Alex Knight

"Alex is a founding partner of QFI and Chief Executive Officer of Samworth Brothers, a fourth generation family company with sixteen businesses producing high-quality chilled and ambient foods, employing over 8000 people.

"He started his career in manufacturing, working in aerospace and high-tech industries where he became a chartered engineer. He joined Ashridge Business School and within five years was appointed Managing Director of Ashridge Consulting Ltd and to the main Board of the business school. Over his career at Ashridge Alex lectured and consulted at Board-level to many organisations before taking up the post of Chief Executive of Goldratt Consulting (whose chairman was Dr Eliyahu M. Goldratt) where he steered it through its formative years as a global organisation.

"Alex is probably best known for his skill in analysing industries, markets and businesses in a way that brings new insight and opportunities for growth. This is supported by his experience of leading and supporting leaders through periods of major organisational transition. His approach is based on the belief that no matter how complex a situation initially looks, there are only a few elements that have the power to affect the performance of the entire system and it is through leveraging these elements that a breakthrough in performance occurs.

"Alex was mentored for nearly three decades by Dr Goldratt, the inventor of the Theory of Constraints. Throughout his career Alex has explored many different change methodologies and uses only those which he believes cause positive individual and organisational change.

"Alex feels privileged to have been influenced and guided through his career by Dr Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Philip Sadler CBE and Sir David Samworth."