Name: Paul Gibbons
Role: Chairman of Leaderboard Golf
Twitter: @Leaderboard
Paul Gibbons is responsible for the overall running and development of the company.
Paul originally started Leaderboard in the late 90s, after selling his share of the Auto Trader. He gradually added new sites to the roster and now Leaderboard are the proud owners of four courses and the Leaderboard Golf Centre.
Paul enjoys being the Chairman of Leaderboard Golf profoundly and finds his role highly engaging and rewarding. He particularly enjoys working with his great team and developing new and exciting ideas for the Leaderboard brand – for example Paul has been instrumental in Leaderboard's quest to become 'The Authority for Golf Online'.
Paul states that his work is made all the more enjoyable due to the support, creativity and vision that his wife Jennifer offers. She created the Oxfordshire Hotel, was responsible for the refurbishment of Dale Hill, the rebuild of Chart Hills and designed the new Hotel that is in planning at Sandford Springs.
Name: David ColyerRole: Director of Leaderboard, the General Manager of Dale Hill Hotel and Golf Club and General Manager of Chart Hills Golf Club
Twitter:
David manages all aspects of the operation at both Dale Hill and Chart Hills. As a Director and a member of the board, he assists Paul and Jennifer in the running of Leaderboard.
David had been in hotel management for 20 years, the majority of which he spent working for the Goring family at the Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells. He was looking for his next challenge when the position of General Manger at Dale Hill became available in 2003. David had been for a number of interviews with other companies but when he met Paul and Jennifer for the first time he knew where he wanted to be.
David believed that they held the same approach to hospitality; that the focus was on getting the service right for the customers. In 2008 the General Manager at Chart Hills left the organisation and after meeting with Paul and Jennifer, David took over running both properties. In December 2010 Paul and Jennifer invited David to join them on the board as a Director of Leaderboard.
David loves his job and believes he is privileged to have the opportunity to run Dale Hill and Chart Hills. In his own words – "When I'm standing on the 5th tee on the Woosnam Course or I'm pulling into the drive at Chart Hills I stop and think – it does not get better than this."
Name: Andrew Robert WildRole: General Manager Sandford Springs Ltd
Twitter: @SandfordSprings
Andrew manages all aspects of Sandford Springs including Food and Beverage, Golf, Finance and Memberships.
Andrew originally met the Chairman, Paul Gibbons, when he was an assistant Golf Pro at Reading Golf Club 28 years ago.
Interestingly, 15 years later Andrew was giving Paul a series of lessons, during which he mentioned there was a club in Hampshire which was up for sale. After going to visit the club, Mr Gibbons ended up buying Sandford Springs.
Andrew joined the company a couple of years later and six years on, he became the General Manager at the club they had first discussed all that time ago.
Andrew has a deep passion for the game of golf, which aids his enthusiasm in all his endeavours at Sandford Springs. Aside from playing, he enjoys simply being around the golf club and takes a great interest in looking after his members.
He believes that the atmosphere at Sandford Springs is second to none and finds it such a pleasure to be involved with the club that, in his own words – "Sometimes it doesn't even feel like work".
Name: Neal Granville Role: Director of Golf at Sandford Springs Ltd
Twitter: @nealgranville
Neal takes responsibility for the running of the golf course, retail and coaching at Sandford Springs. It is a role that makes everyday a new one and keeps him busy so he has to rely on the people around him.
"My team at Sandford Springs are incredibly important to me. I can trust them to get the job done and I know that our members and guests at Sandford will always receive an experience and service that is second to none," he said.
Neal’s favourite holes at Sandford Springs are 13, 14 and 15 which in his words are ‘Sandford’s own Amen corner’! Neal started off his professional career following a collegiate scholarship in the USA and like most golf pros he had ambitions of being the world number one.
He is still working on that dream! Neal’s golfing heroes are Ben Hogan and Seve Ballesteros.
Name: Graham GreenRole: General Manager, PGA Professional at The Leaderboard Golf Centre
Twitter: @ReadingGolf
Graham runs the Leaderboard Golf Centre - a very busy 37-bay Driving Range, Retail Store, Custom Fitting and Coaching improvement Centre.
He also runs the retail side for Reading Golf Club, where Leaderboard have a second shop.
His role consists of a multitude of responsibilities, from standard office work to face-to-face selling, custom fitting and team management. In his own words – "It's a very varied role and always full on, yet extremely challenging and exciting. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, so and I'll do most jobs if required - that includes, being a green-keeper, repair man and general Jack of all trades."
Graham started his golf career at Reading Golf Club working with Andrew Wild, who was the head professional there at the time. When Paul and Jennifer Gibbons set up Leaderboard and purchased the driving range in December 1999, Graham jumped at the chance to work for them.
It was Paul Gibbons' enthusiasm for golf, along with his business acumen, which encouraged Graham and meant that he didn't hesitate when he was given the opportunity to work for Leaderboard. Graham believes it's a privilege and a pleasure to be working with such great people on the Leaderboard team.
Graham qualified from the PGA with Distinction in 2003, gaining a Titleist Scholarship. A couple of years later, when Andrew Wild moved across to run Sandford Springs Golf Club, Graham was promoted to General Manager at the Leaderboard Golf Centre.
He describes the favourite parts of his job role with great enthusiasm – "My biggest buzz is seeing amateur golfers of all abilities improving and enjoying the game more. Golf has been very good to me and being able to give back to the sport gives me great drive and determination."
Name: Tim PettiferRole: General Manager at The Oxfordshire
Twitter: @TheOxfordshire
Tim takes overall responsibility for running The Oxfordshire Golf Club and Hotel. Tim was invited to become the General Manager at The Oxfordshire by Paul Gibbons after being scouted out by one of Paul's working associates.
He is a valuable, hardworking member of the Leaderboard team, who enjoys his role and takes great pride in the growth of the brand.
On a personal level, Tim finds particular satisfaction in seeing the hotel becoming busier and enjoys engaging with the members, while ensuring they get the best possible service during their time at the Oxfordshire.
The creative team
Name: Jon BuchanRole: Director, Render Positive
Twitter: @jonbuchan
Jon is the Director of Render Positive, alongside his brother, Gary Buchan. Together they run their creative digital marketing agency in London.
Jon met Paul Gibbons through Benjamin Webb, the managing director of Deliberate PR (www.deliberate-pr.com) – a public relations company who manage and work behind the scenes for Leaderboard Golf. Jon was inspired by Paul’s ambition to make golf more accessible to everybody.
To realise this dream, Jon came up with the idea that not only should Leaderboard become a thought-leader, but it should also be the authority for golf online. He pitched this to Paul and the rest is history. Jon says it was the right time and place for their two visions to come together.
According to Jon, working with the Leaderboard team is a dream, as they are so involved and keen to create content and engage with users. The project utilises almost every single online-marketing discipline outside of paid search and it is the biggest project he has ever worked on.
www.renderpositive.com
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Name: Bob DukeRole: Lead Editor, Render Positive
Twitter: @BobDukeTweet
Bob and Heather work together on content management and creation for the Leaderboard website.
His work involves content directing, team management, writing and editing.
Bob has been working with Jon at Render Positive since August 2010. He quickly progressed to take up the role of Lead Editor.
He is a published writer with a degree in journalism and plenty of experience. According to Bob, the best part of his job is the moment after finishing an article. He says: 'The sense of having built something from scratch is incredibly rewarding.'
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www.renderpositive.com
Name: Kevin MullaneyRole: Golf Researcher, Render Positive
Kevin works for Render Positive on behalf of Leaderboard to keep users up to date with all the latest golf news and product releases.
He found out about the exciting Leaderboard project through his career in online marketing. He jumped on the opportunity to merge his passion for golf with work after an enjoyable round at The Oxfordshire.
Kevin’s home course is Wentworth and he is a 16 handicapper having played golf for 14 years.
According to Kevin, he feels incredibly lucky to be a part of Leaderboard. He loves trying out all the new clubs, courses and gadgets.
What used to be a post-round discussion at the bar is now his day job and he claims it doesn't feel like work at all. He says this really is his dream job and he looks forward to keeping you all in the know.
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www.renderpositive.com
Name: Heather McKay Role: Content Strategist, Render Positive
Twitter: @HMac87
Heather and Bob work alongside each other, deciding on exciting material, all centred round the world of golf which will engage Leaderboard’s readers.
Heather’s work involves writing and keeping up to date with the latest golf news, scouring reviews and aggregating product information to best inform our readers as well as editing the Leaderboard site as a whole.
Heather’s background was originally in journalism before she became a freelance writer. She and Jon are friends and knowing Heather’s background and enthusiasm for a challenge, in addition to the scope of the project, Jon suggested she write for, and edit the Leaderboard site. It was then she joined Bob, Jon and Gary at Render Positive and has since never looked back.
According to Heather the best part of her job – sheer pedantry to some – is looking at a page she has recently uploaded, formatting and editing it, pictures and all, so it looks perfect. Some may call it finicky, Heather calls it fun.
www.renderpositive.com
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Skype: feather_mac
The technology team
Name: Jack BremerRole: Technical Director, 3B Digital Ltd
Twitter: @jackbremer
Jack is in charge of the development team behind the Leaderboard website, making sure its cutting-edge technology is deployed quickly and effectively, to support the journalistic efforts of the content crew.
3B had been working alongside Render Positive on a number of projects across a wide variety of disciplines when they eventually came to work on the Leaderboard website. Jack’s talented technical and dedicated design teams needed to support the energetic online-marketing team at Render Positive, and he says they have really enjoyed working on the Leaderboard project from the get-go.
Jack states that every day at 3B is different, and with the likes of Google and Facebook constantly offering new and often revolutionary tools, the work he does is made even more exciting when he gets to play with them as part of his job! Managing a team on a project the size of Leaderboard is a very rewarding challenge, according to Jack, and allows 3B to improve their best practice across the board.
www.3bweb.com
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Studio: 0844 414 0906
Skype: jackbremer
Name: Alex BremerRole: Creative Director, 3B Digital Ltd
Twitter: @alexbremer
Alex oversees all visually creative aspects of the site presentation, from the new logo and corporate ID, to the minutiae of article and feature layout. He says nothing escapes his enormously helpful interruptions and direction!
When asked what aspect of his role he most enjoys, he says every aspect, as each new job affords him the opportunity to ‘look under the hood’ of a business, and that the Leaderboard project has been no exception. In particular he has enjoyed being part of the creative process on this genuinely innovative and cutting-edge proposition.
www.3bweb.com
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Studio: 0844 414 0906
Name: Jordan Worner
Role: Lead Developer, 3B Digital Ltd
Twitter: @jordanworner
After the design department whips up some amazing artwork and layout the ball is then passed over to
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Studio: 0844 414 0906
Skype: jordan.worner
