1. I am Martin Johnson, Business Development Director, Gateway2Enterprise over the past 15
years I have been developing businesses from the ground upwards.
My passion for helping businesses stemmed from my 5 years in Social and Economic Research
working on key accounts within the Banking sector obtaining knowledge by people's values and
opinions that help shape service and product development.
As a natural progression in 1998 I started my first role in Sales for Sitel UK in London, within 2
years I was recognised and rewarded for being a consistent high achiever and breaking sales
records on our flagship account with Mercury Telecommunications.
Then promoted to Project Manager, working in partnership with Capgemini, the project involved
identifying internal business development opportunities which were being lost due to aging
technology, my role was to form a communications path from the Customer Services
department to the Sales department of Mercury by the means of developing a more robust and
dynamic CRM system called Excalibur, charged with the development of Quality Scripting which
at the time enabled Mercury and Sitel to deliver efficient number portability from different mobile
networks and other business opportunities which added value towards the operational side of
both the Sales and Customer Services departments.
Being made redundant in 2000 like many people I had to sit down and think of my next career
step. Possessing a proven track record in Research, Sales and Project Management gave me
the appropriate ingredients to exercise my Entrepreneurial spirit and go into business for myself.
Moving on...I entered the business world in the Autumn of 2000 as a Freelance Business
Development Consultant and engaged with the then CEO of youreable.com, joint winner of
Channel 4’s e­Millionaire show. Being responsible for developing online advertising revenue,
presenting to businesses who provided specialised equipment and services aimed at people
disabled by society.
After establishing myself as an asset, I then developed a sales team from scratch to fulfil the
long term objectives, the company then became AIM listed.
Whilst spending my time with youreable.com I had gained broader knowledge of this particular
business sector and made significant contacts within the Special Needs Sector, this had also
included personnel in HR, Risk Management and Senior / Middle Management.
Using what I had learned I moved on to transform a general information website focusing on
Accessible Accommodation, known then as Disability World, run as a hobby site by Father and
Son Don and William McQueen.
Conducting a thorough Q&A with the owners I was amazed by the site attracting over 100,000
unique visitors; in short the site was prime for transformation as its original format was a bit

2. dysfunctional and it was agreed that I took charge of the business development phase by the
introduction of established and reputable content providers like the Disability Rights
Commission who then allowed their news and informative content to be delivered on Disability
World once the new look site which gave more of a consultative feel was implemented.
As with youreable.com I delivered new revenue streams for Disability World, introducing Product
and Service Profile Pages as well as raising the sites profile within London and its associated
Boroughs which led to creating and developing e­Learning content focusing on Communication
and Etiquette towards Customers and Employees with Disability which delivered a new revenue
streams.
Prior to March 2002 I was invited to the Institute of Directors in London where I had the privilege
of meeting with Dr Adrian Thompson who had observed my Entrepreneurial successes within
the Disability Sector and presented me with the opportunity of becoming the Chairman of the
Greater London Initiative for Disabled Entrepreneurs (GLIDE) a London Development Agency
Initiative.
The objectives were to make training, tools and other essential resources more accessible
online for Disabled Entrepreneurs as well as raising awareness and sourcing the appropriate
funding from key stakeholders like Sainsbury's and utilise those funds in delivering physical
networking hubs where Entrepreneurs with access challenges could integrate and obtain
beneficial contacts and resources to further improve their businesses.
Being involved with the London Development Agency opened more doors for me, which with
hindsight proved to be very valuable as in the midst of all what was happening I and a
gentleman called Robert Stones were developing a business plan with the focus of making
online mapping accessible for visually impaired people.
As far back as February 2000 I was the Managing Director of Accessibility Finder Ltd and the
concept of the Access Finder was born and we developed an online Knowledge Management
System under Uraccess.com, we utilised this space to develop a business plan but specifically
for research so we could try to fathom the technological logistics in making our vision into a
profitable and sustainable business concern.
In winter 2004 the MARs (Most Accessible Route System) came to life after establishing a
strategic partnership with Multimap.com, this element collected existing data that illustrated
wheelchair friendly public places.
Adding value to the business I concentrated my efforts in developing the business and stepped
down from being the Managing Director to becoming the Business Development Director which
enabled me to implement sales and marketing strategies which generated a quarter of a million
in revenues of which £100k was generated in the preoperational stage.

3.
During my time with Accessibility Finder Ltd, I designed a partnership proposal with the JMU
Access Partnership a then subsidiary of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), the key
objectives were to identify new routes to market for the Yorkshire division to obtain new clientele
so they could administer Access Auditing and Disability Awareness, this partnership over 3
years forecasted a net profit of £3M for our partners.
Collaborative association with the British Standards Institute was formed with the objective of
incorporating BS8300 and Inclusive Access, Design of buildings and their approaches to meet
the needs of disabled people and Building Regulations Part M to become the fundamental
standards which each qualified Access Auditor must utilise in the delivery of an Access Audit
rather than using the blank page method.
From this private consultation a prototype was delivered based on 6 categories of Access which
included Physical Access, Visual Access, Tactile Access, Auditory Access, Language Access
and Emotional Access, further research down the line found it wasn’t financially feasible to
enforce this business practice as law and the idea was shelved.
I have also had the added privilege of meeting and discussing obstacles which disabled people
face within their day­to­day activities with the late David Morris (Disability and Access Advocate
to the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone). One of our discussions focused on making
London more accessible and forming a strategy in observing how Accessibility Finder Ltd could
be an asset towards the Paralympics in London 2012.
Unfortunately Accessibility Finder Ltd fell victim to the global economic meltdown in August
2008 and 7 members of my team lost their positions.
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More recently in 2009 I was the Project Director of TLC Enterprises which specialised in
regeneration of redundant buildings. Developing investment opportunities which delivered a
return of investment from £1M upwards.
From 2011 practicing as a Consultant focusing in 3 key areas, Telecommunications, providing
businesses with the opportunity of taking advantage of wholesale calling rates.
Organisational and Personnel Development ­ Transforming a dysfunctional Contact Centre into
a more profitable and sustainable business, overhauling all previous business processes,
developing a new on­the­job training initiative. Introducing Quality Management, monitoring
personnel performance and delivering 360 degree feedback. Improving sales and customer
retainment by 65% over a period of 6 months.

4. Health and Safety within the Blue Light sector ­ Developing in­depth research questionnaires
focusing on personnel safety during emergency scenarios, publishing engaging articles directed
towards the Fire Service on a global level.
Consulted with Bill Gough QFSM, MSc, DMS PhD Researcher Firefighter Safety and
Operational injury previously with the West Midlands Fire Service with the objective of
developing a Personnel Accountability System which enables Commanders to deploy resources
effectively, efficiently and most importantly ensuring the safety of First Responders who are the
people first on the scene of a fire or other emergency situation.
Taking into consideration Building Intelligence and other imperative factors which can cause
hazardous conditions during a search and rescue mission also obtaining knowledge on which
technologies would be best utilised in transmitting live information to Command Centres.
Exploring which standards that need to be adhered to in developing software and hardware
devices which delivered life saving information.
Taking the project to Proof of Concept Stage via the Technology Strategy Board.
In my spare time I enjoy writing articles on LinkedIn and mentoring young people who are
interested in setting up their own businesses via the University of Staffordshire.