I am proud of the projects I have worked on, and am pleased that I have a great track record of happy clients.

Below are some of my favourite testimonials that I have received since 2005.


“Giles has a practical and pragmatic approach to implementing CI within organisations. He trained our Operations and Production team members on the principles of CI and coached the teams through the early stages of implementing our own CI process.

The workshops were well structured and our project was delivered on schedule and Giles’ relaxed approach and sense of humour made it a really positive and enjoyable experience for our team members.

CI is now embedded in our Operations and Production functions and team members have started coaching others on the principles so they can be introduced to other areas of the business. We’ve just celebrated our 100th IO (Improvement Opportunity). Most importantly, the quality and quantity of our outputs continues to increase.

Thanks Giles, it was great working with you.”

Alex Hayward, Managing Director, Phusion IM Ltd


“Giles was brought in by my organisation to help optimise a project programme that was not running as efficiently or effectively as we believed possible.

Giles’ work helped map out the work streams involved, by gaining a full understanding of timescales involved with all planned tasks as part of the project. Giles then also quantified all of the unplanned tasks that were being carried out.
Giles then took all of this information, and presented us with options as to how all of the various parts of the project could better fit together, whilst also minimising waste and slack in the project.

The most impressive thing about Giles’ report and recommendations, is that he presented realistic and achievable options, with practical explanations of exactly how his recommendations could be implemented, in plain and easy to understand terms.

Importantly, we implemented Giles’ recommendations, and they were effective in reducing the timescales for the project considerably.

I strongly recommend Giles for work involving optimisation of project or production processes.”

Christoper Vinnicombe, Assistant Engineer, Tyne & Wear Metro/DB Regio


“Giles from Smartspeed grasped what we were trying to do from the first meeting, the methodical approach, structure and mentoring that he brought to our project allowed our improvement engineer to complete the tasks quickly and effectively.”

Gary Thirlwell, Express Engineering Ltd


“Giles really has made such a significant difference in how I am able to not only manage my team but also improve their effectiveness. The tools and tips he gave me were extremely practical and I saw results within weeks.

He is a great listener and has a very natural ability in breaking down a complex problem into smaller manageable tasks.

In particular the team have become much more efficient in managing their time, setting expectations and prioritizing the workload to achieve our common goals. He really has made a difference to how I go about solving potential problems as both a manager and an individual contributor which has enabled me to adopt these techniques in other areas.

Recently I shared some of the tools with my colleagues across Europe and they too have begun to implement across their teams.”

Finance Director, Top 10 Global Software Company


“Giles is laid back and easy going, which means he gets to the core of problems without fuss and stress to the client. Very easy to work with and achieves results almost without us realising it.”
Maccine Hall, Designs Unique


“We saw Giles Johnston delivering a workshop and realised that his style of delivery would really support us in achieving our goals of becoming even more efficient and effective.

We knew straight away that Smartspeed would fit in well with our Lean Programme.”

David Bullock, Trinity Mirror Printing Newcastle


“Any problems that have arisen Giles endeavoured and succeeded in resolving them. We started by taking a step back to look at the minor issues that created big problems. The work conducted has helped to improve the organisation of our business and reduce the day-to-day hassle.”

Carl Robertson, Salad Days Limited


“Smartspeed assisted Ford in creating an effective Production Control system that has really improved performance and assisted in the company’s growth and development. Utilisation, output has improved by 20% and quality issues have reduced by 40%. Real measurable improvements from a no nonsense cost effective service. Highly recommended.”

Mark Podmore, Operations Director, Ford Aerospace Ltd


“We have worked with Giles on several improvement projects over a period of time. His approach and expertise matched our needs perfectly and has in many cases been the catalyst to getting things done. Giles’ ability to listen, question, support, encourage and guide had been invaluable in pushing us to achieve more from each day without simply working longer hours. The projects have been highly effective as a stimulus for action and for knowledge transfer. This type of knowledge transfer over a period of time has increased the possibility for sustainable improvements to be made here at Lamplas.”

Keith Siddle, Lamplas Polymer Engineering


“Smartspeed came and offered the logic to look through the trees and see the real challenges facing the business. After working through various challenges we were able to offer some gap analysis and solutions which were worked at all levels in the business.”

Wendy Bell, Avid Vehicles


To learn more about how I can help your business get in touch.