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Chair: Alan Hodgart – Alan, of Huron, has specialised in working with professional firms for over 20 years on strategic development and on aligning their organisation to their strategic goals through practical steps. Alan has an extensive client base throughout Europe, the US and Asia Pacific.
Steve Blundell - is Managing Director of Refraction which was established in 2011 to advise clients on strategy and strategic relationships. Prior to this, for the last ten years, Steve has been a director of Gracechurch Consulting, a business he helped found. He has considerable experience of working as a consultant with the senior management of many of the world’s leading firms, including: Aldarpjsc, Allen & Overy, Baker & McKenzie, BNY Melon, Clifford Chance, Dewey & LeBoeuf, DTZ, EY, Grant Thornton, Grosvenor, KKR, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose and many others. These large complex organisations constantly need to look at their future plans, whether for the whole business, a division, an office or key client relationships. Steve’s role is to facilitate that debate – to bring the outside world into the discussion and to help our clients form plans for the way forward. Working with senior colleagues from Refraction: He runs management retreats and off-sites for management teams; he runs business development programmes and thought leadership projects; and using scenario planning, research and a raft of tools he helps teams formulate distinctive and energising plans. Over the past 30 years, Steve has worked both as a consultant and client-side. The latter experience has ensured that he is always sympathetic to the challenges and constraints facing management and he works closely with them on the practicalities of making plans a reality. Before Gracechurch, Steve held senior roles in Touche Ross, Coopers & Lybrand and Wilde Sapte. His early career was spent in research and development and product management for ICI and for Coates Lorrilleux. He has an MBA from Henley. He speaks widely at conferences around the world on subjects as wide ranging as making strategic planning work to motivating partners to develop business.
Matthew Bowcock - Bowcock is Chairman of the Community Foundation Network. He has founded and managed technology companies in Australia, the US and floated a company on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. In 2000, he founded a software security business and a genetics company. He was Chairman of both companies for a number of years. In 2000, he established the Hazelhurst Trust, a family charitable trust, and in 2005 became vice-chairman of the Surrey Community Foundation. He now chairs the Community Foundation Network, the national body that links the 57 Community Foundations in the UK, and is a director of Localgiving.com and a trustee of the Beacon Fellowship. He is also a member of the Philanthropy Review Board and the advisory board of Big Society Capital.
David Brady - is the CEO of Vuture Group and a trusted consultant to many professional services companies in the field of Business Strategy, Branding, Business Development and Operational Efficiency. He has advised many of the top legal, accounting and property companies on all aspects of business including innovation, leveraging technology and growth. He established Vuture Group in 2006 to provide technology solutions to meet the needs of firms aspiring to achieve improved marketing ROI, speed to market and communication. With 20 years marketing experience, on both client and agency side, his international career has spanned Financial Services, Media, Publishing, Property and Law. He is a Chartered Marketer, Chartered Director and regular speaker and writer on improving marketing performance for business.
Neil Cameron is the Managing Director of the Neil Cameron Consulting Group, a specialist legal technology which advises law firms and legal departments on strategic issues relating to the use of IT systems to aid in efficiency, effectiveness, business development, profitability, client relationship management and commoditisation. He was originally a Barrister, then worked for LexisNexis and then Allen & Overy before joining KPMG Management Consulting in 1986; since then he has worked with over 150 law firms of all shapes and sizes (including half of the top 100 in the UK) from all over the globe on furthering their businesses with IT.
John Collier – is a Partner with Grosvenor Clive & Stokes, a long-established executive search firm where he specializes in finding non-executive directors and CFOs for listed companies and partners for professional firms. He was a partner with Price Waterhouse for 11 years and also spent nearly five years as the Secretary General of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.
Paul Collins – is the Managing Partner of Equiteq LLP, a global M&A Advisory and Strategic Consulting firm that serves the Professional Services Sector. He provides strategic direction to partners and board members on M&A and organic growth strategies. Paul is a regular speaker on PS firm M&A, Business Development and Market Proposition Development. He started his career as an Engineer in the Electronics Industry with Lucas and IBM before moving to Management Consulting in 1985 and latterly M&A in 2005.
David Cunningham - is Managing Director of HBR Consulting, the leading law firm and legal department technology consultancy. For the past 20 years, he has led the firm's technology strategy services and worked with executive and IT management of the majority of the world's largest firms. David leads quarterly executive briefings on the state and business implications of legal IT benchmarks.
Ray D'Cruz - is a principal of the Centre for Professional Services Management, an Australian based consulting firm. He works with clients in Australia, Asia and Europe in the areas of client loyalty and learning and development. More recently he has focused on developing online performance management and career development tools for the professional services sector. Prior to consulting Ray was a lawyer with Freehills and head of learning at Clayton Utz.
Paul Denvir, Partner, The PACE Partners LLP - Paul is a founding partner of The PACE Partners LLP, the professional services business development consultancy. Paul is co-author of the books 'Creating New Clients', 'Managing Key Clients' and 'Growing Your Client Base'. He has led many successful assignments in the professional services market-place over the past 18 years. These assignments have covered process, strategy, management and skills development, focused on retaining quality clients and developing profitable business. www.thepacepartners.com
Andrew Hedley - helps the leaders of law firms to create mould-breaking strategies, develop strong brands, forge robust client relationships and design compelling propositions. His work is characterised by intellectual rigour, a focus on change dynamics and an action-orientation in developing strategy that is both stretching and achievable. In addition to his strategic project advice, Andrew is much sought after as a strategy group guide, partner retreat speaker, workshop facilitator and moderator. He is a respected contributor to specialist marketing and management publications and a regular keynote conference speaker. He is the author of Developing Strategic Client Relationships (2008) and Client Strategy in a Changing Legal Market (2011).
Jan Hills - leads Orion’s HR Strategy and Capability practice and has a deep understanding of how to enable clients to articulate their vision for the function fully, so that the best decisions about the operating model, structure and technology can follow. Jan specialises in ensuring the new organisation is aligned, the changes are understood, and the people impacted by change are equipped with the skills and mindset they need to succeed. She has extensive senior-level HR and line experience gained in manufacturing, insurance and investment banking. For the last eight years before joining Orion she ran her own highly successful HR and development consultancy business. Jan has a degree in Sociology and a postgraduate degree in Personnel Management and is a Fellow of the CIPD. Her groundbreaking studies of what it takes to be a truly successful HR business partner and HR leader underpin the content of Orion’s many development workshops for HR professionals.
Dr. Silvia Hodges - specializes in international legal marketing and assists law firms to grow revenue through sustainable business development and marketing initiatives. She focuses on issues affecting crosscultural decision-making. Silvia conducts seminars and workshops for law firms and research projects in the legal services sector. She regularly lectures and publishes on law firm marketing and management. Silvia teaches at Fordham Law School in New York, where she has pioneered courses in law firm management and law firm marketing. She can be reached at hodges@silviahodges.com
Stephen Howard - joined Business in the Community in September 2005. Stephen brings a wealth of senior management expertise to Business in the Community acquired in the corporate sector. Stephen has held a number of different executive and non executive roles including, Chief Executive of Cookson group plc, and Chief Executive of Novar PLC. Stephen’s ongoing commitment to helping tackle homelessness on both a national and global scale has resulted in a non-executive directorship for Habitat for Humanity Great Britain, the charity with a mission to eliminate poverty housing. Other non-executive directorships include, In Kind Direct and membership of the Veolia Advisory Board.
Dr. Mark Jenner - advises organisations on how to build their leadership capability. He brings an architectural approach, designing and implementing creative leadership development solutions to support collective and individual performance improvement. Mark has a track record of innovation in learning and development. While at Ernst & Young Mark led the design and implementation of a ‘Virtual Business School’ which won the prestigious Corporate University Xchange European Excellence Award in 2000. Mark is an experienced coach and facilitator, and has trained with the Institute for Group Analysis and the Gestalt Centre. He has presented at conferences, and lectured at business schools, on teams, leadership and organisational change. Mark previously held senior learning and organisation development roles in Barclays Bank, Ernst & Young and Bovis Lend Lease.
Steve Lee - is founder and partner of Aretai, a consultancy working with organisations to identify solutions to business challenges through the engagement of people. Prior to founding Aretai, Steve was Global HR Director of Heidrick and Struggles, the world’s largest listed executive search firm. A chartered accountant, his earlier professional experience was at Andersen where as HR partner he was responsible for all HR matters for both partners and employees.
David Miller – is the Managing Director of ITDYNAMICS™ which helps clients to maximise the business impact of IT and achieve IT service excellence. He is an experienced director, general manager, independent management consultant and a leading authority on IT management. He advises boards and takes leading Interim roles (CEO, COO, CIO) with businesses in high profile, complex, and otherwise challenging environments. His latest book, “Business-focused IT and Service Excellence”, (British Computer Society, 2008) is available worldwide and described by CIO Magazine as one of three books that every CIO should have on their "to read" pile. David is completing some research into the business and IT relationship, has developed a new service based IT management framework designed to improve IT delivery, and is working on the continuous assessment, alignment, and governance of IT for future self-adaptive, self-managing systems. Works and speaks throughout the world.
Richard Oakes - has held senior level leadership roles in some of the world's most progressive professional services and retail businesses. He has delivered change projects and has a proven track record in re-connecting strategy, leadership behaviours and bottom line results. He has worked with clients in major financial institutions, FTSE 100 and Fortune top 50 organisations. His work has been part of a Harvard Business school case study. Richard is a leading thinker on change in the professional services market and has lectured in the US, Asia, Europe and Australia on the subject.
Amanda Phillips - brings a blend of commercial acumen and psychological insight to optimise the performance of individuals with whom she works, and to enhance effectiveness in high value client and other stakeholder relationships. A former member of the PricewaterhouseCoopers global partner and leadership development team, Amanda has worked internationally and across a range of industries and sectors. Amanda consults on People strategy and has a keen focus on ‘keeping pressure positive’ and creating inclusive working environments where engagement and innovation are more likely to thrive. She is a member of the Women in Banking & Finance Executive team and a mentor for the ICAEW. Amanda has particular interests in Board and senior team effectiveness, including individual performance and reputation management; career transitions; and development frameworks for partners and aspiring partners. She is an experienced and fully accredited senior level executive coach, and is coaching supervisor for the Business School MA in Coaching & Mentoring Practice at Oxford Brookes University. Amanda is a regular speaker at events and conferences.
Frans Post - started his career in public auditing in the Netherlands. Consequently he joined the startup office of Clifford Chance in Amsterdam in 1990. Frans was an integral part of the development of Clifford Chance’s Amsterdam office from 30 to 330 staff. In addition he was involved at senior level in the international financial management of the firm. He supported several mergers and played a leading role in the worldwide implementation of Clifford Chance’s global practice management system. In 2006 he was appointed Regional Finance Director for the Americas Region of the firm, based in New York. In that role he restructured the finance function, implemented the global practice management system in the Americas and started the process of finance transformation. After two years in New York he left the firm and the United States. After a break in which he travelled around Europe for a few months, he joined Temporal Tanja Legal Consulting. In 2009 Frans moved to London to join Olswang as their Chief Financial Officer. He was responsible for the financial management and strategy of the firm, and a member of the Executive Team and the Board. After some consulting projects in legal back office outsourcing and legal IT he joined Gates and Partners as COO in July 2011. Frans is a regular speaker at Finance and IT conferences and author of various articles on law firm profitability and Business Intelligence. He is a Chartered Controller, has a Master in Finance and Control and participated in Clifford Chance’s Law Firm Executive Management Program at Oxford University.
Julian Skyrme – is Head of Undergraduate Recruitment and Widening Participation at The University of Manchester, where he steers its strategy and operational activity on equity of access to higher education, school and college liaison, scholarship provision and fair admissions. He is passionate about the role of universities in promoting greater social justice and mobility and actively contributes to national and regional initiatives to widen participation in higher education. He advises on English policy as a member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Widening Access and Participation Strategic Committee. He chairs the Russell Group Widening Participation Association – the collection of the UK’s leading research universities. Locally he represents higher education on the City of Manchester’s Transforming Education Outcomes Group and its 14-19 Strategy Group. Julian is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.
Adrian Smith - is Chief Executive of The Woolton Group LLC, a firm that provides board and advisory services to public and private companies in the USA and Europe. He is a non-executive director of Byotrol plc, RTI Biologics Inc., Addpower UK Ltd, Premier Credit and Klean Industries Inc. After 24 years of senior management experience with Procter & Gamble and Ecolab, he joined Arthur Andersen LLP in 1991 as a worldwide managing partner, Grant Thornton LLP as Chief Executive in 1997, and retired from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as a global managing partner – marketing in 2004.
Candida Snow - is an intercultural management specialist, director of Snow Culture & Communication and an accredited associate of ITIM International. She supports internationally operating organisations all over Europe and beyond to develop their intercultural competence, thereby increasing their competitive advantage in the global market. Her clients include major multinationals in the professional service sector as well as non-profit organisations and NGO’s. She is also a regular guest lecturer on the subject of intercultural management at a number of international business schools and universities. Candida’s work and approach combine her specialist expertise on the nature and impact of cultural differences with practical knowledge and understanding of their consequences for international business practices. She is based in the Netherlands.
Kevin Steele - has campaigned on social and environmental issues for over 20 years. He leads Climate Week, Britain’s biggest climate change campaign, with half a million people attending 3,000 events. He conceived the anti-poverty Trade Justice Movement which ran the biggest ever lobby of the UK Parliament, and he led an ethical investment campaign which resulted in the £4 trillion Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. He also founded Global Entrepreneurship Week, which inspires people to turn their ideas into reality and now involves 40,000 events in over 100 countries. He sat on the Council on Social Action chaired by Gordon Brown and the steering group of the Big Society Network launched by David Cameron.
Kim Tasso - is an independent strategic marketing consultant, trainer/coach and writer. She has advised over 200 legal, accountancy and professional partnerships on all aspects of strategy, marketing, business development, selling, key account management and communications. Her first book was on selling in the professions and the second on media relations in the property industry. She started in the technology sector and then progressed to senior marketing appointments at Deloittes and Nabarro before setting up Practical Marketing Consultancy in 1994. She is qualified in psychology, marketing, coach/mentoring and management.
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