top of page

RTC North

After starting his career as an Engineer in Mechatronics in the automotive industry, Graham delivered a highly successful career in trouble-shooting for corporate divisions, eventually leading North American operations of an Automotive tier 1 from $30Mn - $300Mn of acquisition-fuelled growth, and developing a number of Asia-based strategic alliances before returning to the North-East and leading year on year double digit growth as GM/MD designate of a manufacturing SME. Instead of taking on the full-time role of MD, he set off to build his own international consultancy business (based out of Scotland) which gave verifiable support on many large long-term global consultancy projects to corporates and blue-chips for 8 years, before supporting growth in over 80 SMEs (5 of them with 10 x multi £million growth within 3-4years) since. During his international consultancy phase, he became an accredited Corporate Executive Coach to senior leaders in this space, and concentrated on his specialist knowledge in areas such as Strategic Operational Excellence (Six Sigma MBB), Innovation and commercialisation, as well as people and culture development for areas such as Manufacturing, Engineering, and Service-based organisations. He was awarded EF Business Mentor of the Year in the North-East in 2019-20, and is currently a strategic advisor (NED) to a host of businesses from £250k-£200Mn. He is also currently Vice-Chair for Durham Business Group which led to him working part-time with RTC North and the Durham Growth Programme. After suffering long-term illness himself, he also gives pro-bono support and advice to a number of national and local CICs and charities in areas close to his heart; education, entrepreneurship, and disability, as well as being active in his local church.

Graham Sleep

Productivity & Growth Advisor

As a Business Support Specialist, Abigail is passionate about helping businesses succeed and thrive. She’s dedicated to providing guidance and support to clients, working closely with them to understand their unique challenges and opportunities. Abigail's approach is rooted in a genuine commitment to seeing others succeed, offering personalised advice and solutions tailored to the specific needs of each business. With a diverse background and experience across multiple industries, Abigail brings a deep understanding of business processes to the table. Whether it’s refining operations, discovering new growth opportunities, or other requirements for growth, she’s focused on ensuring businesses have the tools and resources they need for sustainable growth and long-term success.

Abigail Bell

Business Support Specialist

Graham started his own business writing and publishing computer games while studying at Manchester University in the 1980s. In the early 1990s he sold this business to Psygnosis, where he produced games, for instance in the Lemmings series. Psygnosis was bought by Sony leading to Graham being involved in many of the launch titles for the original PlayStation. In the late 1990s he moved to Nokia, initially doing games stuff. That developed into him being responsible for entertainment, content and games for Nokia’s smartphones, and ultimately the roll out of Nokia’s mobile services. In the early 2010s he joined a start-up online media company, growing one of their divisions to be the largest provider of licence free music to UK retailers. Late 2019 he sold this business to a PE backed competitor for a multiple of annual revenue. After a career break during Covid he then spent just over a year turning round a 100-year-old trade association.

Graham Stafford

Productivity & Growth Advisor

Keith started his working life in technical services with a North Eastern electro-mechanical engineering business and was part of the team that introduced the first electronic Jacquard to the textile industry. Following spells in technical services management and R & D management he then moved into quality assurance. In turn this led to a role in supplier and supply chain development in the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Management, then part of the University of Sunderland. At the turn of the century he set up a business to develop software to support quality assurance. This developed into a more general technical services business covering network installation and database administration in addition to software and web development. He sold this business on before setting up another business focused on web development and since that time has been involved in several other commercial ventures in construction, engineering management software development, vulnerable citizen support and NHS/GP services. As part of RTC North he brings his wide ranging commercial and operational experience to further strengthen our team.

Keith Wallis

Business Support Specialist

Charl is an experienced business owner and 30 years of executive management including 15yrs as MD/ CEO of medium sized businesses in the training, manufacturing, construction, logistics & distribution, catering and hospitality sectors. Coach and leadership development is a particular strength he brings to business support underpinned by effective strategic planning, continuous improvement and performance management. With the Durham Business Growth programme Charl’s primary role will be as a Productivity & Growth Advisor working with County Durham business owners, leaders and managers to improve specific business areas which, will in turn, result in increased productivity (process, people, systems) and a greater probability of successfully achieving growth ambitions.

Charl Erasmus

Productivity & Growth Advisor

RTC North

RTC North is a leading provider of business support and innovation services, working with organisations to unlock their potential and achieve sustainable growth. With a wealth of expertise and a commitment to excellence, RTC North empowers businesses to overcome challenges, embrace opportunities, and drive success in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Empowering companies across the North to innovate, compete and grow.

bottom of page