The marketing skills, experience and attainments of Graham Webb of Yorkshire Sales and Marketing Developments, has been recognised in the awarding of a Fellowship by the CIM.
Fellowships are awarded to experienced marketers who can demonstrate an exceptional track record, in Graham's case this extends across education at all levels, business, and inspiring and creating interest in marketing in schools and colleges, through giving talks and taking business studies classes as a visiting speaker.
Graham has had a wide-ranging career from management trainee in the textile sector to thirteen years in broadcasting with the BBC. Head-hunted back into the commercial world to manage five European countries as Product Manager initiated his interest in marketing, which we then further fuelled when he again was head-hunted to join a UK wide IT business based in Leeds as Marketing and Sales Director.
In 1991 Graham moved into education, initially as a part-time lecturer at the 'old' Keighley College delivering CIM courses. More part-time roles followed in Bradford and Shipley and Park Lane College in Leeds, and Tong 6th Form College together with delivering training for start-up business owners. Eventually, Graham joined Park Lane College, now Leeds City College, where he worked full time for some nineteen years in the business school lecturing in marketing for Higher Education programmes and developing and managing a highly successful CIM study centre. This included two years attached to Leeds College of Arts where he re-organised the marketing and business studies modules for fashion and textile graduate programmes.
In 2006 Graham started Yorkshire Sales and Marketing Developments, with the aim of offering professional sales and marketing training to businesses, from SME's to major international businesses. It has been a successful small medium enterprise, in terms of clients and those studying winning a number of prestigious national awards.
Graham's expertise and knowledge of education and training was further developed between 2013 and 2015 when as the academic lead, he joined a team to build a new Post 18 college for the Maltese Government and then became its visiting Dean of Academic Studies. This experience led to subsequently visiting, working and advising on education and training in; China, Dubai UAE, Moscow Russia, and Istanbul Turkey.
Currently, as well as running Yorkshire Sales and Marketing Developments, Graham is also a trustee/director of The Educational Trust and The Northern College of Acupuncture. He lectures at Leeds Business School, delivering CIM Professional Diploma modules and Year 2 undergraduate marketing programmes. Recently Graham was appointed as an Enterprise Advisor to West Yorkshire schools, and delivered to groups of A level students classes on the External Business Environment and 'What is marketing - as a career?'
Graham, who is also a Chartered Marketer, commented, "Having worked in marketing, taught marketing and been so enthusiastic about marketing, and equally been a part of the CIM for so many years I am both very honoured and very proud to receive this fellowship from them. My own experiences and enthusiasm of being a marketer, and working in marketing, very often offer illustrations and support in delivering marketing programmes to students to make the subject matter interesting and relevant. I am continually advocating the importance of marketing to all types of organisations, as well as continuing my own day to day learning and experiences."