Business support services in Leeds

Dave is the owner of The Alternative Board in the Leeds North & Centre region. He is a seasoned and successful executive with a broad range of experience gained over the last 26 years operating at a senior level for public, family owned and venture capital backed businesses.

His particular expertise lies in sales and marketing, operations and strategic planning. He has specialist knowledge of the B2B distribution sector, and the food and chemical industries in particular. He managed his first business at the age of 23 and fast tracked through the corporate environment holding a range of sales, operations, project management and senior business roles before ultimately becoming Managing Director of Fiske Food Ingredients, the UK’s leading food ingredient distributor at the age of 40.

He moved into the private sector and has been a Director/Managing Director of two privately owned family businesses and CEO of a VC backed technology business. It was in this role that he experienced the full benefits and value of a Board of talented Non Executive Directors that assisted him in signing a major licensing contract with a €5bn European dairy business.

Having originally graduated in Chemical Engineering, Dave received further business training at the University of California and Ashridge Management College. He has a passion to help business owners focus on the key strategic issues, plan the way ahead and deliver on their targets to drive even greater value and success. His role at The Alternative Boards allows him to do just that.

Simon Banks is a facilitator and business coach for The Alternative Board Leeds South & Wakefield region. Simon’s background is in management for a larger organisation and in SME ownership and he continues to run his own successful manufacturing business in West Yorkshire.

He has over thirty years of sales and business management experience and very strong leadership, organisational and planning skills developed during time spent working in the manufacturing sector both in a larger organisation as senior manager and shareholder and more recently as the owner of an SME business. Simon has continued to develop his skill set through the steep challenges faced when starting and growing a manufacturing business. He sees the support, advice and guidance from his coach and peers as a longstanding member of The Alternative Board, as critical to the progress of his business.

Having achieved his vision for his own manufacturing business with the support of TAB, Simon made the decision to apply the experience he has derived from 6 years of TAB membership to offer that same support to other business owners in his community, enabling them to develop and achieve their vision for themselves and their business.