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Charlie
Simpson

Charlie practiced at the Bar for four years before becoming a professional actor in 1990. Having won the prestigious Carleton Hobbes BBC Radio Drama Award he went on to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End and on TV in everything from classic drama to soap.

In 2003 he met Richard and started coaching communication skills. Since then he has built up a portfolio of clients ranging from finance to professional services to electron microscopy to industrials to fashion. He typically works with senior management, and often in pressured situations – Management presentations, large pitches, fund raisings etc.

Charlie is an CEDR accredited mediator, and in 2016 co-founded the LEADA Foundation, which runs a leadership programme for senior leaders in West Africa.

charlie@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 ‭(0)7714 203232‬

Richard
Garnett

Richard was a professional actor for 15 years – TV, film, and theatre (including the West End, Broadway, and lead roles for the Royal Shakespeare Co). In 1995 - after a year in which his 3rd child was born and he spent 5 months away from home - he decided that a change was required, and he began the process of building up what has now become a substantial practice as a consultant in communication skills.

He typically works with the most senior levels of management in professional services, private equity firms, and PE portfolio businesses. In 2010 Richard co-founded the online presentation tool Present.me

richard@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 (0)7808 174801‬

Russell
Boulter

Russell trained at LAMDA and worked as an actor, director and producer for over 20 years. In 2008 he joined GSB comms and quickly established a practice designing and delivering training courses for multi national businesses.

He is a qualified NLP hypnotherapist & life coach and a conference keynote speaker. He works one on one with C-suite executives globally. He occasionally gets dragged back into the world of documentary narration for the BBC Natural History unit.

russ@gsbcomms.co.uk
‭+44 (0)7956 472325‬

Alistair
Scott

Alistair's clients benefit from his unusual combination of professional training as a stage and screen actor, and a 25-year career as a senior investment banker in the UK, Europe and Asia. Working with executives (up to and including Chairman and CEO), Alistair helps to improve communication and develop relationship building skills. He advises on personal brand and franchise building within the corporate world, and supports executives in maximising their impact in high-level presentations and pitches.

At an advanced age Alistair took a Masters degree in Classical Acting from London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and still works in theatre and film, and as a singer and occasional harmonica player.

Before moving into full-time acting, Alistair spent more than 2 decades working in the finance industry. He was a Director of corporate finance for a leading UK investment bank engaged on cross-border M&A transactions, IPOs and privatisations around the world. He then joined a bulge-bracket US bank as a Managing Director, working on many of the largest fund-raisings in the Asia-Pacific region.

Alistair’s clients have included Deutsche Bank; Allianz Global Investors; Barings Asset Management; Hogan Lovells; BlackRock Investors; Bank of America Merrill Lynch; GLG Research; Amec Foster Wheeler, and DLA Piper.

alistair@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 (0)7788 635402

Charlie
Burnell

Charlie employs communication and business skills which he has honed in over 30 years in the entertainment industry; originally as a performer and subsequently as a producer. He has worked as a coach with KPMG, Ruffer, Dell EMC, Bunzl, Wahaca, and the Natural History Museum. In 2008 he founded Threesixty Entertainment whose groundbreaking multi-media production of Peter Pan has played to over a million people in the UK and USA.

charlieb@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 (0)7976 426 392

Christina
Walker

Christina is a specialist vocal coach. Her passion is to help you find your voice. She studied Musical Theatre at Guildford School of Acting & Dance and worked as an actor for over eighteen years in theatre and TV and with Alan Ayckbourn in the West End. She was a sought after presenter for many corporate training videos across several business sectors.

She has a BA Hons. in Theatre and an MA in Professional Voice Practice at Birmingham City . She is currently studying Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. She'll work with you to discover your vocal power, and help you to find the confidence you need to get you and your message across under pressure.

christina@gsbcomms.co.uk

David
Woodward

David spent over 25 years at KPMG, the last 12 years as a Partner. David built a reputation for growing businesses, developing teams and senior leaders, as well as leading strategic strategy and transformation projects. He was Partner Lead for the EMA New Partner Development Programme, a UK Partner Counsellor, Coach on the Global Lead Partner Development programme and Sponsor/Co-developer of the Mid-Career Partner Event.
As a coach/mentor and learning & development business leader, David has a ‘play book’ of tools, models and experiences harnessed over 30 years. David builds and develops bespoke training programmes and events, alongside 121 mentoring and coaching senior leaders in order to achieve specific outcomes or business goals.
Areas of focus are leadership development, team effectiveness, effective communications, managing well-being, creativity, & empathy.

Freddie
Garnett

Freddie combines experience in M&A transactions and corporate finance from KPMG with a passion for presenting and storytelling. His specialty is helping management teams distil and refine their stories to add more punch. He is also a skilled presentation coach, experienced in helping management teams make a strong impact. Freddie is based in London but has worked on private equity exits all over Europe. Along side this, he works with a number of charities, helping them to improve their fundraising pitch.

Guy
Rothwell

Guy is motivated by a passion to see people, organisations and communities released to fulfil their true potential. To this end, he has worked in depth with CEOs, senior leaders, partners and directors from diverse industries and organisations in the UK, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia & Asia.

He brings practical leadership experience as a British Army officer, combined with 12 years in board level HR roles in the pharmaceutical industry & Not for Profit sector, and 20 years as facilitator & leadership coach.

He specialises in enabling top teams to lead well in the context of challenge, ambiguity & change.

guy@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 (0)7974 924 776

Kit
Garnett

Kit has a diverse consulting background, having supported organisations of all shapes and sizes in their pursuit of effective organisational design, strategy, and communication. A passionate story teller in and out of work, Kit now uses this experience to help individuals and teams tell their story in an impactful way, supported by compelling graphics. Kit also has experience helping charities to develop their strategies and fundraising efforts.

kit@gsbcomms.com
+44 (0)7554 797 400

Mike
Norris

Mike practised as a corporate finance lawyer for Clifford Chance before being ordained. He now helps senior professionals and executives communicate better with the spoken word, particularly when under pressure.

An accomplished communicator, Mike brings a wealth of experience to his communication and leadership coaching.

Mike typically works with professional services firms, private equity houses, investment banks, M&A boutiques, and numerous management teams from small / mid cap to large corporates.

Alongside coaching general communication skills, Mike works with investment houses and partnerships, raising multibillion funds in Private Equity, credit, and real estate. He also coaches Management Teams for PE exits (coaching them for the fireside chats and the full MP), and re-financings.

He is also accredited by the Resolution Institute as a mediator and conflict coach.

07861 851429
mike@gsbcomms.co.uk

Molly
Watson

Molly has spent the last 30 years studying and creating compelling narrative content.

Her training began at Oxford University where she was an Exhibitioner in Modern History at Jesus College, having spent the year between school and university trading financial futures for S.G. Warburg.

After graduation she became a journalist and author, working as the New York correspondent of the London Evening Standard, a columnist at the Mail on Sunday, writing for Vogue, The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator magazine and publishing a comic novel In The Pink.

Returning to the UK from America, Molly turned her attention from transmitting communication to exploring how it is received and remembered. She trained as an opinion researcher and led the London office of Crosby Textor, election-winning strategist Sir Lynton Crosby’s corporate and political campaign business.

For the past 15 years she has combined her deep understanding of how messengers and their messages land, with her ability to organise, express and defend ideas and strategies for leaders and their organisations. She acts as a radically candid yet discreet expert counsellor and coach to leaders wanting explain, engage and gain the confidence of their Boards, their investors, their customers and their own people in their agenda and ability to deliver it.

Retained by GlaxoSmithKilne and KPMG, Molly typically works with very senior leaders, very high potential talents and specialist subject matter experts whose insights could have transformational effects if unlocked, understood and mobilised into action!

Paul
Brady

Paul trained and worked as an actor and director before refocusing his energies on the corporate world. For the past 25 years Paul has worked exclusively in the area of leadership development and has focused on themes such as inclusion and diversity, behavioural safety, business development and above all communication and executive presence.

As a programme designer, trainer and ILM Level 7 Executive Coach Paul supports businesses and leaders to be more effective versions of themselves. Recognising and valuing diversity, Paul enables leaders to bring their whole selves to work… but with new skills.

Working with a wide range of organisations from financial services, through manufacturing to virtually every UK government department Paul brings leadership development to life through the use of interactive and engaging techniques.

paul@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 (0)7957 687964

Ryan
Schadt

Ryan is a New York-based communications coach, facilitator, and former financial risk manager. With a focus on transforming leaders and teams, he has made a positive impact on emerging and executive leaders around the world, spanning industries from consulting and financial services to legal and tech. Throughout his 20-year career, Ryan has a proven track record of driving high performance in Fortune 100 companies through purpose-based leadership, mindset, and behavioral change programs.

Ryan is an accredited Executive Coach with the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching™ and a certified Financial Risk Manager™ with the Global Association of Risk Professionals. He has previously held the series 7 and series 63 licenses with the Financial Regulatory Authority and holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University. Among the organizations Ryan has served are Bank of America, BlackRock, Deloitte, The US Federal Reserve, Fitch Ratings, KPMG, and Goldman Sachs.

+1-973-714-2717
Ryan@gsbcomms.co.uk

Sonia
Murray

Sonia trained as an actor at Webber Douglas and has spent the last 15 years working with business professionals in the area of communication and executive presence. Sonia is a qualified ILM Level 7 coach and works with a variety of clients one to one. She finds that her coaching skills have greatly added to the impact of the work that she does for organisations such as: KPMG, Waitrose, and the BBC.

Sonia has a passion for walking and has recently completed 2 hiking marathons for Macmillan.

soniam@gsbcomms.co.uk
07939 591189

Spencer
Lambert

Spencer had never heard of ‘slides’ before he got his first job making them. That was over 30 years ago using a camera and film. He has run his own presentation design consultancy since 1997 and has worked on hundreds of presentations for clients including Microsoft, Glaxo SmithKline, KPMG, & Barclays.
In between making slides, Spencer build and sold Bandmad.com, an online e-commerce platform for band merchandise, and co-founded the now defunct online presentation tool Present.me. For the past 15 years Spencer has worked with Richard, Charlie and Russ at GSB with a focus on management presentations for PE houses exiting their portfolio businesses.

spen@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 (0)7710 471 821

Tim
Benton

Tim trained and worked in theatre as both an actor and director. His skills as a communicator and facilitator, however, rapidly propelled him into training, L&D and coaching. As well as being in demand on the UK Start-Up scene, as a pitch coach, he also regularly works alongside Private Equity owned businesses, preparing them for management presentations.
As well as being a coach, Tim also regularly creates and delivers training programmes for companies wanting to improve their spoken communication.
He typically works with professional service industries and has helped numerous corporates and businesses, including Microsoft, KPMG, BCG, Willis Towers Watson, Indeed, among others.
His passion is bringing out the best in people and helping leaders craft engaging and effective narratives, to inspire those who follow them.

tim@gsbcomms.co.uk
+44 (0)7973 909299