Our team

ToughStuff's Team

ToughStuff's experienced and dedicated team is our greatest asset. 

Andrew Tanswell - Chief Executive Officer

Andrew, a UK National, is a proven business leader and entrepreneur and is the CEO of ToughStuff. After graduating with honours from Imperial College London, he worked in the manufacturing industry, becoming a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. Over his 24 year career he worked as a Management Consultant in two of the large blue chip international firms before going on to set up and grow a niche consultancy firm, with the clients in the commercial and public sectors. 

He subsequently sold this business to focus on the not-for-profit sector bringing expertise in business growth and strategy. Whilst pursuing a professional career in the UK, Andrew has also led multi-disciplinary, mulit-national professional teams on large scale emergency aid programmes in Somalia and Iraq. He has been a Director and Trustee of several companies and charities.

Andrew was a winner of the Global Social Benefit Incubator 2009.

Adriaan Mol - Chief Technical officer

Adriaan, Dutch national, is the CTO for ToughStuff.  He was previously the co-founder of BushProof in Madagascar, a business which creates markets and provides affordable clean water to low-income people, which he grew in 3 years to a successful business with over 50 employees. He has a unique and keen understanding of the needs and motivations of low-income people and has built his businesses accordingly.  Adriaan has 15 years professional experience in many African and Asian countries while working for international NGOs, in technical and top field management position. He is strong experience in leading and managing complex multi-million Euro international relief and development programmes. He has a specific interest in combining appropriate technology with business models, and has established several successful micro enterprises that deliver sustainable health impact for the poor while making profit. 
Adriaan was a winner of the Global Social Benefit Incubator 2006.

Hayden Hamlet - Chief Operating Officer

 Hayden, a South African and British national, is ToughStuff's COO. He has a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree and worked for a Big Four accounting firm providing accounting, audit and tax advisory services for public and private clients. For the past 13 years he has specialised in the financial and operational management of high growth SME's and held senior management positions in a number of international companies in retail, business services, media and sortware industries.

Ofelia Burton - Chief Financial Officer

 Ofelia, originally from the Phillippines, is ToughStuff's CFO.  She has an extensive background in senior financial and operation roles including 20 years at a world-class global manufacturing company and also more recently in a smaller social enterprise involved in sustainable forestry operations in East Africa. She has also worked and travelled Africa and Asia extensively.

George Gitau - Regional Business Development Manager, EA

 George, a Kenyan citizen, is ToughStuff's Regional Business Development Manager. He leads all the East African sales, marketing and distribution activity. George graduated from University of Nairobi with a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Marketing. He started his career 14 years ago with GlaxoSmithKline and has focused on sales, marketing and dsitribution. He has had a successful international career having managed the Zambia GSK  business and in South Africa, where he was in charge of creating new distribution channel’s for the emerging market consumers. He brings considerable experience in the Kenyan market having worked a Regional Sales Manager for six years. His last assignment with GSK was as Export’s Manager, overseeing operations in 11 countries within the region. George’s commercial knowledge and expertise in managing and setting up distribution networks in the region brings significant local strength. 

George Okoro - Regional Business Development Manager, WA

George, a Nigerian national based in Lagos, joins ToughStuff in 2011 as Regional Business Development Manager in West Africa.  He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Calabar and University of Nigeria.

George began his career in 1995 and has extensive experience in leading fast moving consumer goods companies.  His last post was at GlaxoSmithKline, where George held various positions of increasing responsibility in Field Sales, Capability Development, Sales Operations and recently Customer Marketing. George pioneered the GSK Global project on Best Sales Force Worldwide for West Africa with the embedding of initiatives and strategies that drove  the optimisation of Sales team performance and capability. This initiative galvanized the team to achieving + 24% Sales growth in 2008. 

Jonathan Bamber - International Development Sales Manager

Jonathan, a UK national, is International Development and Sales Manager. He has considerable experience of International Aid and Development. Prior to ToughStuff he was with the Salvation Army where he spent two years managing a portfolio of community development projects in Africa and South East Africa, including a pilot ToughStuff Business In a Box project in Malawi. Prior to this he spent 13 years working for the Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO) as a British diplomat based in London, Mumbai, Bangkok, maputo involved in varied roles which included Trade Attache in Mozambique promoting business opportunities between the UK and Mozambique. Following his three years in Maputo, he took a secondment to work on a social enterprise in South Africa developing a game park and lodge located in an area of high unemployment. Earlier in his career he volunteered with MedAir, working in Liberia during Charles taylor's reign of terror where he managed a health programme in rebel held territory. He is passionate about the needs of those less fortunate and now through ToughStuff giving them a hand up, not a hand out.