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Biography
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"In the end, I literally wrote the book;

‘Our Company Book’,
which remains to this day, the central pillar of the Focusrite Group’s philosophy."

For over twenty years, I played the central marketing role in one of the most talked-about success stories in the music technology industry. Now I work as a brand consultant and executive team coach, helping companies unite and empower their teams, understand their customers and strengthen their brand through consistency, resonance and distinction.

During my tenure Focusrite grew from a single brand with ten employees and an annual revenue below £1m, to an AIM listed plc. with a market cap breaching £½ billon, incorporating multiple segment-leading brands and employing over 300 exceptional individuals.

 

Under the watchful eye of celebrated entrepreneur Philip Dudderidge,
I developed the Marketing team from just one, into a slick and creative powerhouse of marketeers and brand champions. Together, we nurtured celebrated brands, created challenger brands from scratch and  redefined brands to break new markets, repeatedly delivering recession-defying growth.

In the end, I literally wrote the book; ‘Our Company Book’, which remains to this day, the central pillar of the Focusrite Group’s philosophy.

Associations

Hult Ashridge

I’m proud to be pursuing my Masters in Executive Coaching at Hult Ashridge. Hult is recognized by business education’s three most prestigious international accrediting bodies: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), Association of MBAs (AMBA), and EQUIS (The European Quality Improvement System). They are the first and only business school in the U.S. to achieve this triple accreditation, which is held by just one percent of business schools worldwide.


In the woefully regulated space of executive coaching, the {Masters in Executive Coaching at Ashridge} is widely considered to be the most prestigious and transformational relational coaching course available today.

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Chiltern Music Therapy

I’m honoured to be an expert volunteer for one of the most heart-wrenching, progressive music therapy associations in the UK. Chiltern is an award-winning, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing high quality, evidence-based Music Therapy services in every setting, including specialist Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT), MATADOC and Neonatal Music Therapy services. If you’re comfortable shedding a few tears, why not take a moment to look at {the amazing work they do}.

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Testimonials

"Giles gave me my first opportunity in the world of music marketing; he was endlessly patient, generous with his expertise, and effortlessly turned my failures into learnings. He managed to balance the individual development of his team members with the overall growth of his team, as well as walking the tightrope between board-level loyalties and maintaining the absolute trust of his people. Giles has a gift when it comes to motivating people; his energy, optimism and intelligence are infectious, and I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor."

Si Halstead

Marketing Communications Manager

Ableton

"In the 18 years Giles and I worked together, there was no greater influence than his, on the creation of Focusrite as a word class organisation. In that time, he not only led the process of defining and strengthening our brand values but also successfully led us on a journey to better express our sense of purpose. Giles has the emotional intelligence to take an emerging culture and understand how to scale and improve it. His ability to evolve strategy, organise people, create team cohesion and facilitate change, comes about because he truly cares about helping people succeed."

Rob Jenkins

Technical Director

Focusrite PLC

"I worked with Giles for many years on numerous Serato collaborations, and more recently his insights were invaluable as Melodics went from idea to successful company. His incisive questioning helped to deliver truly paradigm shifting solutions for Serato that remain the standard a decade later. With Melodics, Giles has proved to be a crucial brand and culture sounding board - I couldn’t have done it without him. Relentlessly curious and compellingly creative, Giles is my go-to person whenever I’m considering a big play."

Sam Gribben

Founder / CEO - Melodics

Former CEO - Serato

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"Giles is uncommonly smart. His understanding of brands, people and culture is instinctual, but he also has the knowledge and experience to back it up. As CEO of Focusrite, having access to his talents proved repeatedly invaluable to me. The Focusrite success story is unparalleled in our industry and Giles was pivotal throughout.”

Dave Froker

Consultant. Former CEO of Focusrite,
CEO of Stanton Group, CMO of Line 6 and
GM of Digidesign

"I hired Giles Orford as a new graduate (King’s College London, Philosophy) in 2000 to assist me with marketing. Over twenty years later and now an AIM-listed public group of companies, I can give huge credit to Giles for developing the global recognition of the Focusrite and Novation brands. I wish him great success in his next venture."

 

Phil Dudderidge
Chairman & Founder – Focusrite PLC.

"Giles is one of the smartest people I've had the pleasure of spending time with. Not just IQ, but EQ; he has an instinctive and effective ability to read people. I have a lot to thank Giles for and there are some things I'm only just coming to appreciate now; many years later. If you need help navigating your business, your people, your strategy; I'd look no further."

Will Evans

CEO Spitfire Audio

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