In his own career, Andrew Garner has proved to be an outstanding leader in corporate innovation and culture, as well as mentor to a cross-section of high-profile CEOs of businesses from SMEs to FTSE 100 corporations. He is credited by Tom Peters and Charles Handy as being the inventor of modern theories of career development, and he has taught at Harvard and other leading business schools. His 1990 book, Smart Moves, proved so successful as a pioneering handbook on career management for high-achieving executives that he recently answered demands from business and academia by rewriting it for a 21st-century audience.

After rising rapidly through Mars Corporation and on to director roles with Brooke Bond and Gallaher, Andrew joined the pioneering executive search company, Boyden. As chairman and CEO, he steered its expansion into 40 countries, subsequently launching his own firm, Garner International, and floating it on the London Stock Exchange. Next, he bought Norman Broadbent plc, one of the all-time leading search brands operating across Europe and the Middle East, rebuilding its UK position and expanding its international footprint.

Andrew Garner is widely recognised for the many top-level corporate appointments he has facilitated for listed companies here and abroad. A recent example is his 2018 recruitment of a new Global Head of Digital Transformation for HSBC’s Consumer and SME business, and the completion of senior assignments in Asia and the United States for Vodafone. Andrew is currently working on a global management assessment programme for a multi-billion-dollar US corporation, assisting the CEO on organisational structure and personal development.

Andrew’s roles have included Honorary Visiting Fellow and long-term board member at Manchester Business School, as well as non-executive director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which he helped to transform its business model. An accomplished amateur racing driver on Europe’s major circuits, he raced his own historic Grand Prix and sports cars, and was awarded Driver of the Meeting at the first Goodwood Revival in 1998 and at the Grand Prix de L’Age in Dijon in 2010. He also helped build, and continues to work with, the team that runs McLaren’s GT racing programme.

In 2005, Andrew was invited to reorganise the British Racing Drivers Club, separating its management from that of Silverstone Circuits in order to develop the inherent potential of its extensive real estate, which brought about the organisational structure that we see today.

Andrew Garner's speaking engagements on energy issues, strategy, and the role of oil and gas in the 21st century have seen him sharing platforms with national leaders at Global Energy conferences in London, USA and the Middle East. He has regularly addressed audiences on topics such as education, leadership, the challenges associated with reliance on screen-based data, diversity, and, of course, how to manage your career.

Andrew has become a well-known senior commentator on business and corporate culture themes in the UK, USA, Australia and Hong Kong media, and takes a sharp ‘outside looking in’ approach to business innovation: “What does the market want from us, and how should we set about providing it?” His presentations include topics such as Leadership; Change and Management Innovation – The Real Meaning of Innovation; Navigating Market Turbulence and Transformation; Diversity on FTSE Company Boards; Corporate Restructuring; Business Development and Risk – The Risk/Reward Heuristic; What They Don’t Teach You at Business School; Developing and Nurturing Top Talent; How Do You Promote Your Difference?; Disconnects Between Business and Politics.

His raison d’être is to motivate audiences to challenge themselves. His engaging speaking style draws on his experience of relentlessly exposing inefficiency, stale or institutionalised thinking, and exploring ways to deliver business results at the highest level.