Stuart Smith has joined strategy and change management consultancy woodholmes.ksa.

The 33-year-old left his native North-East to study for a masters degree at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in the early 1990s.

A former pupil at Farringdon Comprehensive School, in Sunderland, and a student at the University of Sunderland, Mr Smith went into environmental consultancy after graduating from Imperial. That led him to cable operator NTL, where he was employed in a strategy team as a futurist and change manager.

He has also worked in human resources and ICT with IBM, the Ministry of Defence and environmental consultancies Entec and Stanger.