Firetop

> Online Business Consultant - Matt Peskett

I am an online business consultant with vast expertise in online campaign planning & analysis, web development, design & usability planning and server admin / maintenance. I have mainly been employed within the publishing sector at William Reed Business Media (retail) and Nature Publishing Group (science), as well as setting up my own search engine marketing business in 1999 – Firetop Ltd.

Since July 2007 I have been employed at William Reed Business Media as Online Business Manager for the Retail and Manufacturing Publishing Division; overseeing the strategic growth and development of approximately seventeen websites. I also held a position at William Reed between 2000 and 2001 managing on and offline campaigns for The Grocer Magazine and Grocer Directories.

Between 2000 and 2007 I held numerous positions at Nature Publishing Group - nature.com (a Macmillan company); working as Head of Online Advertising Operations, Marketing Technology Manager, Web Development Co-ordinator and Online Marketing Executive, I was involved in everything from the development and planning of websites to their international promotion and revenue generation through subscriptions and online advertising.

Between 1998 and 2000 I worked for the Spearhead Training Group as Marketing Manager - Direct Mail campaign planning and implementation as well as lots of negotiation with the business trade press on OTP and insert campaigns. It was at Spearhead that I developed my first corporate website and an understanding of electronic marketing which lead me to my first position at Nature.com.

In 1996 I moved into the life and pensions industry with General Accident Life, liaising with Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs) and internal sales consultants to administer pension plan payments, fund allocations and associated processes. Extra curricular activities saw me working as an online marketing consultant for a number of Hertfordshire-based businesses whilst additionally completing a part-time business and marketing HNC.

I started out on my sales and marketing career path in the retail sector with Stylo Barratts Shoes Ltd, working as a trainee manager and store merchandiser at stores in and around the southeast of England. In 1995 I was part of a management task force - opening four new stores in Northern Ireland. Further retail management appointments saw me working for Partners the Stationers and Martin McColl.

On reflection, I find it interesting that the main thread which runs throughout my twelve year career has been the desire to understand the variables that influence buying behaviour; from the position of a novelty slipper on a shop floor at Christmas, to the location of a rich media banner on a website on a weekday at 4pm…

So what’s Firetop Ltd?

Throughout my career I have developed my own network of contacts and clients across various industries. Since 1999 search engine marketing has been a particular focus of mine; I presented at Jupiter media’s ‘Search Engine Strategies Conference’ in 2003 and 2004. In 2003 I decided to formalise my consultancy services by establishing Firetop Ltd. Between 2004 and 2005 I took time out from full time employment at NPG and worked exclusively on developing Firetop Ltd – increasing company turnover to in excess of £80,000. With more than thirty clients Firetop Ltd grew, helped by contracts with well known companies such as Greenpeace, Centaur Publishing, Wiley Interscience, The IET, Dow Jones and Learn Direct as well as previous employers Spearhead Training and Nature Publishing Group.