Trevor Goul-Wheeker
BA International Marketing, 1976 | Hon MBA, 2015
CHAIRMAN, BLACKWELLS
“Students at Greenwich have something special, personal motivation and determination; every time I visit, I feel so re-energised it’s like having been plugged into the mains…”
Trevor Goul-Wheeker has more claim to be a book lover than most. He is Chairman of retailer Blackwell’s, the UK’s leading supplier of academic books, and proud to have initiated the annual celebration of books and reading that is World Book Day.
He is an acknowledged “bookselling expert” after 20 plus years in the industry including executive and non-executive roles at Hammicks Bookshops, Haven Books, WHSmith and digital publisher Green Star Media.
A hugely competent business manager and leader, he started out as an international marketer in the chemical and fledgling biochemical industries until 1984 when he rose to senior executive positions first in Unilever, then Gestetner and Reed Health, before joining the book trade at Hammicks Bookshops. It was then, in 1997, that he inspired the launch of World Book Day during a nine year term as Director of the Booksellers Association.
Trevor is Chair of the university’s Business School Advisory Board which plays a key role in developing students’ employability skills and entrepreneurship. Initiatives include the Greenwich Employability Passport, a scheme which helps students stand out in the highly competitive jobs market, recruiting over 375 personal Career Mentors, finding student placements, and supporting the Business Planning and Social Enterprise competitions and Big Picture lectures.
The university recognised one of its most distinguished alumni with an Honorary Master’s degree in Business Administration in 2015.
“The year I spent working in Berlin as part of my degree course shaped my career. It gave me my first taste of international business and won me my first job after graduating. Although I didn’t realise it at first, my studies armed me with the tools to succeed time and time again, in a multitude of roles, sectors and companies.”
Trevor Goul-Wheeker
BA International Marketing, 1976 | Hon MBA, 2015
CHAIRMAN, BLACKWELLS
“Students at Greenwich have something special, personal motivation and determination; every time I visit, I feel so re-energised it’s like having been plugged into the mains…”
Trevor Goul-Wheeker has more claim to be a book lover than most. He is Chairman of retailer Blackwell’s, the UK’s leading supplier of academic books, and proud to have initiated the annual celebration of books and reading that is World Book Day.
He is an acknowledged “bookselling expert” after 20 plus years in the industry including executive and non-executive roles at Hammicks Bookshops, Haven Books, WHSmith and digital publisher Green Star Media.
A hugely competent business manager and leader, he started out as an international marketer in the chemical and fledgling biochemical industries until 1984 when he rose to senior executive positions first in Unilever, then Gestetner and Reed Health, before joining the book trade at Hammicks Bookshops. It was then, in 1997, that he inspired the launch of World Book Day during a nine year term as Director of the Booksellers Association.
Trevor is Chair of the university’s Business School Advisory Board which plays a key role in developing students’ employability skills and entrepreneurship. Initiatives include the Greenwich Employability Passport, a scheme which helps students stand out in the highly competitive jobs market, recruiting over 375 personal Career Mentors, finding student placements, and supporting the Business Planning and Social Enterprise competitions and Big Picture lectures.
The university recognised one of its most distinguished alumni with an Honorary Master’s degree in Business Administration in 2015.
“The year I spent working in Berlin as part of my degree course shaped my career. It gave me my first taste of international business and won me my first job after graduating. Although I didn’t realise it at first, my studies armed me with the tools to succeed time and time again, in a multitude of roles, sectors and companies.”
