Richard Smith

WORK HISTORY

ABOUT RICHARD SMITH

Following 10 years in the Police I worked in the leisure and tourism sector for many years, initially as a self-employed sole trader and subsequently on an employed basis. This provided an excellent general business grounding, hands-on operational management, P&L responsibility, recruitment, training and marketing. Following 5 years with Merlin Entertainments, culminating as a General Manager with responsibility for four Sea Life Centre visitor attractions, I then moved to South Wales to assist in opening the National Botanic Garden of Wales a £42m Millennium Project. This was followed by two years as Commercial and Marketing Director at another Millennium Project, Thinktank, the Birmingham Science Museum. I then moved to Plymouth, Devon to take up the newly created position of Brand Home Director with Plymouth Gin. In 2007 we were voted the Plymouth Business of the Year and I personally was voted Plymouth Business Leader of the year. Following redundancy in September 2009, when the brand changed hands, I started my own business, a marketing and business development consultancy and in November 2009 I started to work with Bright, a Plymouth headquartered commercial legal practice in a business development and marketing role. On the 1st May 2013 I became the CEO. We grew the business, increasing turnover significantly and opened a second office. In February 2015 I moved to Mount Kelly as Commercial Director. Mount Kelly is an independent boarding school in Tavistock. Responsible for two commercial trading arms of the charitable foundation I also managed, on a day-to-day basis, the building of a new £5.5m 50m Olympic Legacy swimming pool in partnership with Sport England. Following retirement, February 2023, I took on part-time working with Walter C Parson, Funeral Directors as a pall bearer and driver, a fascinating and varied role based in Newton Abbot. I held this position until June 2025 when I joined Gittisham Hill Park Management Limited of Retirement Villages Group Limited as General Manager of their independent retirement village in Honiton, Devon.