sheona southern

Before becoming a consultant in 2009, Sheona was the Marketing Director at Cumbria Tourism. As well as being one of the UK's leading destination marketers - with award-winning skills in new media - Sheona has excellent experience in management training and creative facilitation, and mentoring businesses to develop strategies for growth.

Initially trained as a commercial manager with M&S and MBA qualified, she was a training officer for the RAF, and worked at a senior level for the BBC in North England and with Teamtalk Media Group plc.

roger budden

Roger Budden led the development team at Tourism South East till 2008, and is an expert on developing the visitor experience, especially rural tourism. He has worked in both public and private sectors - including economic development and tourism roles for local authorities in Oxford, Carlisle and West Sussex.

He was the Countryside Agency's national rural tourism adviser for four years to 2006. As well as his general consultancy work, Roger is Consulting Editor for the new national Destination Managers' Toolkit.

colette walker

Colette Walker spent 15 years working in the tourism industry across destination marketing, PR, new media development and strategic campaigns. Her specialist skills lie in communications, marketing analysis and planning for destination and tourism businesses.

Colette has an in-depth knowledge of the tourism industry in northern England and has recently project-managed several large tourism-related events.

michael lough

Michael Lough is a marketing and communications professional. Before becoming a consultant in 2002, he was Marketing and PR Manager for the independent food retail chain, Booths Supermarkets (www.booths.co.uk). His skills include research, business planning, strategic development, retail and food-service advice, and web-based marketing.

Development and promotion of food tourism is a particular specialism and passion for Michael. He has a well-established network of local food stakeholders and visitor businesses throughout the north of England and has delivered consultancy support across all sectors of the visitor economy including visitor attractions, retail destinations, tourist boards and environmental partnerships.

sarah gibbs

Before becoming a consultant, Sarah spent over 10 years marketing Brighton to visitors at home and overseas, and project-managed the launch of a brand-new interactive 4000-page VisitBrighton website.

She now focuses her creativity on: writing for the web, online marketing and e-communications, and brings writing flair, enthusiasm and resourcefulness to Blue Sail projects.

malcolm connor

Malcolm Connor has worked in consultancy for 10 years. He specialises in strategic planning and visitor management for destinations and visitor attractions, and - with his long experience as both a practitioner and a consultant - he's great at finding practical, workable solutions to our clients' challenges.

Previously, Malcolm worked in tourism for 25 years with regional tourist boards - Heart of England Tourist Board and Isle of Man Tourist Board - and with local authorities in visitor services, product development and promotion. Key clients include RSPB, Bicester Village Retail Outlet, Conwy Council, Denbighshire County Council, British Waterways.

neen kelly

Before entering into consultancy in 2008, Neen worked for 25 years with VisitScotland. She had a number of roles over the years including Marketing Manager for Active Scotland involving the promotion of all active products to the UK market.

Neen's expertise lies in marketing planning and implementation, sponsorship and events. She has an in-depth knowledge of tourism and specifically the active sector. She was also involved in the joint agency bids for the Ryder Cup and the Commonwealth Games, both being held in 2014.

andrew meredith

Andrew Meredith brings over 17 years UK wide experience across market research and consultancy projects, working with destinations, heritage sites, attractions and agencies, from feasibility study, through strategic development planning to post-completion evaluation.

Andrew has been in destination consultancy since 2003. Before that, he held management roles at the Heart of England Tourist Board, with the leading independent agency BMG Research and with PHT Consultants.