Principals

Peter McGowan M.A. B.Ed.

Peter was 3M’s youngest ever salesman of microfilm systems. But after 5 successful years with the US multi-national he decided on a career change and went to Durham University to take a degree in teaching. He graduated in 1978 as a teacher of English and within 5 years became the Head of an independent secondary school. Whilst in this role he obtained a Master’s degree in Victorian Studies. He moved to a second independent school 4 years later.

He left teaching in 1992 when he and his family moved to Wales. He joined the large, Swedish executive selection and development company, Mercuri Urval. He started in their London office and then, in 1995, set up Mercuri Urval’s 5th UK office in Bristol. In addition to his mainstream work with numerous large clients, he was a member of Mercuri Urval’s management team, co-developed a new approach to Search and Selection and was a member of the international Corporate Image team.

He has worked for clients from a wide variety of sectors and across Europe. As well as carrying out numerous senior level search and selection exercises, he has worked extensively at Board level to bring about improvements in business performance through behavioural change and has considerable experience of coaching senior individuals and of developing teams in both public and private sector organisations.

He set up Cordel Gowan in June 2004. Between October 2005 and April 2007 he was the part-time Vocational Skills Champion for Wales, reporting directly to the Minister for Education, Learning and Skills.

Peter Cooksley

Peter began his career in sales in the early 80's, running his own business in the retail sector. In early 1987 the opportunity arose to become a sales manager for a large British manufacturer. During his 9 years in this role he was top sales person on 2 occasions and finished every year in the top 5 out of a group of 40 sales people.

In 1997, Peter became a sales training manager and created a new department for an American owned company. His responsibilities included all UK and European sales staff. His initial training was with the American Management Association based in Chicago.

Peter is a Motivational Speaker who has performed keynote talks, as well as designing and delivering training in places as varied as Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the USA and many European countries.

He has developed many long-standing relationships with large organisations and has worked with clients from a wide range of sectors. He is a board member of the Sales Training Association and the Professional Speakers Association. Other memberships include the Institute of Directors, Institute of Sales and Marketing Management, Training Consortium, Institute of Professional Sales and the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

In 2001 he was a finalist in the National Sales Awards, Sales Trainer of the Year Award. Peter is also a licensed personality and team profiler (psychometric evaluation). When not working with Cordel Gowan Ltd, he runs his own very successful training and events management company, Top Banana Training Ltd.

www.topbananatraining.com