Barry Gibbons

Tell It Like It Is: With scalpel-sharp wit, Barry Gibbons cuts to the bottom-line difference between acceptable and exceptional creating a blueprint for fresh-start success. He conveys to audiences what makes the difference between organizations who succeed versus those muddling in mediocrity.

Take A Chance: Combining practical experience with maverick business sense, Gibbons challenges the status quo, breaks the rules and makes the daunting complexities of business easy to understand. He also exposes the comic absurdities of modern business while emphasizing the glorious opportunities that reward courageous decisions.

Author and Business Humorist: Gibbons is the author of several books, including Dream Merchants and HowBoys; This Indecision is Final; If You Want to Make God Really Laugh, Show Him Your Business Plan; and his latest, Warning! May Contain Nuts! And in 2005 Gibbons will publish a book about public speaking titled, As God Once Said (and I Think, Quite Rightly...). He has written five international business books, published in several languages.

The Results: With humor and intelligence, Gibbons wisdom provides a practical road map for successful organizations and individuals willing to commit to the journey. Barry Gibbons, former CEO of the US-based Burger King Corporation - and the man dubbed the Turn Around Champ - officially opens World Travel Market 2012, the leading global event for the travel industry, on Monday, November 5, at ExCel London.

He will talk about creating and maintaining business in a phenomenally tough economic climate.

Within a year of taking over the role of CEO of Burger King, Barry was opening two new restaurants a day around the world, attracting thousands of hungry travelers on a budget, said Fiona Jeffery OBE, Chairman of World Travel Market, During 5 years as chief of one of the worlds leading fast-food chains, he received international recognition for his outstanding business performance.

When Gibbons took over running the US-based Burger King in 1989 as part of the Pillsbury Group by the UK company, Grand Metropolitan, it was losing money with not one of its international businesses in a healthy state.

At the time, the average US$1million annual profit a year compared dismally with their main rival of MacDonalds US$1.5million. Franchisees were earning poor profits, and many restaurants were short staffed, dirty, and badly in need of renovation.

Within 4 years, Gibbons made a pre-tax profit of $250 million, trading positively in 55 countries.