Richard Higham

Founding Director

Richard is seen as a highly experienced reflective practitioner in the field of sales and key account management. He has won, designed and led sales performance projects across the world for over 25 years. He is known for his ability to deliver measurable, sustainable results through a blend of innovative thinking and a pragmatic hands-on approach. He is a compelling speaker, trainer, writer and coach. Richard has an MA from Jesus College Cambridge, is a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Professional Sales and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts & Commerce. He is a Member of the Association for Coaching. He is an adjunct lecturer on the Dublin Institute of Technology’s Postgraduate Diploma in International Sales course and runs business development and leadership programmes for Bayes Business School, City, University of London. As a Founding Director of Sales Fitness Group he is responsible for developing and implementing the firm’s sales performance concepts and solutions. He works closely with a limited number of clients especially in the fields of key account management, business development and sales organisation and leadership.

Martin Allison

Executive Chairman

Martin developed a passion for sales and business development during his long and successful banking career which saw him rise to senior general management roles in a leading global banks. Subsequently he has served many organisations involved in transformational change and turnaround including serving as Dean of Leeds Metropolitan University Business and Law Schools, Chair of the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association and the Leeds Community Foundation. Martin has co-invested in numerous businesses, several of which he chairs. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, holds an MBA and is a Fellow of the Institute of Professional Sales. He brings a number of competencies to our customers and Group including; business and financial acumen, senior management coaching and facilitation, a strong grasp of the theory and practice of sales (including sales gamification) and an extensive network of senior relationships.

Brett Lyons

Senior Performance Consultant

Brett gained a great grounding in sales when he started his career in Mars, benefitting from their widely recognised sales training as he rose from Sales Representative to Regional Account Manager. He then moved to Playtex and progressed to National Account Manager and a range of national and international posts in America and Europe, returning to UK as Head of Sales & Marketing on the UK Exco. After two decades Brett took this hard-earned and invaluable commercial experience and has applied it over the past 25 years with household names and rising stars, spanning the financial, manufacturing, distribution, capital goods and food sectors. Clients have ranged from BNP Paribas to Philips, from Casio to Xerox. Brett is particularly focussed on sales leadership and key account management and is passionate about embedding sales learning in daily work to drive significant and sustainable RoI. He has joined SFG following a long relationship with the SFG principals, collaborating on major development projects.

Steve Lewis

Senior Performance Consultant

Steve has built on an impressive career in the insurance and life assurance sector to develop a highly effective approach to coaching and consulting which he brings to SFG’s clients. He is a reflective practitioner who is particularly gifted in embedding organisational and individual change with sales teams. He has held senior sales and distribution positions in Aegon Scottish Equitable, Prudential and LV. He has MSc in Behavioural Sciences, an MBA and recently completed an MSc in coaching and behavioural change.

John Evans

Senior Performance Consultant

John combines a background in HR, marketing and communications, corporate services and client-facing roles with a strong track record of delivery as a CEO, COO, HRD and now Chair and NED. He led Royal Bank of Scotland’s sales transformation programme Columbus and was head of sales transformation at British Airways. This eclectic mix of skills, achievements and knowledge allows him to take on challenges and opportunities that often mean preparing new ground or re-shaping established foundations. He is a skilled operator at strategic and tactical levels and can be as ‘hands on’ as required.

Scott D McArthur

Senior Performance Consultant

Scott is a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator with a focus on the future and the dynamics of change. He specialises in the design and delivery of executive development learning programmes, keynote speaking and MSc project supervision and lecturing (Cranfield and Oxford). He served for 8 years as a principal people consultant at Atos Consulting as well as holding several senior HR post in a range of industries. He is a highly engaging speaker and facilitator.

Jon Clark

Senior Sales Compensation Consultant

Jon is an experienced Reward/HR consultant working with clients to design and implement reward and sales performance management solutions. He has 30 years’ experience working on UK-based and international projects including a decade with a Big4 Accountancy firm. Jon works with Chief Executives, CHROs, Heads of Reward and Sales leaders to design Sales Performance and Reward solutions including reward strategy, incentives design, pay and grading structures, performance management systems, sales performance management improvement initiatives and change management. Jon's reward consulting experience is cross sector including financial services, telecoms, hi-tech, media, pharma, manufacturing, sports, not-for-profit and professional services. He has been a regular speaker at conferences and on webinars. Jon has a B Hons in Ancient History and an MSc in Human Resources.