Neal is no stranger to business success having co-founded and run three successful companies prior to setting up Quickstart Global. Each of his businesses acted as a stepping stone to the next, enabling him to spot opportunities and freeing up capital and connections to put his ideas into action. As co-founder of Attenda, he was tasked with establishing offices around Europe, and found out first-hand the legal complexities and time consuming nature of setting up overseas. During this experience his vision for his current company was born.

Quickstart Global was founded by Neal and his US business partner in 2006, and now employs over 600 people in nine coun- tries on 4 continents. In 2010 the company was recognised in the HSBC European Business Awards and was ranked 3rd in the Microsoft Sunday Times Tech Track 100. Quickstart Global's purpose is to help small to medium sized businesses expand their operations abroad and get into new markets. In practical terms it finds them office space and staff, then enables them to have their own sales, supply chain and operations staff around the world - installing the infrastructure needed to get the teams up and running in the desired location.

His entrepreneurial acumen was recognised in his selection as a finalist in Entrepreneur of the Year for the UK National Business Awards in 2010. Neal hails from a family with a long tradition of trading, and set up his first business at the age of 21 armed with enthusiasm and experience from a job where he sold IT equipment.

When taking a break from his entrepreneurial enterprises, 43-year-old Neal, likes to spend his time skiing and enjoys motor sports. He also takes time out to coach under-7s rugby and reads voraciously, particularly enjoying anything related to macro- economics, new business thinking and biographies of business innovators. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2011 in aid of an orphanage in Bangalore, India.

An accomplished author, Neal wrote Born Global: Successful Global Expansion By Those Who've Done It, published by Hot Hive books in 2009. The book is a pragmatic handbook for companies wishing to expand globally.