Our people

Our team comprises a diverse mix of consulting academics, leadership and management trainers and advisors, economic experts, business leaders and skilled facilitators.

Our people

Our team comprises a diverse mix of consulting academics, leadership and management trainers and advisors, economic experts, business leaders and skilled facilitators.

Our Visiting Industrial Fellow (VIF) and Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) scheme engages individuals with the background, experience and enthusiasm to deliver business, commercial, entrepreneurial and related insights and support work for our students, staff and stakeholders.

Our team

Our work with organisations involves a range of staff from the Business School. A selection of regular consulting academics and specialist associates are shown below. To find out more about all our staff and their expertise please explore the full staff list.


Prof Tatiana Bachirova

Prof Tatiana Bachkirova

Director of the International Centre for Coaching & Mentoring Studies

Tatiana is an award winning and internationally respected researcher, author and thought leader around coaching practice and supervision.

Dr Shelley Beck

Dr Shelley Beck

Business and Management

With a research background in SMEs, particularly family run businesses, Shelley offers new ideas and perspective for the UK context in business and management from South Africa.

Dr Judie Gannon

Dr Judie Gannon

Human Resource Management, Coaching and Mentoring

Judie is an experienced consulting academic, working with the service industry on mentoring and human resource related assignments. She is an award winning researcher and advisor on these topics.

Dr Ioanna Iordanou

Dr Ioanna Iordanou

Human Resource Management, Coaching and Mentoring

Ioanna works with organisations to support coaching as a developmental tool in management learning and education. She conducts multidisciplinary research, drawing on a range of disciplines to bring new insights to her work. 

Dr Peter Jackson

Dr Peter Jackson

Coaching and Lifelong Learning

Peter is a professional coach, facilitator and supervisor with experience of delivering step-change performance improvement. His coaching practice has a particular focus on the challenges of general management and the dynamics of individual change within organisations.

Dr Kate Ji

Dr Kate Ji

Tourism and Finance

Kate is an experienced consulting academic, who has worked on a range of tourism projects for national clients and has been conducting research on the viability and productivity of the tourism and hospitality sector during the pandemic.

Ross Jordan

Ross Jordan

Entrepreneurship, Business and Management

Ross brings to his work on entrepreneurship a wealth of industry experience gained from 20 years working in commercial property, retail, and the music industry. Ross is highly collaborative and enjoys working closely with clients to improve practice and resolve complex issues.

Barbara Kemp

Barbara Kemp

Leadership and Management Development

Barbara is an HR professional with over 10 years’ experience in HR management and twenty years in consultancy. She is a qualified coach, and delivers on leadership and management development programmes; working with clients including BRITA, the Metropolitan Police, HSBC and Elsevier.

Dr Carmelina Lawton-Smith

Dr Carmelina Lawton-Smith

Coaching and Management Development

Carmelina has extensive business experience gained in a variety of roles across both the private and public sector. She regularly designs and delivers sessions to enhance coaching and mentoring skills. Recent clients include BMW, Civil Service Learning, Brita and Public Health England.

Kate Maguire

Kate Maguire

Business and Management

Kate has over 25 years of experience within the automotive sector, most recently as Director of Continuous Improvement for Harley Davidson. Following her career change into higher education, Kate works with MBAs and other professionals, supporting international business consultancy. 

Dr Sarah-Louise Mitchell

Dr Sarah-Louise Mitchell

Marketing, Nonprofits

Sarah-Louise is a consultant and academic specialising in understanding consumer behaviour and the role of brand in the nonprofit sector. She is an experienced practitioner having held senior positions across manufacturing, retail and non-profit sectors, mostly recently in HFT and RVS.

Dr Adrian Myers

Dr Adrian Myers

Coaching, Change Management

Adrian works with organisations to set up internal coaching schemes, helping managers acquire coaching skills and working with change. He supports managers acquiring formal qualifications in coaching. Adrian is a chartered occupational psychologist and has been an ILM and CMI assessor. 

Giles Orr

Giles Orr

Consultancy, CPD, Business Engagement

Giles is Head of Business & External Engagement. A Chartered Public Finance Accountant, his background is in formal professional development for public sector organisations, having worked with local, national and international governmental bodies, most recently as CIPFA’s Director of Education.

Nic Rattle

Nic Rattle

Leadership & Management, Business Growth, Sustainability

Nic has over 10 years of management consultancy in SMEs, local and national government, preceded by work in policy and political advice. Nic brings experience of designing, managing and delivering high profile projects with clients including the Welsh Government and Department of Health.

Dr Kate Ringham

Dr Kate Ringham

Applied Accounting, Corporate Social Responsibility

Kate is a Chartered Accountant with a consultancy and academic specialism in Corporate Social Responsibility in addition to financial and non-financial reporting. Kate is the academic lead for the Help to Grow programme.

Dr Sara le Roux

Dr Sara le Roux

Economic Impact, Decision Making in Ambiguity

Sara leads on our economic impact assessment projects,. These include advising organisations on ways in which they can maximise their impact on local stakeholders, their local economy as well as the UK GDP with clients including Blenheim Palace and Radley College.

Peter Russell

Peter Russell

Business Development, Innovation, Enterprise Growth

Peter is an experienced consultant, business development manager and facilitator. An innovation, strategy and technology management specialist, he has over 20 years of experience in supporting enterprise growth. He typically helps clients with change projects and new product development. 

Dr Robert van der Veen

Dr Robert van der Veen

Tourism, Hospitality, Services Marketing

Robert specialises in quantitative research methods, survey design, index benchmarking and structural equation modelling. His work in understanding tourist behaviour has been widely published and has been supported by various national and international research grants.

Clive Wildish

Clive Wildish

Corporate Social Responsibility, Marketing 

Clive is a researcher around the themes of globalisation and corporate social responsibility. Prior to joining Brookes, he worked in marketing, project management and business development.

Dr Nick Wilton

Dr Nick Wilton

Human Resource Management, Employment Relations

Nick is an experienced consulting academic, working and publishing widely around the themes of labour markets, employability, and career decision-making. Clients have included TUC Commission on Vulnerable Employment, Department for Education and Skills and European Social Fund.

Steve Workman

Steve Workman

Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, Marketing

Steve brings over 15 years experience in building responsible and sustainable businesses in the facility services, mobile telecommunications and energy sectors. He has a broad portfolio of skills including programme management, team development, policy and strategy development, and marketing.

Dr Jeremy Zwiegelaar

Dr Jeremy Zwiegelaar

Entrepreneurship, Performance, Applied Statistics

Jeremy has worked on projects considering innovation, business intelligence and using Big Data to create enhanced value to organisations, leadership for cybersecurity within organisations, and assessing DIY spaces and the resource uses for entrepreneurs to develop and work on their projects. 

Contact us

OBBS Business & External Engagement

obbs-bee@brookes.ac.uk

+44 (0)1865 48 57 97