Our Team
Our team are highly qualified, and experienced in working with leading professional firms. Importantly, they are themselves actively involved in business development, presenting and leading teams - central issues on many coaching and development assignments.
We are also a varied bunch in terms of our personalities, backgrounds and specific work experiences, which means we can generally find a good match for our clients in a business where the right 'chemistry' is vital.
Call for an informal chat, and we can then suggest the best person and approach for your objectives.
Dr Andrew Bass
Andrew is a consultant and speaker who helps leaders and their firms to improve individual and organisational performance. He has worked with professional and financial service firms including DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons, KPMG and Martineau both in the UK and Europe.
Prior to entering the world of consulting, Andrew lectured at Aston Business School, where he was director of the Psychology and Management programme. He continues to work with the school’s corporate clients through the Aston Centre for Executive Development. Andrew is a director of the professional and business services organisation Birmingham Forward and is advisor to the Birmingham Future Mentoring Scheme. He is also a member of the regional leadership team for Fairbridge, a charity supporting young people from the inner city.
Helga Henry LLM
A former solicitor who previously practiced as an Associate in the Commercial Team at Wragge & Co, Helga Henry has a singular mix of legal and executive coaching experience. She gained broad organizational understanding by working on secondment as a lawyer in-house with major blue-chip companies including British Airways, Novartis and BT. She is particularly interested in improving business development and client care skills, and addressing the need for professionals to deliver truly relevant, commercial professional advice.
In addition to her legal skills, Helga has particular expertise in professional services marketing, presentation skills training and meeting facilitation.
Originally a graduate in French and Drama, Helga is active in the creative industries. She was the founding Chair of Creative Republic, an independent body representing creative industries in the Midlands and she heads up Fierce, a leading arts production and training company. Helga won a place on the highly competitive Clore Fellowship in 2008, where she is developing her expertise in spotting and developing talented entrepreneurs.
Chris Dignan
Chris is an award-winning former journalist whose experience includes working at The Sunday Times and The Times. He is a previous winner of the UK Reporter of the Year Award.
He has worked in professional services for leading City firms as a full-time public relations and communications manager. Employers have included CMS Cameron McKenna, Charles Russell and Blake Lapthorn.
His skills are particularly valuable for businesses who want guidance on how to present complex information in a clear and distinctive style to maximise the effectiveness of their communications.
One of his specialisms is the writing of thought leadership reports which tackle the major business issues of the day. A [report for a global client recently won an award from The Financial Times.
Paul Clusker
Paul is a coach and trainer who joined forces with Andrew Bass to form BassClusker Consulting in 2002. He left BassClusker in 2007 but continues to work with Andy through Fast Track. He has worked with firms including DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons and KPMG.
Paul's background is in sales. He has a knack of helping people feel more comfortable with business development even though it was never a problem for him - he financed his way through Warwick University by operating an ice-cream van. His sales were high, although he now admits he was helped by the fact that he was operating during the heatwave of 1976! After graduation, he entered an altogether tougher market, front-line sales for W&T Avery and Co, and then moved into sales management in the electronics industry.
In the early 90s, Paul began his training in the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), becoming a licensed Master Practitioner, and training with some of the most innovative and challenging communication trainers in the world. He has thousands of hours of one-to-one coaching experience helping individuals with professional and work-life balance issues.
Matt Broomhead
Matthew is an experienced trainer and coach who provides one-to-one career development assistance to ambitious young professionals. He is a member of the CIPD (Chartered Institute Personnel and Development) and is a contributor of several articles to their publications.
Matthew has over fifteen years experience in the corporate and public sectors, including ten years with Cap Gemini (CG) as an IT professional, where he worked with multinational clients in both the insurance and manufacturing sectors.
For five years, he was the main provider of NLP and personal growth training for Birmingham (UK) local authority. Matthew is a Business Mentor for the Princes Trust, a Learning Guide for the Common Purpose Leadership Programme and serves on the Mentoring Committee of Birmingham Future.