About us
Developing leaders became a deeply held passion for us during our executive careers.
We have held senior leadership and board roles for over 20 years, mostly as Managing Director / CEO and more recently as non-executive directors. We have “been there and got the T-shirt” … seen and experienced at first hand the intellectual and emotional thrills and spills of senior executive life.
Our experience has encompassed start-ups, growth phase, large scale and multiple geographies coupled with a variety of stakeholder environments, from Government to multi-national corporate, to UK Plc, private equity and private / founder owned.
Developing leaders became a deeply held passion for us during our executive careers. Our desire to continue to help people along this journey whilst also helping them manage the emotional and professional ups and downs led us to become coaches to CEOs and senior leaders in various industries in a professional capacity today.
“When I first started working with Kate, I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed in my management role. However, through our sessions, Kate listened to me, understood my challenges, and pushed me to be the best manager I could be. I now have a better understanding of the challenges our business is facing, and I am confident that my team and I can deal with them effectively thanks to my sharper leadership skills, improved communication, and more effective delegation.”
— CEO, Founder, Hedge Fund, Asset Management
“After a difficult year of leading a team in the NHS, the sessions that I had with Ivan were a breath of fresh air.
A safe space to explore myself and the dynamics of the team I lead, to develop ideas of how to facilitate me and the team moving forward.
The benefits of reflecting, focusing and talking were huge. Ivan was knowledgeable, kind and challenged my thinking. I am extremely grateful.”
— Consultant Surgeon, NHS
“Kate has skilfully helped me to unpack issues and challenges so that they became approachable and easier to work with/through and from there to set new goals and ways to think about the job and progression.”
— COO, Financial Services
“Ivan provides an unbiased view from a senior player with whom I can discuss the merits of various strategies in an open and honest manner. He helps me think more deeply and question myself more with the result that I communicate issues in an effective and concise manner.”
— Exco, Restaurant Sector
Our team
Ivan Schofield
I started my career in consumer goods with Unilever, then after a wonderful year doing an MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau I spent three years in strategy consulting with LEK and then joined Yum Brands where I become MD / CEO of KFC’s French and Western European business, based in France for 12 years. The business grew from $50m sales to $1.5bn sales over that time and I experienced many thrills and spills of leading and building a team and organisation in a role which step-changed in scale every two years. During this time I had the privilege of working with and learning from many great leaders to whom I feel very grateful and indebted.
While Kate was winning proper awards for her achievements in the UK, the Figaro dubbed me “le roi du poulet frit et de la pizza en France”.
Developing leaders became a deeply held passion for me during my executive career and this led me to qualify as a professional coach in 2015. In parallel to my coaching practice, I am an active board member and advisor to private equity investors and consider this to be an important part of my coaching proposition and competence. It keeps the coaching work “real” and relevant both for me and my clients, offering a perspective from “the other side of the boardroom table”.
“My coaching approach is grounded in my own practical experience of leadership... a point of view on what makes effective leaders coupled with a deep affinity with the personal and professional challenges of the role”
My coaching approach is grounded in my own practical experience of leadership ... a point of view on what makes effective leaders coupled with a deep affinity with the personal and professional challenges of the role. I help clients to develop their skills and effectiveness as a leader ... building on their innate strengths, adapted to the context in which they operate as well as helping them develop ways of coping with the many pressures of the role.
Aside from conventional coaching techniques I have a particular interest, and extensive training in various applications of cognitive behavioural therapy; performance under pressure in sports; positive psychology; mindfulness and working with energy and the outdoors.
I am also a supervisor to individual coaches and to organisations with internal coaching and mentoring programs.
Former rugby player, these days a golfer and gym and wattbike bunny. 12 years living in France gave me a passion for French wine and a sizeable collection.
Coaching Accreditations
Meyler Campbell Mastered (2015)
Human Synergistics Life Styles Inventory (2017)
Transformational Presence For Leaders and Coaches (2017-2018)
BPS Level 1 Accredited CBT Practitioner Foundation Stage (2019)
Positive Psychology and Positive Interventions UPenn (2019)
Red2Blue Performance Under Pressure coach (2019)
Diploma in Supervision (CSTD Bath) (2020)
Hogan Assessments Certified Practitioner (2021)
Certificate in Relational Organisational Gestalt (2021)
Advanced Diploma Gestalt Coaching (2022)
Ivan is an associate member of the EMCC and abides by their code of ethics (https://emccuk.org/Public/Accreditation/Global_Code_of_Ethics.aspx)
Executive Career Summary
Unilever Plc (1989-1994)
LEK Consulting (1996-1999)
Yum Brands Inc. (1999- 2015). CFO UK / Europe, MD France, CEO Western Europe
itsu (2016 - 2017) CEO
Non-Executive Board Roles
Hollywood Bowl Group plc - NED
Thunderbird Fried Chicken - Chairman, NED
Buffalo Grill SAS (France) - Chairman, NED
Energie Fitness - NED
Education
BSc Economics with Econometrics
University of Bath (1986-1989)MBA, INSEAD (1995-96)
English (mother tongue); French (fluent)
Kate Jones
I have extensive experience of the UK asset management industry gained as an investor, a senior business leader and now as a Board member and Executive Coach across the financial services industry.
I began my career as a graduate at Prudential before moving onto hold senior roles at Barclays, BlackRock and Schroders.
I was instrumental in the growth of BlackRock’s Solutions business where I built and led the portfolio management function with responsibility for over £300bn of assets - including through the financial crisis which was very rewarding and stressful in equal measure but showed me the power of operating as part a high performing team where we really could achieve anything we set our minds to.
Whilst at Prudential, I was awarded Harper’s & Queen’s Young Business Women of the Year award, sponsored by Chanel, and I still wear the floor length Chanel coat each autumn!
“I increasingly found that it was the “people” side of my role that gave me the biggest satisfaction”
However, I increasingly found that it was the “people” side of my role that gave me the biggest satisfaction - the thrill of someone in my team getting promoted; gaining real clarity as to where they wanted to go in their career or simply succeeding with new ways of working that we had discussed. I began to extensively mentor inside and outside of the organisation and also was afforded the opportunity to have a coach myself at a number of key points in my career and I always left those coaching sessions feeling as if I could take on the world. As a coach today I’d be happy if I could have half as much impact on my clients as my coach had on my life.
Following the arrival of my two amazing daughters, having a little more space and balance in my life became a priority and I transitioned to a portfolio career over 10 years ago. I currently chair a number of financial services boards , alongside coaching senior executives across multiple sectors and being a taxi service for my daughters!
Coaching Accreditations
Meyler Campbell Mastered (2015)
Strengths Profile Practitioner (2017)
BPS Level 1 Accredited CBT Practitioner Foundation Stage (2019)
Hogan Assessments Certified Practitioner (2021)
Kate is an associate member of the EMCC and abides by their code of ethics (https://emccuk.org/Public/Accreditation/Global_Code_of_Ethics.aspx)
Executive Career Summary
Prudential M&G (1999-2005)
Barclays Global Investors / BlackRock (2005-2011)
Schroders (2011-2014)
Non-Executive Board Roles
Pension Protection Fund - Chairman
JPM Fund Limited - Chairman, NED
Blackfinch Spring VCT plc - Director
Smart Pension Master Trust - Trustee
RedSTART Educate - Chairman, Trustee
Education
BSc Mathematical Economics, University of Birmingham (1996-1999)
Chartered Financial Analyst (2001)
How elite sports can help us think about what drives board level executive performance (and underperformance)