Events at the Centre
The Centre regularly runs a range of events, including evening seminars and stands at exhibitions.
These events are open to clients, associates and staff, and are an opportunity for everyone to interact, share ideas and network.
If you have an idea for an event which we are not currently running, or have any questions about any of our events, please contact Jennie Taylor on jennie.taylor@the-centre.co.uk or 020 7490 3030.
About us
The Centre is a training and consultancy company that shares your commitment to learning.
Contact us
Find out about the latest offers, discounts on courses and up to date news with our email updates.
Training suite
Courses on the Centre's open programme are held at our training suite at 140 Old Street, London, EC1V 9BJ.
Our staff team
The Centre's team are friendly and welcoming to all who walk through our door. We are here to help you and make your experience as enjoyable and hassle-free as we can. If you have any questions for any member of the team, just ask!
art@the-centre
The Centre's next exhibition will be launching very soon, and focuses on photography work. Watch this space for more information!
Our trainers and consultants
Meet the Centre's team - a team of talented and experienced communicators, leaders and trainers who share your passion for learning and development.
fourth level page
text for hiden page
just a sidebar
related to main about page - has no page of its own
nonsticky who we are page
nonsticky who we are page
Tess Woodcraft
Tess Woodcraft summary
Jan Burnell
Jan Burnell, the Centre’s Director, has worked at Chief Executive level in a range of different organisations for the past twenty five years. Prior to starting up the Centre as a new company, she worked in the public and voluntary sectors where she led both local government units and charities. She has a post graduate certificate in Leadership and Management from CASS Business School.
Paula Reid
Trainer, facilitator, coach and speaker in teamwork, leadership, communications, management and innovation, Paula has worked with many corporate clients, as well as charities, universities, the NHS, Olympic sports teams and Government Departments.
Tillie Harris
Tillie has worked as a journalist, copywriter and researcher for a number of national publications. She is also an experienced researcher, copywriter and communications consultant. Tillie works with organisations to develop the quality of their websites, leaflets, reports and newsletters.
Jonathan Lamptey
Jonathan is a chartered accountant, consultant and financial skills trainer with 15 years of operational experience with companies including The Walt Disney Company, Channel 4, Sky and the Telegraph.
Jane Daniells
Jane has been working with practitioners and managers in the social care field for a number of years. Jane specialises in the areas of Management Performance, Management Development, Motivation, and Diversity.
Sheila Elliott
Sheila Elliott is a business development and finance expert. She works with a diverse range of organisations helping them to develop their business management skills to improve their revenues and profitability.
Pam Henry
Pam is our lead consultant and trainer on diversity and heads up the Centre's diversity unit, diversity@the-centre. She is an experienced training specialist, and NVQ external verifier.
David Goodman
David Goodman is an experienced management trainer, who has a proven track record in delivering highly effective leadership programmes in the voluntary sector.
Ruthie Culver
Ruthie is a qualified coach specialising in career change, confidence and personal effectiveness. She also has 20 years experience as a project manager, mainly in the third sector. As a jazz singer she performs internationally and this informs her coaching, believing everyone can achieve harmony in their lives.
Sally Hinder
Sally specialises in Coaching, Communication and Training, helping individuals and organisations achieve better results and work to their full potential.
Simon Horton
Simon Horton has spent over 10 years as an expert in the fields of Negotiating, Influencing, Leadership and Management Skills, working with an impressive list of high-profile clients, in the private, public and voluntary sectors. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, University of London.
Tess Woodcraft
Tess works on diversity and strategic corporate communication. She works with clients to develop their influencing skills and their own best personal style, and also on corporate communication strategy, helping organisations to increase their impact.
Chris Mohr
Chris Mohr is a former BBC broadcast journalist, and delivers some of the Centre’s courses in business writing, radio and TV interviews, and presentation skills. She has extensive experience of training all levels in both the public and private sectors, from small charities to international banks, and likes to customise the course to the client.
JJ Lynch
JJ is a highly experienced trainer and motivational speaker, having worked in the field of leadership and management for the past twenty years. He specialises in motivational leadership, people development and organisational change. He has a Masters degree in Leadership and Management.
Laura McMillan
Laura has over 10 years experience as a Learning and Development professional and is a skilled trainer and coach. She has held management positions in the voluntary sector and now works as a consultant across all sectors.
Henry Russell
Henry runs the Centre's proofreading course. Henry worked in publishing for 10 years as an editor and a sales director before becoming a professional writer. He trains and lectures on every aspect of written communication.
Tesse Akpeki
Tesse, a qualified coach, facilitator, lawyer and Chartered Secretary, practices as a governance specialist working on governance reviews, board asssessment and board training assignments to name a few. Recently she has been involved in a range of board restructuring assignments and working along side senior management teams to manage change. Her international work has been in Africa, South and North America, Australia, Bermuda and Europe.
John Burnell
John is a leading Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and previously a member of the British Psychological Society. He works with a wide range of clients in all sectors, providing a full range of HR services.
Susan Croft
Susan is an international public speaker, corporate trainer and PR practitioner and trains in sales, communications, marketing and management. She is a trained journalist and specializes in media and public speaking training for executives, educators and other professionals.
Norma Johnston
Norma has 15 years experience as a communications director, leading high-profile communication activities and campaigns nationally and internationally.
She is now a consultant, specialising in communications management.
Hilary Gee
Hilary is an experienced and highly effective Executive Coach, Leadership and Teamworking Skills trainer, Change Facilitator and Consultant. He inspires people to learn and change through highly interactive and tailored interventions, which clients find practical, supportive and stretching. Clients include: Capital One, London Business School, The Financial Times, Conde-Nast, QBE Insurance and other businesses, banks, building societies, professional services firms, Central and Local Government organisations and a number of third sector organisations.
Gill Dandy
Gill is a communications professional with 25 years consultancy and in-house experience in the PR industry. Gill is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Chair of Fifth Estate, the voluntary sector PR network, and non-executive director of Shared Interest, a not-for-profit social investment fund.
Howard Exton-Smith
Howard is a specialist in business, programme and project management. He has particular expertise in strategy development and implementation, organisational effectiveness and marketing and is an experienced coach. He has held senior positions in the private sector, and has worked with the public and third sectors, in the UK and internationally.
Alan Fountain
With wide experience of the media and education, Alan is one of our specialist facilitators, working with senior teams and boards, helping them to think through knotty strategic problems. He is also an experienced coach.
Jane Esuantsiwa Goldsmith
Jane works in diversity, gender issues, ethnicity, education, aid and development, violence against women, rural issues, and equal opportunities. She works at local, national and international levels and attends and speaks at events across the world.
Rachel Harrison
Rachel specialises in helping organisations and people to make change and move forward. Based in London since 1997, Rachel has been consulting, training, researching and writing on management and leadership, organisational development, cross cultural communications, working with change and conflict resolution. She has an international portfolio, working across Europe and the states.
Carolyn Graham
Carolyn is a CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) accredited mediator and member of the Civil Mediation Council, working as mediator, trainer, facilitator and consultant. She regularly mediates in commercial, employment, workplace and community disputes and delivers training in mediation, dispute resolution and conflict management skills. She works with a diverse range of organisations and sectors including local and central Government, Banking, Insurance, NHS, Higher Education, Arts & Entertainment and Charities.
Michele Lazarus
Michele has worked for over 30 years as a trainer, a counsellor, a researcher and a manager. Her background is in health education, community justice and the parenting sector. She has worked across the sectors for local authorities, social services, the health service and a variety of not for profit organisations.
Fiona Russell
Fiona is an experienced trainer working with individuals and groups to develop management skills and personal effectiveness. Her background in education and the media has included programmes focusing on performance management and coaching individuals in the public and the corporate sector.
Marje Paling
Marje is a skilled trainer with many years experience of working in the not for profit sector following a shorter career as an English teacher. She has a proven track record of introducing and managing change, especially with teams who manage at a distance.
Bill Puddicombe
Bill Puddicombe works is a consultant in the fields of social care and substance misuse. His works with voluntary, statutory and private organisations.
Francois Smit
Francois is a dynamic trainer, with skills developed during 16 years of hands-on experience. Francois specialises in communications training for support staff. He has developed and delivered a wide range of programmes.
Liz Sewell
Liz has extensive consultancy experience with both the voluntary and public sectors. ÎAs former chief executive of Gingerbread, Liz is a sought after consultant and trainer. She has worked at a national level with government departments and locally with NHS trusts, local authorities and voluntary organisations.
Certificate in Leadership and Management launched
The Centre and Royal Holloway College (Univ of London) launch their new Certificate in Leadership and Management at the House of Lords.
Jan Burnell
Jan is the Centre's Managing Director and leads on our management portfolio.
Jennie Taylor
Jennie is Deputy to the Director. Her job involves overseeing the day-to-day running of the Centre and the team, as well as managing all of our marketing and events. Jennie has been at the Centre for five years.
Sally Pearman
Sally is the Centre's In-Company Training Coordinator and has been with us for three years. She is responsible for booking all in company courses and is the first point of contact for our in company clients.
Our partners
The Centre works in partnership with a number of different organisations, listed below.
Room hire now available!
The Centre is pleased to announce that we are now offering our training rooms for hire.
The Centre is on Twitter!
The Centre is now on Twitter! Keep up to date on the latest news and offers by becoming one of our followers.
Roma Sojitra
Roma is the Centre's Customer Experience Manager. She deals with all aspects of the client experience on the Open Programme, as well as the Centre's office management, combining to make a pleasant experience for all delegates.
Jess Toms
Jess is the Centre's Team Coordinator and the newest member of the team. She is responsible for all administrative tasks supporting the rest of the team, and she also prepares all materials for forthcoming training courses.
Gill Dandy
Gill is a communications professional with 25 years consultancy and in-house experience in the public relations industry. Gill is one of the staff trainers and specialises in the areas of communication and administration.
Julia Braggins
Julia specialises in organisation management. She is a consultant, management development trainer, and researcher. As well as her work for the Centre, she is a non-managerial supervisor for chief executives and senior managers.
Ruth Bush
Proprietor of Bush Parliamentary, which she set up two decades ago as an ethical lobbying consultancy for the smaller voluntary sector, Ruth Bush’s knowledge and experience of successful work in the parliamentary world extends beyond the voluntary sector to private and public sector clients. Training is designed to enable clients to shape their organisation’s own parliamentary strategy, while receiving all the technical information they need to put it into practice.
Sachin Chamunda
Sachin is the Centre's Finance Manager. He is responsible for the processing of all invoices and payments.
David Aylwin
David Aylwin is one of the country’s leading trainers in Fast effective reading and Speed reading. He has specialised in the field for over 25 years. David works with local government, NHS, banks, the police, law firms, and manufacturing.
An articulate and humorous speaker, David believes that training must involve maximum trainee activity, be fun, be easy to apply afterwards and take immediate effect.
Sarah Brimelow
Sarah has over 15 years experience in the voluntary and public sector and is a qualified management and life coach specialising in leadership and team development, career changes and life transitions.
Ceri Hutton
Ceri worked for 13 years in the community and voluntary sector before, becoming a freelance consultant and trainer. Ceri specialises in management skills, communication skills (particularly focussing on internal communication) and personal development skills such as time and stress management.
Sara Jones
Sara is an experienced journalist and media trainer. She worked in local papers, regional television and for BBC radio as a reporter before becoming a producer for BBC programmes such as You and Yours and Woman's Hour. She has been media training for around 20 years and her clients have included major organisations in the commercial, public and voluntary sectors such as the Home Office, Pfizer, the Department for Work and Pensions, Philips and Channel 4.
Adeola Dada
Adeola has over 20 years experience of managing projects particularly in the education and regeneration spheres - delivering complex fast track projects on time and within budget. Her philosophy is to build effective working relationships and engender creative team environments.
Environmental and ethical policy
Welcome to the Environment and Ethics policy for the Centre. We trust you will find within this document everything you need to know about what the Centre stands for as an organisation with regards to the environmental and ethical impact of our business. This is by no means intended to be an exhaustive document on the breadth of our commitment, merely a helpful signpost. It does however contain some goals and objectives that are key to our future as a sustainable and ethical company.
The local area
There's plenty to see and do if you are visiting the Centre's Old Street location for training, especially if you are staying in London for a two day course!
- Back to What we do
- Back to Our approach
- Back to Our approach
- Back to Our approach
- Back to Our approach
about us
About us
The Centre is a training and consultancy company that shares your commitment to learning.
Read more about the Centre....
Our trainers and consultants
Meet the Centre's team - a team of talented and experienced communicators, leaders and trainers who share your passion for learning and development.
Meet the team...
