BUSINESS PARTNERS ON THE INTERNET

Business partners on the Internet, specialists in setting up online companies. Success on the Internet is never guaranteed but with the right help, advice and skills, your business idea can become a reality.

You have a new Internet business idea, concept, product or service and recognise you need help in certain areas in order to launch your new idea. We have the resources, infrastructure, skill, knowledge and experience to help you turn your idea into an online reality.

The Where On Earth Group is made up of a growing number of companies, most of whom work together for the benefit of all. You are not entering a Dragons Den where you are likely to be consumed or derided.

Unless you have a completely new and unique idea, the chances are we will have seen something similar before and have someone with experience within that particular field. Providing your idea complements or doesn’t conflict with our current business interests and providing we see some mileage in the project, we will be interested.

No matter what the idea is, the thing we will be most interested in is you. Ultimately, you will be the deciding factor and the person who will be responsible for the success or failure of the business.

You are the most valuable commodity, the person who has the idea and the vision to see it through with our help.

We are a people business dealing in the most valuable commodity on the planet – information. If we have the answers to your business problems, we are the vehicle on which to succeed.

The senior members have a wealth of experience in a number of business areas.

Julia Herbert is Managing Director of Where On Earth and Where On Earth Internet Marketing. Julia is married with three children and has held various managerial and company directorships throughout a varied career. These have included retail, trade fair and exhibition organisation, in store promotion, marketing, travel and a raft of Internet based businesses.

Julia was one of the brains behind the first Internet site specialising in advertising holiday homes in France on the web as well as being the first company to provide networked availability information systems.

Julia has a keen eye for detail, strong administrative skills, immense energy and an uncanny ability to spot problems before they arise. She will be the person that will instill the commonsense into any business situation and reign in anyone who is over enthusiastic about an idea she considers to be unworkable.

Although a tough taskmaster and businesswoman, Julia also has a kind and generous heart and is known as "mummy" to most members of the Group. She is also the person we all turn to for advice, help and the occasional desire for motivation.

Ian Cass has over twenty-five years experience in the financial services industry and is the managing director of a company which provides compliance consultancy and business mentoring services to authorised firms in the financial services sector.

Ian is involved in a range of industry trade bodies and working parties including: Society of Pensions Consultants, Compliance Institute, Association of Compliance Professionals, Business Link for Essex, and Braintree Business Council.

A keen eye for detail, highly experienced and unflappable...

Leo Osseweijer is head of IT and is married with two children. Leo held various managerial and directorships at ING, responsible for share trading, advising on business acquisitions, company flotations and ended up as head of computer systems.

Leo joined the Where On Earth Group in 2001 and has been responsible for developing most of the innovative and unique software systems that the Group uses today.

The people who work with him, describe him as bordering on genius as he is able to turn any idea or concept into a working IT module. If you use the Internet to book holidays, the chances are you have used systems created by Leo.

Despite being head of IT, Leo is a useful and knowledgeable member of the team and able to advise on most corporate and financial issues and is an invaluable asset on all business issues.

Leo is Dutch, speaks perfect English as well as number of other languages. This has proved invaluable when dealing with international clients.

David Miles has been working in the IT industry for over a decade and, at the age of twenty, in 1997, founded his own IT consultancy company specialised in helping companies make effective use of technology to improve their business efficiency.

Through this company, David provided corporate IT solutions to a variety of blue-chip clients (including BT, Shell, HP, HSBC, and Diageo), as well as website design and optimisation services to a number of small businesses.

David has also spent time as the IT & Finance Director of a firm of independent financial advisers, where he implemented a successful internet marketing strategy to generate mortgage and financial services leads. This allowed the company to make significant cost savings by moving away from traditional and expensive forms of print advertising.

Highly personable, David is one of the most visible decision-making front-men of the Group. David is extremely knowledgeable about internet marketing, business management, IT systems, employment issues, business law and taxation, and has a keen eye for detail.

David’s wealth of experience working with both small businesses and large corporations has given him an unparalleled ability when it comes to explaining complicated technical concepts in layman’s terms, understanding the needs of a business, and developing IT based solutions to solve business problems.

The youngest member of the Group, David is married with one daughter. He has given a number of presentations on internet marketing and website design at business events, and has had numerous articles published on topics such as starting a business, personal finance, employment law, business finance, and the property market.

Kizzi Nkwocha was a national newspaper journalist in his previous life before joining the Where On Earth Group. Considered the UK’s Mr Publicity, Kizzi has fronted both TV and radio shows in the UK and abroad. He is one of the UK’s leading public relations and Media Consultants with a string of Who’s Who clients, including boxer Chris Eubanks, contestants from Big Brother (UK) and Castaway, the King of Uganda, mistresses of President Clinton politicians and soap and headline making stories. He now handles all the Media and Public Relations side of the business for our clients. Kizzi was voted as one of the most important black people in the UK by readers of The Voice newspaper.

When it comes to PR and getting yourself on television or mentioned in the newspapers, Kizzi is the best man to speak to. Good public relations can keep a company in the public spotlight far more economically than advertising or marketing but you have to have a good idea or story for him to sell. If you want your business to make the headlines and keep making news, Kizzi is the best man for the job.

Larger than life, Kizzi has the power and the contacts to open doors and make the introductions your business needs to succeed.

Simon Roberts is managing director of Utopele, the business search engine that changed the way small businesses are launched on the internet. He is a dynamic individual who enjoys a challenge. At present his main interest is overseeing activities within Utopele and ensuring a continued success for the already fast growing company.

Simon's experience mainly lies with sales and marketing, having held roles within a business to business sales environment and the insurance industry where his sole objectives were to increase revenue and client base.

Simon is also very ambitious and a determined character who welcomes the thought of any new business prospect. He is at the forefront of the group and is always available to advise on any new sales strategies or techniques. Where possible he will always look to refer new customers to the group - those who may require services that other companies within the group can offer. Highly self motivated and confident, Simon has a clear vision of what he wants to achieve on a personal level and for his business.

Lesley Roads is married with two grown up boys and has spent the last twenty years running one of Europe’s most successful holiday agencies. One of the founder members of the Group, Lesley is always on hand to support or bring a calming influence to any business situation.

Prior to moving into the travel and holiday sector, Lesley was a teacher and is able to convert her communication skills to the boardroom whenever needed.

Lesley is one of those rare self-motivated businesswomen who can create a business out of any opportunity. This said, she is also a team player and happy to work alongside anyone who is as dedicated as she is to the success of any project.

Paul Herbert is CEO of the Group and is married with three children. Paul has a sales and marketing background having held senior managerial and directorships in Financial Services and Publishing both as editor and publisher of a number of publications, including holiday brochures with Eurotunnel, Buzz airlines, P&O Ferries and Condor Ferries. Current business interests include, estate agencies, travel and holiday Internet companies, property development, advertising across a number of mediums, insurance, finance and a number of other Internet businesses.

Paul has an uncanny ability to recognise business opportunities that other people miss, instantly see ways of improving on any business idea and a profound knowledge and understanding of Internet marketing and advertising.

His knowledge of the search engines is unsurpassed, resulting in the successful launch of hundreds of Internet sites and related businesses. His search engine optimisation skills are the key to the success of any web based business.

A team player, Paul likes to get involved in all projects from the beginning and is always at the end of the telephone to help and advise. He is, however, a private person who shuns the limelight and will only on rare occasions, when he feels it necessary, appear at meetings.

To describe Paul as being able to multitask would be an understatement. He has twice the energy of men half his age and seems to have a handle on everything that is happening within the company at any given time.

Keeping up with the new ideas and business launches keeps everyone on their toes but he is an essential element in every business we get involved in.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT BUSINESS PARTNERS

We know that choosing the right business partners is a critical business decision for all parties involved. Personalities aside, it is important that all parties feel that they are profiting from each others input.

We are in business for profit, we find business exciting and most importantly, we love what we do. When we look at a new potential business partner with a view to implementing and investing in IT systems and web based protocols, we are looking for someone who is not just going to build there business, but compliment our existing business interests.

You need to be a team player, be prepared to work hard, have the motivation and determination to succeed but also recognise your own limitations; (we all have them), and realise that we have the necessary skills, resources and infrastructure to fill those important gaps.

Right now, the best business decision you could make is to talk to us.

Providing a website capable of performing at the top of the search engines is just the start of what we can do for your company.