I negotiate contracts for directors and senior management and advise on their board and other responsibilities.

I am a Board member and a member of the School's Audit and Risk and Resources Committees

The combination of my legal background, coaching and mediation experience and being a sounding board for many years means that I have honed my intuition and problem solving skills. I engage with people in three main capacities:MENTORINGUsing my experience to provide guidance and support.COACHINGFocusing on career and personal development. I qualified as a Coach in 2010.My work includes - making effective career choices- developing personal… Show more The combination of my legal background, coaching and mediation experience and being a sounding board for many years means that I have honed my intuition and problem solving skills. I engage with people in three main capacities:MENTORINGUsing my experience to provide guidance and support.COACHINGFocusing on career and personal development. I qualified as a Coach in 2010.My work includes - making effective career choices- developing personal leadership styles and ways of working with people- handling promotions, new roles and profile raising- coping with pressure and disagreement- building self-awareness, confidence and resilience and managing perceptions- relationship building, encouraging trust and teamwork and helping others develop.MEDIATING IN THE WORKPLACEI encourage people to use me before their differences of opinion escalate into a formal dispute.At the heart of my work is the effective engagement with those involved, understanding what lies beneath and helping to reach a successful and cost effective outcome. I qualified as a Mediator in 2003 and co-founded Consensum with others in 2014. We are expert mediators who all share common values: creating a listening environment, positive differentiation and “stepping back to step up” -see http://consensum.org Show less

The Conservatoire was a charitable body of six schools that deliver world-leading education and vocational training in dance, drama, circus arts and technical theatre. It was wound up in 2022.I joined the Board of Governors as an Independent Board Member in July 2013. I was the Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Board for a total of four years. My roles also included Chair of the Nominations and Remuneration Committees and a member of the Audit and Finance Committees.

Escaping Victimhood is a charity that provides unique, supportive residential workshops for people whose lives have been disrupted by the trauma of serious crime, mainly murder and manslaughter.I was a Board Member for seven years, before becoming the Chair in 2014.

Working as an employment lawyer in this international law firm, gave me unparalleled experience and insight into workplace issues and people. When I started as an employment lawyer, employment laws were in relative infancy and not regarded as a mainstream practice. As governments introduced new laws, often dictated by Europe, and court decisions became more frequent, they become more relevant to how businesses were run.We represented a large number of national and… Show more Working as an employment lawyer in this international law firm, gave me unparalleled experience and insight into workplace issues and people. When I started as an employment lawyer, employment laws were in relative infancy and not regarded as a mainstream practice. As governments introduced new laws, often dictated by Europe, and court decisions became more frequent, they become more relevant to how businesses were run.We represented a large number of national and international clients. I led a fantastic team and we gained a strong reputation, working hard and diligently. We were one of the top teams in the country. Early on, one of the rules I followed was “don’t take points unless they are warranted” – this ability to avoid the need to score points gave me a quiet advantage – as I know whatever positions I took were both powerful and necessary. I still hold and teach these same values with my clients and colleagues to this day. Show less

I joined Allen & Overy from school and was then the only trainee lawyer who did not have a degree. This gave me plenty of practical experience and taught me about taking responsibility and thinking on my feet. I was often thrown in at the deep end and this helped shape my future approach as an adviser and a practice leader. A&O was a growing commercial law firm and most of the work in the Litigation department was about commercial disputes. My stand-out case was probably representing an… Show more I joined Allen & Overy from school and was then the only trainee lawyer who did not have a degree. This gave me plenty of practical experience and taught me about taking responsibility and thinking on my feet. I was often thrown in at the deep end and this helped shape my future approach as an adviser and a practice leader. A&O was a growing commercial law firm and most of the work in the Litigation department was about commercial disputes. My stand-out case was probably representing an international Bank sued by the South American government which alleged that it had acted on fraudulent instructions to pay out millions of dollars which then disappeared.I also did a lot of industrial dispute work in the 1980s, some of it major headlining cases, including the Steel strike in 1981 and the Fleet Street strike in 1984. Show less