who we are

Richard Sharpe
Richard has twenty years of consultancy experience. He has undertaken leadership and organisation development assignments throughout the UK and Europe, working across sectors and predominantly at executive level. His clients have included The University of York, The University of Southampton, University of the West of England, University of East Anglia, The University of Manchester,  Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline, Legal & General, AXA, BT, Shell/Exxon, The Multiple Sclerosis Society and Sainsbury's. He has worked for an international management consultancy, run his own specialist leadership consultancy and most recently been Associate Director, Leadership with The Work Foundation. Prior to roles in consultancy he held senior roles in training and education and retail sectors. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Fellow of the RSA, Member of the Association for Coaching and British Psychological Society Level A & B accredited. He has an MSc Organizational Behaviour (Distinction) through Birkbeck College, University of London.

David Coats
David offers support to organisations wishing to improve their employment relations, undertakes research on labour market issues and offers advice on how to influence public policy.  He is a research fellow at the Smith Institute, a Fellow of the RSA and associate at the Centre for Public Service Partnerships.  His previous roles were Associate Director, Policy at The Work Foundation and Head of the TUC's Economic and Social Affairs Department managing work on economic and industrial policy, the welfare state, public services and the development of partnership at work.  He worked as an employment specialist at the TUC. David is recognised as an authoritative commentator on employment relations and quality of working life issues.
David's clients have included Capital Ambition (London Councils), ACEVO, Bupa, Tesco, Monitor (the regulator of foundation hospitals), the Royal Opera House, the HSE, the Arts Council and the Department of Health.

Tony Cooper
Tony is an experienced organisation and leadership development professional with a particular understanding of the higher education sector having worked at the University of Southampton as Head of Staff Development. Here he implemented innovative and successful leadership development for senior and middle management which enhanced organisational leadership capability and performance. Tony is particularly interested in the role of middle management and the position they take in the interface between strategy and operations. Tony provides coaching and facilitation in order to support groups and individuals to consider the complex situations that face them in order to create workable solutions. He is a trained workplace mediator.

Linda Holbeche (Guest Contributor)
Linda researches and consults on leadership, sustainable high performance, strategic change and HR development. She is published widely on these themes.  She is a Visiting Professor of Leadership Innovation at the University of Bedfordshire, Visiting Professor in HRM and Organisation Development at Cass Business School (London), an Associate of Erasmus Business School (Rotterdam), Edinburgh Napier University and Ashridge Management College.  Linda acts as member of several advisory boards, is a Chartered Fellow of CIPD, a Fellow of both the RSA and the Institute of Leadership and Management.  Linda's previous roles include Research and Policy Director at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Director of Leadership and Consultancy at The Work Foundation, Director of Research and Strategy at Roffey Park Management Institute, Management Development Manager for American Express and various senior teaching positions.
Linda has a strong interest in helping organisations and individuals achieve sustainable high performance and she specialises in leadership development, the development of human resource professionals, organisational development/change management and executive coaching.

Nick Isles
Nick consults, writes and researches on matters of public policy. He also advises clients on corporate communication and employee engagement strategies and plans. Nick was previously Director of Advocacy at The Work Foundation and has written and spoken on a wide range of public policy issues connected to the economy, including European affairs, the labour market, organisational performance and managing change, corporate governance. He is a Fellow of the Smith Institute and worked as an advisor to the group that re-drafted the European Union's Lisbon Strategy in 2005. His book, The Good Work Guide which explores work, efficiency and fairness was published in 2010.

Laura Knill
Laura is a client-focused occupational psychologist.  She has worked across public and private sectors in a range of large, complex organisations. Laura was a senior consultant with both Roffey Park and The Work Foundation. Laura has an MSc Occupational Psychology from the University of Sheffield and is British Psychological Society Level A and B qualified as well as holding a PGDip in Coaching Psychology. She has a particular interest and expertise in coaching, leadership development and action learning.

Fiona Ollerhead
Fiona is a business psychologist and strategic HR professional. She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  Fiona has worked as a consultant both in house and externally and as part of senior human resource teams for over 15 years in both public and private sector industries including travel, transport, leisure, pharmaceutical and health.  She has particular experience of enabling strategic change in organisations and has expertise in the human, cultural and structural aspects of bringing about organisational change and improvement

Nigel Springett
Nigel's consultancy expertise is strategy facilitation and leadership development. His research expertise focuses on the impact of corporate purpose on leadership, strategy, organisation and financial performance.  Nigel provides executive coaching and facilitation of top teams and works extensively on large scale change interventions. He has worked with a number of UK universities, facilitating strategic thinking and planning.Nigel was a counselling psychologist at Nottingham University before joining Saville & Holdsworth and later Kiddy and Partners as a Senior Consultant. The majority of his work involved business development assignments with blue chip companies across a wide variety of industry sectors and in a number of international regions.   Nigel is a member of the Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision (APECS) as well as an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society.