Chris Edger

Chris Edger (leadership author, academic and coach) (born 1 February 1964) is Professor of Multi-Unit Leadership at Birmingham City University. A former Executive Director of FMCG Drinks and Leisure businesses, he is known for his work as an author, academic, media commentator and coach specialising in high performance leadership in multi-site service sector contexts.

Chris Edger presenting Effective Multi Unit Leadership

Early Life and Qualifications

Born in Bradford-upon-Avon, England he was raised in an army family that moved around several locations in Northern Europe. After leaving Monmouth School he studied at Brunel University where he was awarded the University Prize for best student on his BSc (hons) degree and the London School of Economics where he gained a distinction in his MSc (econ) in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management. Subsequently he gained a PGDip and MBA from the Nottingham Business School and an ESRC sponsored PhD (examining executive behaviour in critical events) from the Warwick Business School. He is a Fellow of the CIPD and Higher Education Academy and has a Level 7 Advanced Award in Coaching and Mentoring (with distinction).

Career

Business

In a business career spanning twenty three years he held Executive Board positions as Group HRD, Commercial Director and Sales Managing Director in FMCG drinks and leisure organizations with interests in the UK, China, Eastern Europe and Germany. In 2000 and 2002 he was a member of the Bass Brewers Executive Board that transacted two major cross-border M&A deals that totalled £2.3bn and $1.7bn, respectively (to Interbrew and Coors). In 2010, as Group HRD of Mitchells and Butlers Plc he and his team won the Personnel Today 'HR Impact of the Year' Award.

Academic

Having been a visiting professor since 2008 he was awarded a professorship in management practice (specializing in multi-unit leadership) by Birmingham City University in 2010 whereupon he founded the Academy of Multi-Unit Leadership. Since its foundation the Academy has trained, developed and coached over 700 corporate leaders and executives from some of the UK’s largest and fastest growing multi-site service companies on its post-graduate Multi-Unit Leadership and Strategy programmes (i.e. Premier Inn, St Gobain, Rank Plc, Marstons Plc, Greene King Plc, Booker, Spar, 3663, Mitchells and Butlers Plc, Pizza Express, Stonegate, Oakman Inns, Bistrot Pierre, Elliotts, Howarths, PBS, LovePub etc.) In 2011 the programme was shortlisted for the CIPD People Management, Learning and Development Award and cited as an example of best practice in the August 2011 CBI ‘Skills’ Report. Students from his courses have been crowned ALMR Operations and Business Development Managers of the year on four separate occasions 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017.

Writing

Edger has authored nine books on operational, branded and franchised leadership/coaching to date, acclaimed by Paul Charity (ranked in 2016 as the second most influential hospitality journalist in the UK by Allegra Strategies) as the ‘UK’s leading lecturer and thinker on multi-site management’. His books – which draw heavily from contemporary case study analysis of outstanding leadership practice - have provided material for the London masterclasses he has delivered since 2014 and informed much of his academic teaching and one-to-one leadership coaching. In 2013 the Leadership and Organisational Development Journal reviewed ‘Effective Multi-Unit Leadership – Local Leadership in Multi-Site Situations’ commenting ‘overall this may prove to be one of the key books of its kind for this decade’, whilst the Strategic HR Review Journal praised the book for being a ‘detailed and informative read’. His book ‘Franchising – How Both Sides Can Win’ was shortlisted in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship category of the 2016 CMI Management Book of the Year and selected by Reed Commercial in June 2016 as one of its ‘top 5 franchising reads’.

Media

Edger has commentated widely on issues such as the 'UK High Street', 'Pub Restaurant Sector' and 'Retail Leadership’ in media outlets such as the Retail Gazette, Retail Week, ITV News, BBC News, Daily Mail, CityAM, Guardian, Telegraph, Huffington Post, Propelinfo, London Economic, Which? etc.

Personal life

Edger is married to Sheenagh, a Head Teacher. The couple live in Warwickshire and the Costwolds with their son, Maxim.

Publications (Books)

  • Courageous Coaching – Using the BUILD-RAISE Model – A Practical Guide for Leader-Coaches (2018), Chris Edger.
  • Inspirational Leadership – Mobilising Super-performance through eMOTION! (2017), Chris Edger and Tony Hughes.
  • Effective Multi-Unit Leadership – Local Leadership in Multi-Site Situations (2016 paperback edition), Chris Edger.
  • Retail Area Management – Strategic and Local Models for Driving Growth (2016), Chris Edger. ISBN 978- 1909818880
  • Effective Brand Leadership – Be Different. Stay Different. Or Perish! (2016), Chris Edger and Tony Hughes.
  • Professional Area Management – Leading at a Distance in Multi-Unit Enterprises (2015 2nd Revised Edition), Chris Edger.
  • Franchising – How Both Sides Can Win (2015), Chris Edger and Andrew Emmerson.
  • Professional Area Management – Leading at a Distance in Multi-Unit Enterprises (2014 1st Edition), Chris Edger.
  • Effective Multi-Unit Leadership and International Multi-Unit Leadership (2013 Two Volume Set), Chris Edger.
  • International Multi-Unit Leadership – Developing Local Leaders in International Multi-Site Operations (2013), Chris Edger.
  • Effective Multi-Unit Leadership – Local Leadership in Multi-Site Situations (2012 hardback edition), Chris Edger.