative venture incubator. Andrew founded this venture in 2019 and has built a diverse and engaged associate team, supporting a wide range of ventures. They deliver sustainable outcomes through technology as a value enabler allowing this diverse team to provide exceptional outcomes in some of the most challenging environments. * TapTapMedic. Through collaboration with technology resources in Pakistan and local healthcare professionals in Kenya, we developed protocols for reducing amenable mortality and implemented a voice-activated speech-to-text application powered by artificial intelligence to train and assist inexperienced caregivers in emergencies in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Our technology is already saving lives in Kenya. IBM said it was impossible. Yet, Andrew's team delivered it in less than six months * Trust Passport. Outraged by the death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse due to inadequacies in allergen labelling, Andrew actively engaged a broad commercial and governmental group, including major retailers and integrated supply chain services, as well as UK and EU politicians to develop a truly digital solution to the NI Protocol and import/export issues arising from Brexit. This group developed a solution which was entered into the USA Food & Drug Administration's "New Era of Food Safety" Global Challenge in 2021 and won. It is now in development in conjunction with Oakland International and a prestigious UK retailer. Andrew is currently leading engagements with the most influential group in UK politics - the ERG ՄEuropean Research Group). The service simplifies supply chains, reduces administration and delivers substantial cost benefits. * Venture Capital Trust Search: Andrew leads search and acquisition activity for various SFOs and VCTs. Successes range from taking a start-up renewables venture to ultimate listing on EURONEXT to selling a nationwide accountancy venture. Other ventures include motorsports and an innovative industrial lubricant business active in the automotive, military and aviation sectors.

Chief Operations Officer (freelance)

Healthcare Engineering Pvt

January 2018 - present

Doncaster, UK

Andrew was brought on board to lead the reshaping and restructuring of Healthcare Engineering, a clinician-led health tech business with limited commercial capability and an unclear value proposition. * Andrew engaged multi ...see more

Interim Chief Executive

Lofrix

January 2022 - January 2023

Manchester, UK

The principal investor asked Andrew to undertake an initial commercial assessment and latterly, to steer strategic and operational aspects of the business as it seeks to grow exponentially * This is a highly complex triboch ...see more

Interim Chief Executive OĆcer

EORI (UK)

September 2022 - December 2022

Worksop, UK

EORI ՄUKՅ is the leading provider of import/export technology services ՄTSSՅ to the UK Government. With revenues over £26M per annum and a diverse workforce of over 200 FTE, Andrew was brought in to address material stak ...see more

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Solihealth

October 2021 - May 2022

Birmingham, UK

Solihealth is one of the UK's largest NHS Primary Care Alliances, comprising five Primary Care Networks, over 300 staff and aggregate revenues of over £38M per annum. However, the group was fragmented, disillusioned, and dis ...see more

Managing Partner

Crowe

July 2013 - March 2017

London, UK

Having sold my business to this global, 124-country $9 billion a year partnership, I was retained for three years to lead the international consultancy arm's turnaround, growth and scale, international turnaround and business ...see more

Chief Executive Officer

Nile Blue Group

January 2009 - November 2013

London, UK

Andrew founded this boutique business consultancy following a thriving retail and wholesale banking career in the UK, USA and India * As the business grew, Andrew focused on building a team of like-minded individuals who sh ...see more

Group Head of Risk

2005 - 2008

Cattles were a mature financial services group with six trading entities and over 3,000 staff in multiple locations. Andrew was hired to establish and embed full-service risk and compliance functions across all trading entiti ...see more

Major Programme Lead

HSBC

1999 - 2006

HSBC is one of the world's largest banking and financial services groups. Andrew held a wide range of problem-solving operational and strategic roles. * Andrew led a major regulatory change programme encompassing all UK ret ...see more

Selected Project Experience

Project Description:

The business produces a potentially paradigm-changing means of reducing friction without the need for oil. Discovered by accident, the product has been owner-managed for over 40 years. During this time, it has achieved some notable successes but hasn’t achieved the full potential that the product warrants. Working with the owner, Directors, investors and numerous research facilities, we have formulated a revised strategy, corporate structure, product strategy and go-to-market strategy. In combination, these have allowed the business to successfully engage with some of the largest industrial and manufacturing organisations in the world. Currently in testing with a national rail network operator and one of the world’s best-known prestige automotive brands, the product now has the potential to truly change how manufacturing, transport, agriculture and fabrication industries move away from their reliance on fossil fuel.

Industry: Automotive

Topic(s): Restructuring & Turnaround

Project Description:

This innovation will help caregivers deal with emergency maternal health scenarios in some of the poorest countries in the world. The programme struggled for a while due to some issues relating to stakeholder engagement and a lack of flexibility in terms of the design process. As a consequence, the major corporate investors backed out. I personally led a small team in rural Africa, reassessing the design scope and environmental considerations, and working closely with midwives and clinical staff across Kenya. We were able to present a more suitable approach. In doing so, we won the support and sponsorship of the major backers and the device prototyping is now underway. Working with developers in California, and OBGYN specialists globally, I have succeeded in pulling together an international group which will now work on a voice-activated, artificial intelligence device which will assist caregivers in tackling the primary cause of maternal and infant mortality in rural Africa. Our solution will reduce maternal mortality by up to 25%.

Industry: Healthcare

Topic(s): Healthcare

Project Description:

I was initially asked by the investors to undertake a viability assessment of this project, which was running off – track and causing some frustrations. The business is developing a unique, pan-European mass energy storage platform. They are creating 100% renewable Long Duration Energy Storage solutions for the integration of renewables, using green gas and hydrogen as fuel components. I took the management team through a series of evaluation and assessment workshops which allowed them to centre their value proposition on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In doing so, they have been able to restructure the business and be more directive and concentrated in their approach. As a consequence, they were granted €4 million in EU Commission funding to launch their pilot development in the Netherlands and in 2021, were successfully listed on Euronext.

Industry: Energy

Topic(s): Sustainability

Project Description:

European regulation on consumer food information came into force in 2011 and made nutrition labelling compulsory for pre-packed foods from 2016. This was intended to target obesity and other health concerns by highlighting fat, sugars, salts and calories. However, major food companies which were involved in consultation on a new, traffic light-based scheme pulled out in 2018 after failing to achieve a consensus on new regulations. The scheme by Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever, which sought to replace the monochrome labelling system in place has failed because companies could not gain consensus around the new portion-based, colour-coded scheme. Motivated by this, I supported a technology business in developing a ‘smart-food’ labelling solution. We pitched the concept to the USA Food & Drug Administration as part of their “New Era of Food Safety” in 2021. This was the largest global challenge the FDA had ever operated. We were named as one of the 12 winners.

Industry: Agriculture

Topic(s): Supply Chain

Education

Imperial College Business School

2022-01-01

Language Skills

English

Country Experience

United Kingdom India United States Mauritius United Arab Emirates France Germany

Capacity Management & Planning,

Continuous Improvement,

Operation Management,

Change & Implementation,

Transformation Management Office,

Product Development,

Project Management,

Balance Scorecard,

KPIs,

Monitoring & Evaluation,

Organizational Excellence,

Strategy Execution,

Digital Strategy,

Digital Transformation,

Interim Management,

Business Continuity,

Business Development,

Channel Management,

Benchmarking & Best Practice,

Business Case,

Business Unit Strategy,

Business Planning,

Corporate Development,

Corporate Strategy,

Feasability Studies,

Growth Strategy,

Innovation Strategy,

New Business Build,

Operating Model,

Portfolio Strategy,

Purpose,

Regulatory Strategy,

Scenario Planning,

Strategic Management,

Strategic Planning,

Trends & Global Forces,

Carve-out,

Commercial Due Diligence,

Deal Sourcing and Execution,

Joint Ventures & Alliances,

M&A Strategy & Due Diligence,

Merger & Acquisitions,

Post Merger Integration,

Spin-Offs,

Target Search,

Operational Due Diligence

Blockchain,

Drones,

Internet of Things,

Virtual Reality

Supply Chain Optimization

Environment

Carbon & Energy Economics,

Circular Economy,

Food Systems and Security,

Sustainable Investing,

Decarbonization,

Healthcare

Transportation & Logistics

Logistics

andrew bird

Bio Summary

Employment History

Chief Executive Officer (freelance)

W A Chump & Sons

Chief Operations Officer (freelance)

Healthcare Engineering Pvt

Interim Chief Executive

Lofrix

Interim Chief Executive OĆcer

EORI (UK)

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Solihealth

Managing Partner

Chief Executive Officer

Nile Blue Group

Group Head of Risk

Major Programme Lead

Selected Project Experience

Education

Imperial College Business School

Language Skills

Country Experience

Skills

Industry Experience

Healthcare