The Executives Online Team

Ricardo Graham
B.Com Hons, MBA
Managing Director

Ricardo is an entrepreneur who identified the need for an innovative Interim Management offering in Southern Africa. Through extensive research he secured the South African franchise of Executives Online and plays a strategic role in Business Development.

He is also a Director of Revenue and Profit improvement consultancy – Maximus – where Interim Managers are used on certain improvement and change projects. Prior to that he has worked at IBM Business Consulting, Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank and various other Corporate banks.

Anne Beitel
BA, MBA Harvard
Managing Director

Anne brings more than 10 years' experience marketing in high-growth environments to her role as Managing Director for Executives Online. With an MBA from Harvard and a top-flight track record in product and services marketing 'both sides of the pond', Anne developed her marketing and management expertise in previous roles as Director of New Product Marketing for ON Technology Corporation, Vice President of Marketing for Dr Solomon's Software Inc., and European Marketing Director of specialist staffing company Aquent.

Anne also has considerable experience as a freelance marketing executive, successfully completing a range of interim and project assignments for technology and professional services companies in both the UK and US.

James O’Brien
Group Development Director

James joined Executives Online in March 2007 to help spearhead the growth and development of the Executives Online business worldwide. Based from the Group’s Head Office in the UK he is responsible for opening new offices across the globe under franchise or JV agreements as well as being accountable for the growth of business being delivered through the Executives Online international office network. Prior to joining Executives Online he was Director of Franchising at Choice Hotels Europe and has also held senior positions as Managing Director of Business Education International, a management training franchisor and prior to that was Managing Director of Pitman Training Group (which operated over one hundred franchise locations) where he previously held positions as Group Operations Director and Franchise Director. Earlier in his career he also spent four years as a recruiter and regional manager in a national recruitment business. James O’Brien’s career achievements include personally negotiating, selling and opening Master Franchises in UK, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, Kuwait and several other Middle East countries; personally selling and opening fifty UK and Ireland training franchises and managing the brand conversion of a franchise network of 50 franchises. He also won the highly commended British Franchise Association award for Franchisor of the Year in 2000 and 2001.

Norrie Johnston
BSc, CEng, MIChemE, CMC
Non-Executive Director

Norrie is founder and a non-executive director of Executives Online Ltd. He provided interim management services since 1997. Norrie's career shows wide hands-on experience in the successful management of dot.com, telecom, technology, and technical services businesses in home and international markets. In his earlier career Norrie held marketing and sales directorships in the engineering sector, involving residential periods in the USA and Pakistan. In December 2008 Norrie sold a controlling interest in Executives Online to the management team and two regional directors in a Management Buy-Out. He retired from his executive role in the business in March 2011.