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Angus Poston - Curriculum Vitae

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Business & public policy advisor in emerging markets with 12 years experience.
Now applying strategy and business principles to achieve social benefit in developing countries

Main skills

Policy definition and problem solving - Identifying underlying problems, identifying priorities and preparing implementation. My skills: numerical analysis, creative problem solving, simplifying issues.

Defined a pro-poor tourism strategy for Ethiopia
Defined product and corporate development strategy for 4 banks in Asia and Europe

Organisation development - Increasing effectiveness of organisations, business processes and staff. Defining monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. My skills: understanding organisations' strengths, mobilising support for major change.

Identified and managed a 25% cost saving in a major UK government agency
Defined an organisation and strategic change programme for a large micro-finance organisation
Re-designed organisation structure of a major UK-based investment bank

Change management - Planning, motivating and mobilising to convert strategy into action. My skills: detailed planning and structuring, tactical problem solving, maintaining momentum.

Led a team to re-configure 350 bank branches in Thailand
Oversaw 50 separate initiatives to implement a new IT department of a major Thai Bank

Investment analysis - Identifying opportunities, evaluating risks, structuring deals. My skills: summarising complex markets, synthesising findings to create investment cases.

Managed a £100m divestment in Western Europe
Designed a of public-private partnerships in Central Europe. Led due diligence

Team building - Enabling and leading effective teams. My skills: Building partnerships, defining roles, coordinating across multiple projects, motivating staff.

Diverse experience and contacts - Corporate, public and non-profit sectors. Strategy, change, organisation effectiveness and investment. Developed and emerging markets.  Financial services, utilities, energy, telcos, tourism.

Career history

Education

Selected project record

Strategy definition

Defined corporate strategy for four major retail banks, in Europe, Asia, Middle East.

-         Led first annual strategic planning process for 'Retail' business unit of a major Thai Bank

-         Defined growth strategy for a retail and business bank in the Middle East

-         Determined market development and growth strategy for a bank in Central Europe to attract external equity partners

Defined business development strategy for two major telcos in Central Europe. Determined strategy to increase share of individual and business market, protect market from new competitors, improve sales and marketing, manage sales outlets, reduce fraud, interact with regulators, etc.

Supported SANASA, a micro-finance cooperative in Sri Lanka, over many years. Planned post-Tsunami re-construction program. Planned and led re-capitalisation of 350 cooperatives impacted by Tsunami. Designed IT to automate cooperatives. Designed program to intensify micro-finance in North and North Eastern areas. Designed new loan products for urban areas. Evaluated social impact.

Defined strategy to develop tourism for the Governments of Ethiopia and Rajasthan. Identified target markets and barriers to development, designed government support structure, mobilised local operators

Identified commercial success factors for enterprises creating social change in India

Defined partnership strategy for the People's Bank to support micro-finance organisations in Sri Lanka

Organisation development and efficiency 

Re-designed business model for a major UK government department with c.20,000 staff, c.11m customers. Designed long-term operations strategy (team structure, core processes, management systems). Project drove UK public sector reform agenda, mentioned in 2004 UK Government Budget

Designed corporate organisation structure, processes and management structure for a major UK based investment bank

Designed organisation structure for major retail and business bank, based in the Middle East

Reduced transaction times on credit applications by 50% for a major Thai bank

Developed organisation capability for the State Property Fund in Ukraine (ministry of privatisation)

Defined organisation structure and reduced costs by $50m for a mobile telco in Poland

Re-designed crude oil scheduling processes for a major oil and gas company. Released £30m capital

Developed strategy to reconfigure production assets for the petrochemical division of a major oil and gas company. Doubled EBITDA

Change management

Implemented new business model in 350 bank branches throughout Thailand. Led team of 50+ change agents to implement new model. Completed on-time, on budget. Project won Booz Allen award for 'Professional excellence'

Implemented new processes and management structure in a processing centre of a major UK government agency. Improved efficiency and customer service.  Designed and kicked-off programme to reduce agency's staffing 25%

Managed 55 separate initiatives to build a new IT organisation for a major Thai bank. Increased productivity of application development teams, re-built network infrastructure and developed IT security systems. Developed management capacity, by developing score-cards, facilitating management meetings and setting up a PMO

Designed change management processes to stand-up a new financial services company in SE Asia

Investment analysis and promotion

Managed a corporate sale for a FTSE 100 manufacturing company (£100m deal)

-         Valued plants (DCF, comparable deals, comparison to listed companies, asset valuation)

-         Wrote company prospectus, including market summary and investment case

-         Led plant visits and managed due diligence process

-         Managed financial and contractual negotiations with purchasers

-         Client achieved significant premium

Initiated first 'Private Sector Participation' (PSP) deals in the water sector in Poland and Lithuania

-         Identified overall structure of PSP and regulatory regime

-         Identified new legislation requirements

-         Developed capabilities of local regulators

-         Conducted initial financial, legal and technical due diligence

-         Developed term sheets for major contracts

-         Built support in Local Councils

Defined PSP arrangements in public transport and municipal services in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine

Designed a municipal on-lending facility for the World Bank in Lithuania. Identified investments in the water, district heating and solid waste sectors. Developed on-lending mechanisms, wrote an investment appraisal guide and set up an agency to Municipalities develop projects

Led due diligence for 4 municipal loans in Central Europe (€10-20m each) for the EBRD

-         First loans in the region direct to municipalities

-         Led financial and legal due diligence

-         Designed lending structure and defined contractual terms

-         Evaluated capacity of local management and designed capacity improvement program

-         Defined tariff setting mechanisms to protect investment

Developed foreign direct investment promotion centres in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India while working with United Nations

Evaluated potential Chinese partners for a UK based manufacturing company

International Agency and NGO experience

Designed and managed projects for international funding agencies in Eastern Europe, South Asia, Far East. Selected consultants, evaluated reports, wrote country strategies

Supported NGOs in Africa and S Asia. Conducted sociological analysis and needs assessments, led project teams, assisted in fund-raising, etc.