RENE CARAYOL

is one of the world's leading speakers on E-business and its impact on organisations and people.

He is a regular contributor to radio and TV in Britain, and writes a monthly column for E-Business Magazine. 
His main interest is helping bricks and mortar companies to overcome their primal fear of the new age economy, helping them to develop the courage and imagination to embrace - and even welcome - the challenges and opportunities the new world order presents. 

With His help, major corporations are setting up new age businesses with a real prospect of success.

The legacy of the internet is speed. Decision-making, delivery, success and also failure all come at the speed of light. To prevaricate and procrastinate is to die. 

We now inhabit a brave new world where talent is king and the customer is kin. But moving fast is not enough. You must deliver too. 

It's not about being first mover, but first prover .He advises government agencies and also travels all over the world giving his own inspirational brand of conference addresses. 

No one who has attended a Carayol presentation emerges with his or her prejudices intact. The most significant outcome of a Carayol presentation is that business leaders and dotcom experts (at last) start having a lively and informed debate. 

Finally the suits and the geeks start working together. As well as being a noted figure in the digital economy, he also teaches leadership and people management skills. He runs workshops on vision, strategy and delivery.

"I've worked in a lot of industries as a main board director. I've been MD of a dotcom corporation. So I believe I'm bilingual, equally at ease in the old and new economies. The future success of any national economy will depend on the ability to fuse the expertise of both worlds, old and new. 

That's my mission." Dotcom advisers are two a penny. But he has the rare ability to speak from experience. 

This is not theory or an academic treatise. This is a practitioner's view. He has worked for blue-chip companies such as Marks & Spencer, Dixons. Pizza Hut and IPC Magazines. Always involved in technology, it was at IPC that his interest in the digital economy took fire. 

He became CEO of IPC Electric, the new media arm of IPC. He has been involved in large-scale management buy-outs and knows about leading from the front. Sometimes it really does help to have an insider's view.

PROFILE

Carayol is one of Europe's leading speakers on the subject of E-Business. His message is simple; that the real difference between the old and new economy is speed. Other mantras include the need for leadership and not management and also the importance of talent versus skills. He is often quoted, paraphrased and sited on these subjects.
The range of his audience is vast. To compliment his exclusive speaking engagements, he also is a regular guest of BBC Radio 4 and London Live as a business commentator.
As a natural means of expression he is also making a name for himself as a columnist in many periodicals.

career
company: Carayol Limited
duration: Mar 2000 +
position: Chief Executive
summary: Carayol was set up as a tool to better maintain his high profile in the spotlight of the New economy, involving a significant amount of public speaking, television and radio appearances, as well as guesting as a columnist in a number of periodicals both printed and electronic.
The Carayol team consists of researchers, technicians and designers, each dedicated to the efficient, professional and imaginative delivery of the Carayol experience.

company: Voodoo Limited
duration: July 2000 +
position: Chief Executive
summary: In response to the growing demand for him to deliver bespoke and/or detailed business solutions to large corporate clients, he founded the Voodoo Group.
Although the Voodoo name is new to the industry (and attracting a lot of attention), the company is in fact a merger of several smaller, more specialised firms. Voodoo includes, among others, branding, finance and project management specialists to compliment his strategic expertise.
Currently working with some of the U.K.'s biggest companies (PwC, Sun Microsystems, British Gas), Voodoo is experiencing the happy predicament of matching demand with growth.

company: E-Photomail.com
duration: January 2000 +
position: Chairman
summary: The concept behind his first e-business is a simple one. Professional photographers attending major sporting and social events capture golden moments, and then publish the images on the internet. For a small fee, the subjects of the photographs may download email or print quality copies for posterity.
As chairman his major focus is the management of the executive board. He is also the public face of the company, ensuring all stakeholders are well informed of all activities and issues.

company: IPC Electric
duration: January 1999 - January 2000
position: Managing Director
summary: The breakaway of IPC Magazines' IT department to become IPC Electric was his brainchild, who combined with a business plan written by himself, and his 'little black book of investors' easily raised the GBP25m needed for the venture. The wholly owned subsidiary was formed to build and deliver all IPC online assets, but crucially to become an independent force in the e-conomy. 
During his time there, hiss most significant achievement was the creation of beme.com, the internationally (still) successful woman's web site, and a pioneering, and often copied, British portal.

company: IPC Magazines
duration: April 1995 - January 1999
position: IT Director
summary: joined as IT Director, and like in most businesses, was accountable to the Finance Director. After eleven months he had successfully changed the attitude towards IT within the 100 year old company, elevating his position to the main board, reporting only to the CEO.
In January 1998 he played a key role in the Management Buy-out team that successfully broke away from Reed-Elsevier. At the time the MBO was a UK record of GBP860m.

company: Pizza Hut
duration: November 1992 - March 1995
position: Systems Director
summary: Pizza Hut at the time was a joint venture between PepsiCo and Whitbread. Carayol's role saw him responsible for the business systems strategy, but the excitement was in helping to turn around a start-up company into the leading Pizza chain in the UK with GBP180m sales.

company: Marks & Spencer
duration: October 1983 - November 1992
position: From Analyst Programmer to Senior IT Manager (1983 - 1991)Head of Men's clothing (1992)
summary: spent his first eight years at M&S in the IT department. His roles eventually saw him leading teams of up to 50 people, setting IT strategy and implementing business systems.
His last year was spent as Merchandiser in the GBP110m Men's clothing department. This involved setting the strategy for both buying and selling, and setting and delivering gross margin for all products.
Acquired his business acumen working for M&S at its peak in the high street.

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