Adrian Ashton

Current

· associate tutor at The Co-operative College
head honcho! at Adrian Ashton

Past

executive director at Cambridge Co-operative Development Agency
COSEO project officer at Kirklees Council

Education

Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge

Recommended

1 person has recommended Adrian

Connections

58 connections

Industry

Management Consulting

Websites

My Blog

Adrian Ashton’s Summary

After reading business in Cambridge, I worked with one of the top 100 PR consultancies in the UK before taking on various management roles within a wide variety of social enterprises, community organisations and more ‘traditional’ enterprise support bodies.

These experiences enabled me to ‘turn around’ an ailing specialist social enterprise support agency into a nationally recognised body and gained me recognition as an authority on social enterprises from local, regional and national organisations including the DTI and Bank of England.

I have used this position, along with my knowledge of the changing environment and policy context in which social enterprises operate, to deliver support to local groups and national projects to high acclaim. This appreciation has been not only from the direct individuals and communities my work has impacted upon, but others, including support agencies and international governments. It has also led to my being invited to be an occasional writer for national and regional publications.

Adrian Ashton’s Specialties:

business start-up;
social enterprise;
charities;
social accounting/impact evaluation;
corporate social responsibility;
training programmes

Adrian Ashton’s Experience

· associate tutor

The Co-operative College

(Management Consulting industry)

January 2006 — Present (4 years 1 month)

specialising in governance and including bespoke facilitation days for various boards and trustees on a variety of issues
head honcho!

Adrian Ashton

(Management Consulting industry)

January 2005 — Present (5 years 1 month)

lots of helpful support to grass roots organisations, while also involved in national projects and garnering international recognition for knowledge, insight and impact
executive director

Cambridge Co-operative Development Agency

(Professional Training & Coaching industry)

2002 — 2004 (2 years )

responsible for ensuring the success of this local co-op and social enterprise support and development body; managing its social enterprise exclusive loan fund, staging co-op and social enterprise trade fairs, informing national policy and generally turning it from an ailing 'was been' into a nationally recognised exemplar during my 'tour of duty'
COSEO project officer

Kirklees Council

(Government Agency; Government Relations industry)

2002 — 2002 (less than a year)

supporting local charities and community groups to explore and r-create themselves as successful social enterprises

Adrian Ashton’s Education

Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge

BA (Hons) Business , Business, Marketing, Economics (of social problems) , 1993 — 1998

income invested in continuing development

Additional Information

Adrian Ashton’s Websites:

My Blog

Adrian Ashton’s Groups:

new economics foundation
co-operatives UK
National Association of Voluntary Organisatoins
Institute of Business Consulting
Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship