About Ben Jackson

SO WHO IS BEN JACKSON?

Like most people Ben has many facets, Home, Work, Voluntary and so forth, here is a brief outline of the person and a few different current images.

On the home front:

Ben has been married to Samantha for over 25 years.  They have two children Jennifer and Daniel.  Samantha suffers from a range of disabilities as a result of a brain tumour when pregnant with their second child; Daniel.  In turn Daniel is severely Autistic and has no speech.  There is a huge back story to this and one of Bens biggest challenges to date was when his son had to leave home, age ten, with no speech, as the local government could not meet his educational needs. 

Jenni always helped with the support of her mother and brother, has a condition called Fibromyalgia and has recently started at University.  His father suffers from Myasthenia Gravis and Ben acts as a carer for all in differing ways.  He was recently diagnosed having type 2 Diabetes.

Ben says, "You have two choices, be a victim or be a fighter, I’d rather be the latter, you’re not beaten until you say you are.  People often say to me how do you cope, how do you do it all?  I honestly do not feel I do anything that special.” 

In Business:

Ben is recognised as an inspirational businessman and has been described as "......always very astute and sharp in his assessments, able to grasp complex material remarkably quickly and alert to the implications of strategic messages".  He is seen as a consummate networker and business leader. 

Among the business related roles he has filled in recent years are:

• Chairman and President of Bicester and District Chamber of Commerce
• Vice Chair of the Oxford Area executive committee of the Federation of Small Businesses
• Chairman of a Centre of Vocational Excellence in Construction and the Built Environment
• Chapter Director for BNI
• Leadership team of a 4N group
• Vice chair of a Construction Training Group

His current and recent projects include:

• Setting up a national portal on the web for all things sustainable in construction
• A winning funding bid; for a regional project for the FSB to support those leaving the armed forces and wanting to start a business.
• Advising on a £30 million pound project to save the best-preserved pre-war aerodrome in the UK.

If you want to know more about Ben, who has also been described as a social entrepreneur, then please visit his Linked in Profile (http://www.linkedin.com/in/benjacksonbicester ) and/or follow him on Twitter as @benjackson52