Tom Lewis

Hi, I'm Tom Lewis. Welcome to my profile!

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I am a man with a dream. Despite a successful career in sales lasting almost 10 years, and running a digital marketing business for the past 5, I've known exactly what I want to do with my life for a long time, and everything I've achieved so far has led to what I am doing right now- building the world's best coworking hub right here in Bath. I moved to Bath in 2010, to set up home with the woman of my dreams, and feeling a bit stuck on how to start meeting new people I started a networking group for tech people called BathSPARK. I cofounded it with someone I had never met, (and who I contacted on LinkedIn). I would never describe myself as a tech, but looking back it was the most important thing I have ever done in my working life, as I realised that bringing people together to meet and grow their businesses was a key skill I possessed. The networking events were, and continue to be, a huge success, and now I have mostly handed over the reins to a new younger group of bright sparks, it continues to grow- with various spin off events and even an annual awards ceremony (complete with TV celebrity compare). Through my involvement with BathSPARK, I was able to share the dream I had about developing a physical space where tech and creative people could meet, work and grow their businesses- and from after a lot of work, many false starts, and a lot of sleepless nights, I found a way to make it happen. Now in 2013, having won a ?500,000 grant and finding the most incredible historic space to use along the way, I am passionate about building the world's best coworking hub. I'm doing this from scratch, with zero experience in anything to do with business services, interior design, and working on pure faith, assisted by a great team and a very supportive family. The Guild coworking hub opened in July 2013 at the Guildhall and we're already got a thriving community of members with new ones signing up every day. You should come and visit us.

Account Manager at Backup Direct

July 2006 - January 2007

Recently recruited by this rapidly expanding tech company operating in the fast growing online backup arena. Backup Direct is the UK's leading provider of managed backup services, and offers best of breed technologies for PC and server backup. My role is to help manage incoming enquiries, co-ordinate and close trial prospects, and maximise the conversion of all current opportunities.

Head of UK Sales at Arithon

May 2005 - July 2006

Employed by this small, fast-growing Irish software house in order to manage the expansion into the UK, set up a telesales team in-house, and drive sales to agreed targets. Arithon specialises in hosted software solutions to the recruitment industry, and had become a market-leader in Ireland over the past 4 years.

Area Account Manager at Four Square

June 2002 - August 2004

Territory management, including regular visits to largest customers in area. Daily new business meetings driven by own activities and telesales support Maintenance of pipeline to ensure a constant supply of new customers, and new profit streams from existing business.

Sales Rookie at Thompson Systems

1998 - 2001

Sold a varierty of mid-marketing accounting systems and upgrades into companies and organisations around the UK. Average order value ?40k+

Coworking Hub Operator - The Guild at Coworking Bath CiC

March 2012

The Guild is Bath's first coworking hub, located at the beautiful Guildhall in central Bath. We have almost 4000 sq ft of space which includes two touchdown areas- a creative space (The Engine Room) and a quiet space (The Library), plus a breakout area with sofas, soundproof phone rooms and ad hoc meeting rooms, a 50s style diner, and a front room which definitely isn't a reception space. We also have a seminar room, a training room/lab, a multimedia room, and a board room which looks like something out of Mad Men. The space is nothing without the people though. We're building a community here, not offering a serviced office. You will meet others running similar businesses, you'll enjoy the opportunity of networking and social events, and hopefully work with others to build your business faster together than you ever could alone. We have everything you need to step up from a home office or Starbucks, and run your small tech and creative business- 100MB leased line, lots of AV and tech, and hugely expensive coffee machines running coffee beans roasted 24 hours earlier just down the road. Our memberships start from just ?49 a month. The hub was my idea and the project funding and initial execution was down to me alone- but as the project started to take shape, I recruited an incredible right hand woman to help me, and together we've worked with a huge team of trades, with sponsors and with our funders to make this lifelong dream a reality.

Cofounder at BathSPARK

July 2010

Arrived in Bath knowing no-one. Decided to start a networking group to bring techs and creatives together. Met David Maher Roberts who was planning the exact same thing. I had a venue and a name, he had sponsors and traction on members- we came together, our first event sold out in minutes, and 2 years later we've just hit our first 500 members. BathSPARK is now run by a dedicated and passionate team of volunteers, and has grown to include an annual awards ceremony, and recently a series of breakfast meetings. We still do the quarterly evening events too, which are always free and always will be. You should come along to one.

Marketing Consultant at FirstExact West

October 2007

FirstExact West aims to be the first choice for companies in Bath and Bristol who want to outsource their sales and marketing operations to a specialist provider. Our services include web marketing, AM/PM outsourcing, and outsourced back office operations. FirstExact West is 100% owned by me, and has a growing dedicated team committed to its success.

Bournemouth University

2007 – 2008

CIM Pdip

University of Birmingham

1994 – 1998

Commerce

Concentration: Business Studies & Economics

St Bedes School