Meet The Team

Anthony Garnett – Procurement & Contract Management - Associate

Anthony has over 25 years business experience in procurement, outsourcing, and project / contract management. In his last position he worked for several years at PwC Management Consultancy where he managed and developed the PPP / PFI training programme, Anthony has been at the forefront of delivering practical training courses. He specialises in developing and delivering effective training programmes for his clients which can have an impact on the bottom line.

With experience of different training and learning methodologies and a flexible work approach, Anthony is able to draw out and identify the essential steps teams and individuals need to undertake to be effective in their roles. He sees the key challenges for his clients currently as ‘embedding the knowledge learnt’ and helping them ‘adopt new working practices’ which can help their organisation.

David Kent – Policy Guidance & Operational Contract Management - Associate

David Kent joined Partnerships UK in 2005 to lead its work in supporting operational PFI contracts. The work at PUK ranged from drafting guidance on key aspects of operational PFI projects, training and advising public organisations on their PPP /PFI contracts. David has conducted Forward Looking Operational Reviews and Project Gateway Reviews for his clients and has regularly travelled overseas to advise other governments on their PPP / PFI strategies and projects and to deliver training in all aspects of PPPs.

Prior to this time David was the Head of the Prison Service’s central unit responsible for the Home Office’s programme of PFI prisons and its prisons performance testing and market testing programmes. In 1997 he was seconded to the OECD to assist in the development of a training programme in public procurement for the then EU accession countries.

Previously in industry, he has held a number of senior purchasing and procurement posts, and was a member of CIPS for over 25 years.

Tony Smith – Specialist in infrastructure and construction PPP - Associate

Tony is a UK Qualified lawyer with over 20 years of practice. He is a specialist in infrastructure, construction and PPP projects and has advised on many major PPP projects in transport, health, education, defence, accommodation and waste to energy in Europe, the Middle East, the Far East and Africa.

He is a member of the UNECE Business Advisory Board , Head of the UN’s PPP Specialists “Rapid Reaction” Team (set up to give practical aid and advice to countries in their PPP implementation programmes). He has recently carried out a feasibility study for PPP implementation in Mongolia on behalf of the Mongolian Government with USAID to develop PPP Capacity. He is also working on a World Bank Project for training of Government Officials in PPP in India.

Tony lectures extensively on PPP related topics and has worked with many agencies and PPP teams drafting standard guidance and contract documentation.

Peter Foale - Education Procurement; BSF / Academies - Associate

Peter has played an active role in the educational sector for over 29 years. For the last 6 years he has acted as a specialist consultant working with different local authorities on PFI initiatives. Recently this has included being BSF Project Director for Cheshire West & Chester Council where he had lead responsibility for BSF and Academy developments and the Children’s Services Capital Strategy.

He has successfully delivered a variety of work for 4p's on BSF projects and other schools PFI schemes in either a training or consulting role. He is a Gateway Review Team Leader, and has been reviewing projects for more than 6 years. Peter feels his experience, (including PFI Director at Nottinghamshire CC Education) has resulted in being able to help LAs become better clients with a clear understanding of the pressures that BSF will place on them and ensuring that they have the resources, knowledge and skills available to make their projects a success.

Kate Foale – Management Development & Leadership - Associate

Kate has held several management and planning roles related to education and the provision of public services throughout her career. As Development Officer for Enterprising Nottinghamshire she was responsible for supporting the local enterprise culture and working with various business leaders to deliver responsive and actionable initiatives.

More recently she has been providing business and organisational consultancy, focusing on the needs of schools and voluntary organisations. Kate has been working on strategic plans and research proposals. She also regularly tutors ILM courses on various aspects of business management and interpersonal skills in London.

As the Chair of Governors in Keyworth, Nottingham – Kate says the role helps her to understand the stakeholders’ perspective in some of the new BSF initiatives.

Bronwen Lewis - Policy Implementation & Negotiation - Associate

Bronwen has been an independent consultant for over 8 years working with several government bodies including the OGC, Ministry of Defence and DVLA, as well as the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Government. She has worked with 4ps on waste, shared services and schools projects.

Key assignments have included projects such as improving the Gateway review process, and introducing the “Delivery Confidence” scheme. In the BSF programme she has supported project teams at key phases in their procurement cycle i.e. from scoping to delivery and contract management.

In her 10 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers she worked on several PFI projects in the Defence, Health and Schools sectors, before establishing a strong reputation as a skilled facilitator and trainer on a variety of project/ procurement related topics.

With an extensive career in helping to develop team strategies, structures and implement new working practices, Bronwen has increasingly focused on the challenges of what she calls the “people bit” of change. New processes and approaches can only be effective if people are involved in the process of change in a way that takes account of the specific context within which they are working. Currently Bronwen is undertaking part time research for a PhD degree in Project Management.

Sara Barnes – Management Development Leadership

Sarah specialises in developing and delivering management training programmes with clients in both the private and public sector. With a financial background as a qualified Chartered accountant, she took a major step into the training and coaching arena, where her skill at combining technical expertise with an engaging nature has made her courses both enjoyable and more importantly, comprehensible.

Currently Sarah is involved in a range of projects including; coaching executives on a one-to-one level to improve their leadership skills; delivering a senior management programme; and helping a group of legal partners understand what commercial awareness means to their practice.

Sarah sees one of the key challenges facing public sector teams as finding the time to support each other when trying to implement new skills and learning. She sees the current climate of driving for efficiencies as something which can be directly tackled by investing in the team spirit and team development, as - 'where the heart is the head will follow'.

Mark Spalding – Communications, Interpersonal Skills & Role Playing - Associate

After leaving University, Mark took up a position working for Sheffield City Council in an administrative function where he soon realised that this was not the destined life for him.

He left to co-found the Metro Theatre Co. With Stephen Daldry and from there on his career in acting grew. Several appearances in the West End as well as regional Theatre led on to more work in film, radio and regular TV productions including a long running role in the Bill. He is currently filming a new play for TV which is due out shortly. Mark realised the potential for working with businesses when he was asked if he would mind doing some role play as a fictitious CEO client on a training course. Since that time some years ago, he has regularly worked with trainers to role play ‘the client’ and provide the delegates with feedback on ‘their performance’. He is adept at giving feedback and coaching individuals and teams who want to improve their approach / adapt their style.

Rachel Eastop – Coaching and Management Development - Associate

Rachel has come a long way from an early start in her selling roles. She has been training for over 20 years now, and has been a qualified counsellor for 5 years.

Working with companies such as SKY and Belhaven Brewery’s, she likes to devise more innovative approaches to bringing teams through repetitive and tiresome training courses. Rachel has been able to show that there are other ways to be effective in a classroom. Her knack of engaging people and getting their buy-in to making changes in the workplace has won her many admirers.

Rachel saw counselling as a natural step in her education to appreciate how the mind works and understanding people. She has been able to take this knowledge and use it to great affect in the courses she designs and presents. She is a Life Coach, tutors on a Diploma in Counselling course and also does work in the voluntary / charity sectors including being a Board Director of Talk Matters Counselling Service.

Barbara Dryhurst - Communications, Interpersonal Skills & Role Playing - Associate

Barbara took to the theatre from an early time working with Mark Spalding and Stephen Daldry when they co-founded the Metro Theatre Co. Her acting career has involved theatre work around the country and also several TV appearances in known favourites such as Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Doctors.

Barbara has run Voice and Communication workshops at Imperial College and London Business School, and is able to draw on a wealth of useful and practical guidance for her students.

She has been an active member of acting groups who work with Industry, where she role plays clients in a variety of scenarios, from ‘interested’ buyers to ‘difficult and frosty’ Board members. Skilled at providing feedback to delegates about their approach and communication style, Barbara believes that for people to gain from business courses they have to commit to the change they talk of.