Introducing the
Blue Gnu Team of Associates

Elaine is a highly gifted and experienced facilitator. A high proportion of her work is with CEO and Executive Teams in a diverse range of sectors - she has experience in Health Care, FMCG, Elite Sports and Pharmaceuticals. Her background is in Learning and Development focusing on Leadership and Management.

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Elaine’s objectives at each client remain consistent – to develop leadership teams, people and cultures to improve overall company performance, develop high performing teams and enhance personal relationships.

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Nicola is an experienced and passionate Learning & Development professional, specialising in Management Development. She has worked in the L&D field for almost twenty years with a variety of organisations and was an operational manager before that, enabling her to truly understand what it takes to be a great manager – and how tough it can be!

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Her focus is helping managers to prepare for, transition into and excel in their management roles. Enabling them to understand themselves, their roles and their impact on others.

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Stephen Fortune offers coach facilitation for many of the world’s leading organisations. With a focus on leadership capability, mindset and culture change, his approach is challenging, pragmatic and personal, providing clarity and enabling executives and their teams to exceed their personal and business goals.

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Stephen also has a passion for cycling and long distance triathlons which has led him to compete in 5 Ironman events and also cycling across the Alps and the Pyrenees for charity.

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Kate has more than 20 years experience facilitating & coaching teams and individuals to achieve their potential. She is highly intuitive and is able to get right to the heart of an issue quickly & easily. She has diverse skills & qualifications enabling her to dip into an incredibly well equipped tool kit. She also has a wide range of experience over a broad set of industries. 

Kate’s passion is to enable and equip people to lead themselves and others professionally and personally as effectively & kindly as they can. When she’s not facilitating or coaching she can be found teaching yoga!

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Lorraine’s background is in leadership and organisational development where she has worked with leaders and their teams across a wide range of sectors and diverse cultures.  She’s an experienced individual and team coach who loves bringing the high energy and engagement of an Insights Discovery event to teams who are looking to raise individual self-awareness and explore what this means for personal success, engaged team working and high performance.

Lorraine believes passionately in the power of continuing growth as a key to personal and professional success. 

Sam is passionate about helping individuals, teams and organisations reach their potential. His background was in Deloitte, where he worked for 6 years in Financial Services and then enjoyed an 18-month secondment to Audit Learning. After a short period as a primary teacher and five years with a small L&D consultancy in Bath, Sam set up his own business six years ago and we are delighted to have him as an associate.
 
Outside of work, he lives in the South West with his wife and two kids and is slowly indoctrinating them with his love of sport and outdoor life!

Ben has worked in both operational and learning & development roles for more than 25 years in. His own L&D Consultancy based in Halifax was founded on the perspective that all growth and personal effectiveness and development starts with awareness.

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Ben is described as perceptive and empathetic with others. He can facilitate and motivate others to unlock a logical, practical plan for their development with the ability to flex his style, be compassionately ruthless and annoyingly provocative when needed.

Outside of work he is passionate about the great outdoors and live music.

Steve is an experienced and passionate Learning and Development professional. Key to his success is building trusting relationships which enables him to provide tailored support that moves organisations, teams and individuals from challenge to solution. Steve’s main areas of work are in leadership and management development, personal effectiveness, team dynamics and workplace relationships.

Away from his work Steve enjoys the great outdoors, in particular cycling, paddle boarding and more recently learning to surf and ties these passions in with adventures with his family in their camper van.

Claire supports Elaine and the wider team from her home on the West Sussex coast through her business, Claire Marie Consulting. Her mission is to "help lighten the load" and assists with Blue Gnu's admin, marketing, business development and design tasks. Elaine says that "Claire makes us look good on paper"! Claire is also a licenced Insights Discovery Practitioner, so you may see her in the training room delivering workshops too!

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When Claire isn't hiding behind her laptop or facilitating, you will find her catching waves on her surf board, playing piano or walking Laki, her Labrador, along the beach. 

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Toby has supported Elaine in day to day strategic decisions for a number of years but is now formally helping with finances and operational issues. Having spent the last 27 years working as an economist he has developed skills in data analysis and strategic thinking, as well as spent seven years in other consultancies, which has given him an insight into how to run a business. With lots of Cool Blue and Earth Green energy, Toby is well equipped to give the finances some love! As Elaine often says, “He is a good nerd”. 

When Toby isn’t contemplating strategic issues or crunching numbers, he likes to watch and play sport, read, play with his sons, and walk our dog, Rosie. He is also an avid movie watcher and loves war films - his favourite is Zulu, which he has watched at least 1,000 times!

Alison brings her ‘Cool Blue' planning and organisational skills to the role of Operations Manager, working behind the scenes to support Elaine with the smooth running of the business. Alison leads clients through the booking process and assists the facilitator team with a variety of logistical and admin tasks.

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Away from work, Alison enjoys HIIT workouts in the park with fellow mums and walking with the furry family member, Poppy the cockapoo.

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