Our structure, depicted above, is based on a network of Associates rather than a conventional employer-employee structure. The company is run by, and its Associates report to, founder and Managing Director Lorraine Flower, supported by a small team of executives, administration and development staff. As such, our Associates are self-employed.

What binds us as a business is a commitment to our vision of developing high calibre, 21st century leaders and a constitution founded on our shared values and principles.

An integral part of our organisation is our azzur Advisory Board – comprising: two HR directors who are currently employed in senior capacity in the private sector and have experience of the public sector; a senior HR professional responsible for learning and development in one of the UK’s leading global service industry businesses, and Managing Director Lorraine Flower. The Advisory Board informs our view on best practise and latest thinking, and plays a key role in overseeing the setting and application of our quality regime.

Additional input is provided by Special Advisory Teams for specific sectors/industries. These teams advise, particularly, on implementation/process issues as well as bringing in-depth knowledge of and insight into their specific sector and its pressures and pitfalls.

CORE TEAM

LORRAINE FLOWER - DIRECTOR
Lorraine is the founder of azzur. Lorraine has an MBA and has enjoyed a 20-year career in the service industry, working in the transport sector. Lorraine spent 17 years at British Airways, the last 10 of which were in Senior Management in roles across marketing, sales and distribution. Her most recent corporate role was as Marketing and Sales Director for Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). She has extensive experience and expertise in leadership, management and people development, culture change and strategic development/ business planning.

At GNER she designed and led the culture change programme that has transformed a former nationalised company into one of the UK’s leading train operators. The vision, values and leadership style developed within this programme are still lived and breathed in the organisation today.

She has been an organisational consultant for 7 years during which time, as well as working with her own clients, she has been a tutor at Cranfield School of Management (The Praxis Centre), an associate tutor at Royal Holloway University London, and a visiting lecturer at Bath University.

She is currently an associate with the National School of Government (formerly CMPS). She is jointly responsible for the development of ICOS (International Conference of Organisational Spirituality) with Surrey University with whom she is also undertaking a major leadership research project. She is a member of the UK Spirit in Work network.

She also has her own coaching/counselling and spiritual development practice.

TRUDY WORTH _ DIRECTOR
Trudy looks after relationship management, communication and business development for azzur. She began her career as a journalist, working on regional news media, and then spent 20 years in public relations and marketing, working with clients across a broad range of industries and sectors.

She has extensive experience of leading major projects, building client relationships in complex organisations, and delivering results, in both the public (NHS/DH, Home Office, DfES, Royal Mail), private (clients in transport, healthcare, financial services, food and drink, and logistics, among others), and not-for-profit sectors.

For the past 15 years of her PR career Trudy was director of global PR consultancy. She left to pursue a broader agenda.

Trudy is committed to azzur’s ethos of developing a company’s true potential through its people and has experienced the effectiveness of the company’s holistic approach at first hand, as a trainee.

CHARLOTTE SANDALL – ADMINISTOR/OFFICE MANAGER
Providing office management, administration and PA support, Charlotte is a key figure in the smooth running of the business.

She is particularly responsible for handling the information requirements of our Associates and managing their availability database, as well as running all course administration including bookings and ensuring the right people are in the right place at the right time, with the right materials. She also liaises with our clients on a broad range of admin matters.

An award-winning chef, Charlotte exchanged the heat of the kitchen for the intensity of business – honing her organisational and admin skills in roles in commercial property and the power industry.

ASSOCIATE TEAM

MICHAEL SCHIMMELSCHMIDT - ASSOCIATE
Michael is an experienced executive coach and organisational consultant who believes that excellence and the desire to make a difference arise spontaneously from within. By working from the “inside out”, he helps individuals to free their inner leader and develop vital aspects such as motivation, creativity, flexibility, resourcefulness, responsibility and self confidence. Building on these inner resources, meaning arises and people naturally find the capacity to increase their level of contribution.

He is a tutor at Praxis, Cranfield School of Management, has taught MBA students personal awareness and is leader of the Praxis Creativity Programme. He is a visiting lecturer for “Creativity in Management” at the Cyprus International Institute of Management.

As a coach Michael inspires change through an engaging combination of pragmatic, experiential and pioneering approaches. Specialising in releasing and harnessing potential and the development of innovative solutions, he has particular expertise in creative group process and conflict work.

PAMELA EMERY - ASSOCIATE
Pamela specialises in executive coaching, career development, effective relationships, teambuilding and leadership. Pam combines experience from consulting, line management, training and psychology and has worked across a range of major companies, including several years within a UK international airline.

She has developed an innovative, experiential and practical approach to change and transformation and is committed to empowering others, developing their potential by drawing out their innate talents and resources.
A tutor at The Praxis Centre, Cranfield School of Management, her qualifications include: BA Humanities; Diploma in Psychotherapy; BPS Psychometric Testing Level A & B and licensed in a number of psychometric instruments; FRSA.

PAUL BIRCH - ASSOCIATE
Paul spent 18 years with British Airways. His Finance role included Mergers and Acquisitions – he led the search for a US partner for BA and managed the US Air deal for two years. In Marketing he led the evaluation of the business impact of the company’s marketing activities. He helped to introduce Scenario Planning to BA and also created the business plan to take £1 billion from the company’s cost base. Perhaps his most unconventional role was as Corporate Jester – a role specially-created to challenge complacency and bad practice throughout the company.

He now concentrates on change and creativity consultancy, has been a visiting lecturer at Henley Management College and Oxford University. He has written nine books on coaching, leadership, organisational change, creative thinking and teamwork. He is an NLP Practitioner, has a degree in Sociology BSc (Hons.) and an MBA.

ROY HOWELLS - ASSOCIATE
Roy has extensive experience of working with public sector organisations – spanning more than 20 years – designing and delivering leadership development and management skills training programmes. He is also very experienced in working with senior executives one to one and in Board level team interventions.

His career in the learning and development field has seen him training leaders and managers from public sector organisations across the world, as well as the UK.

He is a Fellow of the CIPD, a Fellow of the ITOL and a Member of the CMI.

BRENDA KLUG – ASSOCIATE
Brenda has extensive experience in values-based leadership, motivational skills and service culture. Her career has encompassed senior roles with British Airways – both in the UK and overseas – and included spells in Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, and as General Manager of Heathrow Terminal 4. She gained considerable experience of working with different cultures and managing constant change.

As Customer Service Director she led PPP healthcare’s shift from health insurer to customer-focused healthcare organisation. As Virgin Trains’ Customer Service Director she was credited with transforming BR traditionalism into Virgin’s renowned culture of service and people focus. Latterly she also held Board responsibility for HR and Internal Communications.

A skilled facilitator and coach, Brenda works with senior individuals and teams focusing on leadership and organisational development to generate exceptional service. She has an MBA and is an Associate of the CIPD.

CAROLYN TABAK – ASSOCIATE
Carolyn is an experienced psychotherapist, supervisor, coach and trainer and has designed and delivered training and one to one coaching for organisations including: Unison, Lloyds TSB, Yahoo!, Amicus, London Borough of Camden, and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Carolyn began her career in advertising sales, reaching management level on an international magazine. This experience provided the foundation for her interest in workplace well-being and future career direction. Carolyn has an MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy, she is UKCP registered and holds Diplomas in Stress Management and in Integrative Supervision.

EDWARD LANG – ASSOCIATE
Edward has significant experience of leading edge roles in complex organisations operating in competitive environments. For the past 20 years he has pursued a career in counselling, coaching and training intervention at work. This has encompassed personal, professional and organisational support and development.

He has worked with a range of public and private sector organisations in both direct employment and consultancy capacities. These include: BUPA, AXA Insurance, Barclays Bank, Vodafone Group, British Airways, Sony, Sun Life, ITV Digital, Transport for London, RAF, Brunel University, College of Occupational Therapists, the learning trust and Oxfam

Edward has a Master of Science degree from the University of Bristol where he has been an Associate Tutor for the past twelve years. He is certified and registered with the British Psychological Society to conduct occupational testing and personality profiling and is an accredited trainer with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

KAAREN BROOK – ASSOCIATE
Kaaren’s corporate career was in hotel management and she rose to Global Management Development Manager with the world’s then largest hotel group. This experience has since been carried through into her work in the learning and development field as a trainer, facilitator and coach.

Among her particular areas of expertise are leadership, management and team development, executive coaching, creating a coaching culture and coach training. She has worked with a broad range of private and public sector clients including: BT, Baker Tilly, Oxfam, Kleinwort Benson, Zurich Insurance, Nomura, NHS, National Express and British Waterways.

MARY CROSS - ASSOCIATE
Mary has a breadth of experience in the public and private sectors, working at strategic and operational levels to deliver creative learning and development solutions for clients including: Atkins Consulting, Capita Consulting, LogicaCMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Thales Group, DTI, DfES, DVLA, MoD, Home Office and the National School of Government.

HILLARD ZYLSTRA, ASSOCIATE
Hillard has worked with clients in telecoms, heavy engineering, retail, manufacturing, construction and finance, as well as the public and not-for-profit sectors.

He brings a particular focus and many years’ experience to management skills and people development programmes. Hillard is an associate tutor at Roffey Park Institute and an associate with the National School of Government.

KAREN SZULAKOWSKA – ASSOCIATE
Karen has over 20 years of management, leadership and personal development experience. She combines a natural intuitive and holistic approach with a strong commercial focus based on a number of senior management roles including Managing Director of a £10m UK organisation.

Her previous experience includes: guest speaker and workshop leader at Royal Holloway University London, facilitator with the Windsor Leadership Trust, and designing and delivering development programmes with the National School of Government.

She is a professional facilitator and life coach and has an MBA. Her style of working is inclusive - consciously leading people to a sense of achievement in their learning.

CHRISTINE GRATTON - ASSOCIATE
Christine has designed and delivered management skills training programmes for organisations in the public and private sector including the National School of Government, NHS, DHE and Mind. She holds diplomas in Holistic Therapy and Stress Management.

ALAN SHUTTLEWORTH – ASSOCIATE
Alan has many years experience of designing and delivering leadership and management development programmes, working with teams and one to one. He has particular expertise in working within the complexities of public sector organisations.

Client experience includes: The Saville Group, DEFRA, MoD, DWP, Inland Revenue and Customs, and The National School of Government.

SHEILA MCALPINE – ASSOCIATE
Sheila has a range of experience in the public and private sector from small, independent companies to large, multinational companies. She specialises in designing and delivering learning and development, acting as a catalyst to support her clients in their ability to become better able to meet their business needs. Clients include: JRP Associates, Logica plc, 3, National School of Government, Environment Agency.