Chris Garry
Leader
Organised, confident action-taker.
Motivator
Effective, enthusiastic communicator.
Creator
Imaginative, innovative visionary.
Probem Solver
Persistent, empathetic decision-maker.
Top salesperson – 11 years running.
Achieved contracts valued over £822,000.00
Familiar with foreign markets.
Approaches prospects strategically.
Expert in discovery calls.
Adept upseller.
Proficient closer.
Effective time-management skills.
Seeking dynamic sales or business development role, within vibrant company.
Location: Hagley, Worcestershire. Willing to travel 1 hour.
- +447354251155
- chris.garry@hotmail.co.uk
- Hagley, Worcestershire
Previous Experience
At a glance
Elements Consultancy (Formerly Elements MMA)
2009 – present
Managing Director.
SME Consultancy.
Assisting the launch and supporting the success of commercial start-up ventures.
Individual and group mentoring. Sales coaching.
Rapid Recovery
2004 – 2009
Owner, Driver.
Rescuing accident damaged and mechanically failed vehicles.
Balfour Beatty
2000 – 2004
Groundworker.
Construction of A120 Braintree/Stansted.
Previous Experience
Projects in detail
Elements Consultancy (Formerly Elements MMA)
2018 – present
Small business consultancy.
With my fitness academy forced to close due to covid restrictions, the decision was made to pursue assisting the launch of small business ventures. Consultancy was not something I was brand new to, however this would be the first time that consultancy would be the front and centre focus of my work.
Via my existing contacts, social media and word-of-mouth, I began liaising with and consulting individuals and groups. These consisted of aspiring entrepreneurs and people harbouring designs of applying their know-how to create secondary incomes.
Developed branding for small businesses.
By researching the company’s industry and sector, exploring their history and USPs, and most importantly – taking cues from the business owner themselves, I would present a range of various different draft logos. All of which were suitable for websites as well as print media and larger scale promotional use, such as vans and shop windows etc.
By offering the client a range of options, I would then listen and take note of the elements of each logo they preferred, and revise the design, any number of times, until a final design was agreed upon.
All other branding, including slogans, colour schemes, fonts and overall themes would be closely linked to the key design brief of the master logo, or branding theme.
The final product or package (named ‘Brand Kit’), would generally include at least one scalable, responsive logo in various colours and formats (sometimes a number of variations of the logo were sought, such as greyscale, or individual elements of the logo seperated from the master logo); social media profile versions of the master logo, social media banners & covers and templates that would allow the client to create their own professionally branded promotional updates when needed; business card templates, complete with logo and company branding – font, colour schemes etc; email signatures; letterheads; invoices & inward receipts; business premises sign mock-ups.
Built affordable, clean, simple, professional websites for various small businesses.
Offered a free one-page mock-up as a loss-leader. Options for paid websites included single page website – perfect for bloggers; 6-page website including homepage, about page, contact page, services page, portfolio page, testimonial page and optional privacy/data protection policy pages – ideal for professional businesses; complete bespoke custom website including live chat, videos in banners, language selection, multiple integrated forms, user pages including forums etc.
Liaised with clients on which web host, URLs and packages might be most suitable whilst remaining completely independent of the various hosting company options, allowing them to make an informed final decision.
Included SSL Certificate and SEO Optimisation as standard. Installed anti-spam/spam protection and GDPR/CCPA cookie consent plugins free of charge.
Created hundreds of pages of dynamic, professional website copy; produced legal documents such as extensive terms & conditions, data privacy pages and data protection policy; ghostwrote for online magazines, blogs and various websites.
Designed, created and produced professional business cards, flyers, leaflets, brochures, banners, signs, stickers and various branded physical promotion material.
Expert in Imovie software. Can produce professional level promotional videos, eg; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U8s1mSYAQ0
Proficient in use of Audacity sound engineering programme. Can optimise, mix and enhance music, sounds and audio to a professional level.
Trained professional salespeople on best practices. Taught classes, seminars and courses on how best to sell products and services via phone call and in person.
Introduced clients and salespeople to unique concepts encompassing how-to-sell professionally and ethically to a high degree of success. Shared expertise in introductions and cold calling, developing and following up warm leads, creating instant rapport and maintaining rapport throughout the sales process, discovery calls, outlining benefits of a product or service, objection handling and closing a sale. Upselling and cross selling, follow-up sales and repeat sales were also a focus.
Mentored fledgling entrepreneurs and budding business owners. Taught everything I had learned about how to start and effectively run a successful business. Coached them on how to sell and how to build a successful team of people around them. Gave advice on how to diversify their business, on how to enter foreign markets effectively and educated them on why they should continually dedicate an amount of time and effort on building and maintaining a comprehensive exit strategy.
2013 – 2017
SUB//ZERO Martial Arts Tournaments
Identified a gap in the market – there were no submission-only grappling competitions in UK.
Devised a ruleset and culture that was immediately universally popular with martial artists, many of whom had become disillusioned with the available options and the ever-increasing costs of entering existing, run-of-the-mill points-based tournaments.
Created all branding and built websites to promote and allow sign-ups to tournaments.
Embedded Eventbrite self-service ticket platform to website and social media.
Hosted 11 tournaments, dividing the participants into categories based upon experience, weight, age and gender.
Designed and procured medals.
Allowed free entry to all competitors competing in the most advanced category. Gave prize money to the winning competitor of each respective division and cash reward to the fastest submission finisher of the day. This loss leader became instrumental in raising the profile of the tournament; attracting the highest level of martial artists (who by then had paid their dues and were generally the most frustrated at having to pay entry fees in order to compete), offering unparalleled entertainment value and boosting the numbers of overall participants for a multitude of reasons.
Organised and ran the events from start to finish.
Devised the tournament brackets, ensuring each participant, whether win or lose, had a minimum of 2 matches on the day.
Carried out all weigh-ins. With up to 100 competitors using the scales it was vital we had 3 sets of scales and took averages on the morning of the competition.
Enforced strict guidelines as to weight limits being met or exceeded, and allowed each competitor a fair chance to meet the weight limit, should they miss it first time. Ensured safe practices were observed throughout. Outright ban on IVs and all other rapid weight loss techniques deemed to be dangerous, or that posed a risk to a person’s health.
Refereed the matches, and gave intense training courses to 3 other experienced martial arts referees who were also on hand to referee matches, and oversee proceedings as far as crowd control.
Hired professional health staff and emergency workers to advise on any preexisting or recurring conditions that competitors might have, to deal with any injuries immediately and be on hand throughout the day to oversee proceedings from a professionally experienced standpoint.
The policy was always that should any injury be considered to be beyond a minor injury that 999 emergency were called and an ambulance would swiftly deliver the injured party to the Queen Elizabeth hospital, one of Europe’s most advanced hospital for Accident and Emergency – which was situated just 3.7 miles away. In practice, over the course of 11 tournaments consisting of thousands of matches, this only occurred once.
Produced all branded clothing and promotional materials including t-shirts, competition equipment, banners, signs etc.
Secured sponsorship from Progress Jiu Jitsu brand.
2014 – 2022
Fitness academy, Kings Norton, Birmingham
The second of two further premises secured in order to cater to our growing membership base and the needs of our members.
The few members lost by the closure of our Rubery premises were quickly replaced by those in Kings Norton and Northfield.
A five year lease was achieved, with a 3-month rent-free period followed by a gradual stepped agreement, allowing our business to hit the ground running and thrive from the moment the premises was usable for members.
The building although not listed, is an 1800s build which had previously been converted into a car museum, and subsequently a restaurant and finally, a nightclub.
Managed all commercial and operational aspects of the rip-out, alternations, design & build of the project.
By creating a clear, easy-to-follow plan, we cleared one area of the building at a time. By sectioning off portions of the building and making the largest space usable first, we invited existing members into the new premises to continue training from day 4 of having taken the keys. Having the academy live from day 4 of having taken the keys offset the overall time scale of finishing the project considerably. However, from a commercial point-of-view, this strategy optimised student retention, offering the business the greatest chance of succeeding in the long-term.
Structural alterations were made in the second biggest space available.
This was a large room which, as a restaurant, had had pillars and beams constructed in areas that we needed to clear, to make usable for classes of up to 30 people.
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Structural Engineer were brought in on an hourly-rate basis to ensure all work was carried out to a high standard, and that the site was safe at all times, and restricted from the live parts of the premises. The work involved removing pillars and reinforcing the ceiling using an RSJ. Once completed this allowed the business to offer two seperate classes of up to 30+ people each, in seperate areas. During the build we achieved a 100% safety pass rate; with no accidents, no minor nor serious incidents and no injuries reported.
Shower facilities and male & female changing spaces and toilet facilities were built.
With the facility having undergone a serious renewal and uplift, membership prices were revised.
Prices were increased by 23.65% but only for new, non-existing members. All existing members were given the option of securing a further 12 months at the current rate they were paying, effectively locking in their payment amount and avoiding any increase. 100% of members on rolling month-by-month contract applied this offer, creating over 100 further 12-month contracts for the business.
Previous members were also invited back, at the price they had previously been paying.
Introduction of joining fee for new members. This was a new form of income that reflected the quality of the service that was being offered.
Returning members who had left, or members who were returning having fallen out of contract were not charged any rejoin/joining fee.
Trained, coached and mentored a team of salespeople. Created a complete document detailing the lifecycle of a prospect member from the initial contact and free introduction; to the signing up process; right through to implementing a dynamic 3-phase personal development plan, bespoke to the individual – devised to assist and monitor them with their goals. This strategy in turn increased and ensured positive membership retention.
Procured, designed and created a complete training clothing and equipment brand. Visited factory in Sialkhot, Pakistan to ensure best practices were in place. Uniforms (rash guards) for the classes were produced at an overall cost of £1 plus P&P, these were given away free of charge when a member joined, and at 6 month periods in order to aid member retention. RRP was £25.00. Matching shorts, hoodies, various gloves and protection equipment were also available.
Trained and cornered professional fighters in UFC competitions.
Trained and trained with multiple UFC fighters including 4x UFC World Champions.
Hosted seminars for some of the biggest names in the sport including; Frank Mir, Garry Tonin, Eddie Bravo.
2014 – 2015
Fitness academy, Northfield, Birmingham
The first of two further premises secured in order to cater to our growing membership base and the needs of our members.
This premises was always designed to be a semi-permanent home in order to bridge the gap between Rubery and Kings Norton, and allow for as little downtime in training as possible. This premises allowed us to remain open and offer a continuation to classes as we sought a more appropriate long term venue.
The few members lost by the closure of our Rubery premises were soon replaced by those in Northfield and Kings Norton.
Given the goals of the building’s management, a rolling month-by-month lease was decided to be the most appropriate option. In 2015 the building’s management gave notice that all occupants tenancy agreements would be wound down, in order to accommodate Northfield’s Edge Academy/Secondary School.
Service users of our Northfield premises were transitioned to our Kings Norton premises.
2009 – 2014
Fitness academy, Rubery, Birmingham
Secured 5 year lease on suitable premises – formerly an office space, with 3 month rent-free period upfront, and with 6-monthly recurring rent breaks being triggered at points across the first two and a half years.
Managed and oversaw all commercial and operational aspects of design and initial rip-out, followed by complete fit-out; including reception area, male & female showers & toilet facilities, large mat space and various focused training areas including seperate weights gym – all created in a logical manner with the overall flow of the space and functionality taking priority.
At all points the agreed business plan, as far as the number of people likely to be present in any one section of the gym at any one time, and the likelihood of the popularity of classes taking place in each area, were considered. The balance of how we predicted the space would be used from the first year through to the fifth, and what would be most profitable overall, was factored in throughout, with the build being planned and managed accordingly.
From signing the lease and taking the keys, to opening for business with the first customers through the doors, took 49 days.
Devised a schedule of classes, this was revised at various points and expanded upon throughout the five-year period. Instructed up to two classes per night of between 8 – 30 people, wherever necessary.
Marketed the business locally during the daytime, posting flyers and initiating doorstop introductions, engaging with hundreds of people within the local community. Trained a team of 3 others on the best practices and most efficient ways of marketing the business locally. Appointed the most qualified member of the team as team leader and sent the team out to cover the immediate 3 miles of the business in all directions; enabling myself to delegate these time and energy-rich tasks, and use that time to effectively perform more important functions within the business.
Enlisted the assistance of a third party direct-debit management service. Liaised with them regularly, relied upon them to manage ongoing memberships and enforce missed payments. Signed up 65 members to minimum 12-month ongoing contracts within 12 months, increasing to 88 within 2 years, and 107 by the end of year 5.
Appointed a business development specialist who attracted lucrative, long-term sponsorship from Rockstar Energy Drinks, Punchtown and GAP Personnel.
Qualifications
Waseley Hills High School
10 GCSEs A* – C
NEW College Redditch
3 A levels A – B
Teesside University
BSc Music Technology
References:
Available Upon Request