John Acton

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT JOHN ACTON

I have enjoyed over 30 years’ experience of working in senior leadership roles within global organisations. I was a late starter but once I got the business bug in my mid twenties I worked all hours and put myself through night school, attaining a post graduate diploma in Marketing. My corporate career then started to take off and years before “leaning in” was a thing I managed to stand out by stepping up and taking on every challenge that was available. I eventually became the Executive Vice President of the global DPD Group and was instrumental in driving five consecutive years of triple market growth in its international business. When I joined the Board we were a £4bn group, six years later £9bn. I like to think I played an important part in this incredible change. I engaged DPI three times, in 2005, 2008 and 2011. This proved critical in reshaping our strategic and critical thinking and in doing so the direction of DPD, resulting in the creation of three tipping points that totally transformed the vision and success of the business. By 2012, We were ready to move back to the UK and I was ready to move on to new challenges, excited and inspired by what I’d learnt and implemented and I was keen to see how I could help other businesses to grow and transform. I took the opportunity, did a Victor Kiam and became Managing Partner for DPI Europe. Since running DPI Europe I’ve worked with 100\'s of businesses from large corporations, mid range, SMEs and young start ups, helping them to formulate their Strategic and Critical Thinking, drive innovation and to outclass and outperform the competition. In 2018, I joined forces with 3 great guys and founded peer2peer global, currently the fastest growing advisory board organisation in the UK. It’s another channel for me to support business leaders and help them to build the best businesses and be the best leaders they can be. Ultimately, it\'s so important as business leaders and entrepreneurs that you Love Your Flight When I’m not working, I love to spend time with my family (wife Gretta and four children). Love walking our dog Willow, watching the Reds play, spending time with friends, skiing but have yet to stand up and stay up on a paddle board. Finally - 3 things that irritate me most are:(In no particular order) ⁃ Business Guru’s who spout clichéd platitudes and sound bites, who\'s primary interest is chasing the money ⁃ Expensive Consultants who think that their MBA and expensive watches outscore a clients lifetime of experience and knowledge and ⁃ Manchester Utd.