Our people

Sir Michael Bichard

Michael joined the Institute in September 2008.  He was previously Chief Executive of Brent and Gloucestershire Local Authorities and in 1990 became Chief Executive of the Government's Benefits Agency.  In 1995, he was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Employment Department and, subsequently, the Department for Education and Employment.

Michael received a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1999.  In May 2001, he left the Civil Service. He was appointed Rector of The London Institute, the largest Art and Design Institute in Europe in September 2001, which became University of the Arts, London in May 2004.  In January 2004, he was appointed by the Home Office to chair the Soham/Bichard Inquiry. On 1 April 2005, he became Chair of the Legal Services Commission.

Zoe Gruhn

Zoe joined the Institute in December 2008 as the Director of Learning and Development. She was previously with HSBC where she was Global Head of Leadership & Learning for Global Finance. Prior to that, she was Head of Leadership Transformation Services and then Head of the Executive and Team Coaching Practice at Hay Group. She has extensive experience of working at senior levels across the public and private sectors including top team and leadership development and coaching CEOs, board members and government ministers.

She has been a visiting fellow at Cranfield University for ten years and a visiting lecturer at the University of Reading. She ran leadership workshops at the World Economic Forum and has a strong interest in providing fresh perspectives and approaches to developing leadership capability.

Zoe is currently working on the research and development of politicians for the Institute.

Dr David Halpern

David was responsible for the original blueprint for the Institute. He previously worked as Chief Analyst in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (2001-2007). He led numerous reviews, including the UK Government's Strategic Audits and recent Policy Reviews; set up the Social Exclusion Task Force and drafted its Action Plan; and authored many of the Strategy Unit's most influential papers, such as on Life Satisfaction and on Personal Responsibility and Behaviour Change.

Before entering government, he held tenure at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Cambridge University, where he still remains an Affiliated Lecturer. He has also held posts at Nuffield College, Oxford; the Policy Studies Institute, London; and as a Visiting Professor at the Centre for European Studies, Harvard. He has published widely including books on Social Capital (2005); Options for Britain: a strategic policy review (1996), and Mental Health and the Built Environment (1995).

Kate Blatchford

Kate joined the Institute in December 2009 after graduating from her MSc in Public Management and Governance at the London School of Economics in September 2009. Her research interests include methods of public participation in public service design.

Tom Gash

Tom joined the Institute in January 2008. He previously worked as a consultant in the Boston Consulting Group's organisation and change practice area and as a Senior Policy Adviser on Home Affairs in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. Tom has a particular interest in strategy and organisational effectiveness, including in the areas of performance management, talent management, organisation design and organisation development. Outside the Institute, he advises governments on strategic management and is currently conducting private research into crime in modern Britain.

Dr Catherine Haddon

Catherine's doctoral dissertation was on Whitehall and defence during the Cold War. As well as working as an academic, she has been involved in research for a number of high profile publications, museum and corporate projects.

Michael Hallsworth

Michael joined the Institute in May 2008. He was previously an Analyst at RAND Europe (a not-for-profit public policy research institute) for three years, specialising in performance monitoring and futures thinking.

Jonathan McClory

Jonathan joined the Institute in February 2009.  He was previously a research fellow at Policy Exchange, where he co-authored six reports on various crime and justice issues. Jonathan graduated from the University of Michigan with a dual degree in economics and politics. In 2006 he completed a MSc in International Public Policy at University College London.

Julian McCrae

Julian joined the Institute in July 2009. Prior to that, he was one of the Deputy Directors at the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, leading its work on social mobility, welfare policies and economics. While at the unit, among other things Julian lead the process spanning 11 government departments that culminated in the 2009 New Opportunities White Paper, and ran Tony Blair's Fundamental Savings Review. His other experience in government includes two spells in the Treasury, and as a special adviser at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Julian started his career at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, where he spent eight years. His work there included numerous publications on the UK's personal taxation and welfare system. He also lead the Institute's research programme on corporate taxation and business investment issues and taught public economics at University College London. Finally Julian worked at Frontier Economics, one of the UK's leading economic consultancies, where he helped expand the public policy practice.

Jerrett Myers

Jerrett Myers was previously Research Coordinator at Oxford Policy Institute where he was involved in the management of a number of research projects designed to find practical ways to improve the quality and efficiency of public services.  He has previously worked at the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government in Canada and has undertaken a number of consulting assignments for private sector clients.  He holds an MSc in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton University.

Simon Parker

Simon joined the institute in January 2009. He worked previously as an organisational development consultant and as head of public services for the think tank Demos. He has published widely, including Re-Imagining Government (2006), The Collaborative State (2007) and State of Trust (2008). His articles have appeared in the Guardian, Prospect and the New Statesman.

Akash Paun

Akash joined the Institute in September 2008. Prior to joining the Institute, Akash spent four years as a researcher at the Constitution Unit, University College London, where he specialised in devolution and parliamentary reform.

Vanessa Quinlan

Vanessa joined the Institute in October 2009. She previously worked as a management consultant with Accenture and KPMG in their people and change practices and most recently was with HSBC as the Head of HR for Global Finance in Europe. Vanessa has a particular interest in organisational culture change and how leadership behaviour impacts the effectiveness of the organisation as a whole.

Nadine Smith

Nadine comes to the Institute with 15 years experience in news and PR. Her career began in local radio news and since then she has had extensive experience of working in Whitehall communications departments. She also lead the PR functions for three major public inquiries and completed an MA in Journalism. Most recently she was Chief Press Officer and then Head of Strategic Media Campaigns at the Cabinet Office.

Suzanne Roy

Suzanne joined the Institute in April 2008. She has a strong financial background having previously worked at the Prudential Bank, Egg and the Swiss Air group. She has brought a diverse set of strong organisational skills to the Institute which make her the ideal candidate to lead the Institute in all areas of operations and events.

Loren Austin

Loren joined the Institute in May 2009. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree whilst working part-time as a receptionist at Cigar clothing boutique in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mike Brass

Mike joined the Institute in January 2009. He previously worked as the Senior Systems Administrator for the venture capital firm Amadeus Capital Partners. He is a certified project manager (Association for Project Management) and also holds a Masters degree in Archaeology.

Kerry Burkett

Kerry is an experienced EA who has over ten years' experience working with Senior / Board Directors. She has a varied background in Central and Local Government, and has also worked at the BBC and English Heritage.

Alice le Gros

Alice joined the Institute in November 2009. She has recently completed an Executive PA Diploma with Pitman Training.

Hana Maitland

Hana has a Bachelor of Arts degree and subsequently moved to London. She has previous receptionist experience and joined the Institute in September 2009.

Matthew Paterson

Matthew joined the Institute in April 2009. He served a four year apprenticeship in facilities management at a property management company where he gained valuable experience at many established clients such Swiss Air, CB Richard Ellis, Angela Mortimer and Kensington Business Village.

Patricia Mulcahy

Patricia joined the Institute in August 2009 from St Paul's Girls' School, having previously worked in the engineering, communications, construction and financial sectors. She has a degree in History from the Open University, and a long term interest in politics at local and national levels. She is Chair of trustees of Henley on Thames Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Sir Ian Magee CB

Ian was Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for Constitutional Affairs and Head of Profession for Operational Delivery for the Civil Service. He was a CEO of three different Executive Agencies. Ian was a member of the Capability Review team for the Cabinet Office, and with another Permanent Secretary had a continuing role in holding the Cabinet Secretary to account for progress. He is currently a Senior Advisor to Booz and Company, a Non-Executive Director of the Live Group plc, and an Executive Coach to senior civil servants and others. He conducted a review of criminality information for the Home Secretary, published in July 2008. Ian is a Fellow of the Sunningdale Institute and has a special interest in public sector leadership.

Kristina Murrin

Kris trained as a social psychologist, before her career in the corporate world with Procter and Gamble, and worked as a marketing manager in France, UK and the USA before becoming the company’s Innovation Manager for Europe. She founded What If Training, part of the What If Group, the world's largest independent innovation company, and led the company's Public Sector Division, then chaired its Social Innovation Foundation until 2008. Kris worked as an Associate of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit between 2001-2006, and served as a Trustee and Director of the Schools Food Trust. She is a Fellow of the Sunningdale Institute and was a Non-Executive Director of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Professor Sue Richards

Sue Richards has been an academic, a consultant and a civil servant. She has done research on changes in public management and contributed to debates on cultural change in Whitehall, the use of markets for public service, effective whole system working and innovation. Her consultancy practice majored in the field of organisational development and change. Concurrently with her role as a Senior Fellow, she is also a senior official at the National School of Government, leading on their virtual academy of thought leaders in management, organisation and governance.

On behalf of the Institute for government, Sue is the UK co-coordinator of a major new multi-national partnership which aims to develop new thinking and new practice in public administration that will be relevant for government as it faces the future.

Peter Riddell

Peter joined The Times in 1991 and under various titles (currently Chief Political Commentator and Assistant Editor) has been their domestic political analyst and commentator. He previously worked for the Financial Times for 21 years. Peter has been a regular broadcaster, written a wide range of books and articles, lectured at the National School of Government, and was a Visiting Professor of Political History at Queen Mary College. He is chairman of the Hansard Society, a non-partisan charity which promotes understanding of Parliament, having served on two of its major commissions and chaired others for the Constitution Unit and the Electoral Reform Society. Peter has received two honorary doctorates of literature, is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Political Studies Association.

David Albury

David is Co-Chair of The Innovation Unit and an independent consultant and policy adviser specialising in strategies for organisational and system transformation in public services. From 2002 to 2005 he was Principal Adviser in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, where he co-authored the influential report on Innovation in the Public Sector. He works and speaks nationally and internationally on creating the conditions for radical innovation in Governments, national agencies, localities and public service organisations. He is the design and development co-ordinator for the Global Education Leadership Program sponsored by Cisco and the Gates Foundation. He is also a Visiting Professor in Innovation Studies at King's College London.

Sir Michael Barber

Michael Barber is an Expert Partner in McKinsey and Company's Global Public Sector Practice and head of its Global Education Practice. Prior to joining McKinsey he was (from 2001) Chief Adviser on Delivery to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Between 1997 and 2001, Michael Barber was Chief Adviser to the Secretary of State for Education on School Standards. Prior to joining government he was a Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London.

Dr David Bennett

For the two years following the 2005 General Election until Tony Blair's resignation in 2007, David was the Prime Minister's Head of Policy and Strategy.  Responsible for the Policy Unit in No. 10 and the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, his role was to oversee the development and implementation of domestic policy on the PM's behalf, with a particular focus on public service reform. 

Before working at No. 10 David was a Director with McKinsey & Co.  where he was co-founder of the Firm's European Utilities Practice and of its Global Business Technology Office. 

Currently, David is Chairman of 'The 10 Partnership', a start-up company that provides strategic and operational support to the public sector, and a Non-Executive Director of GHK Holdings, an international consultancy providing policy advice and support to governments and multi-lateral funding agencies around the world. 

Paul Dolan

Paul is Professor of Economics in the Department of Social Policy at the LSE. He has previously held academic posts at York, Newcastle, Sheffield and Imperial, and has been a visiting scholar at Princeton. There are two main themes to Paul's work. The first focuses on developing measures of subjective well-being that can be used in policy, particularly in the valuation of non-market goods and in ‘joining-up' the impact of changes in health, crime, the environment etc. The second considers ways in which the lessons from behavioural economics can be used to understand and change individual behaviour. This work is focussing on the important role that situational factors play in influencing our behaviour. Paul has published in top economics, psychology, health and social science journals and has won research grants from a range of funding bodies, including the ESRC, AHRC and the British Academy. He was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in Economics in 2002 for his contribution to health economics. Paul has been on many expert panels across government and he has advised various departments, including Defra, DH, DCLG and the Home Office, and he is currently chief academic adviser on economic appraisal for the Government Economic Service.

Vernon Bogdanor

Vernon Bogdanor CBE is Professor of Government at Oxford University, and a Visiting Professor Law at King's College, London. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, Honorary Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences. He has been an adviser to a number of governments, including those of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Israel and Slovakia. His latest book, The New British Constitution, was published in 2009. He is a frequent contributor to TV, radio and the press. In 2008, he was awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Award by the Political Studies Association for Lifetime Contribution to Political Studies. In 2009 he was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by President Sarkozy. He is an Honorary Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford and an Honorary D. Litt. of the University of Kent.

Wendy Hirsh

Wendy has over twenty years experience in applied research and consultancy on employment issues. She was Associate Director at the Institute for Employment Studies, leading its work with employing organisations. Wendy now works freelance, in close association with IES and other centres of expertise in HR and organisational research, including a Visiting Chair at Kingston University. Her particular fields of interest are leadership, strategic workforce planning, succession and talent management and career development. These areas address the future needs of organisations; how they relate to the career interests of individuals and how leaders and managers develop the current and future workforce. Wendy works with many government departments and agencies as well as local authorities, the NHS and global corporations. Wendy has contributed to Institute research on the work challenges facing senior civil servants and the effectiveness of Departmental Boards.

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson is a founding partner of Stanton Marris, organisation consultants. He has been involved with the government reform agenda for 25 years, from his days in the Efficiency Unit (where he was an author of the ‘Next Steps' report). His subsequent consulting career has taken him round many Whitehall corridors, working with Departmental Boards and 1:1 with a number of Permanent Secretaries. He started his career in the Home Office, and did two spells as Private Secretary to successive Home Secretaries. He has an MA from Cambridge and an MBA from Warwick

Professor Andrew Kakabadse

Andrew Kakabadse is Professor of International Management Development at Cranfield School of Management. He has acted as Visiting Professor at a number of US, Australian and Chinese universities. From 2005-2006 Andrew was the H. Smith Richardson Fellow at the Centre for Creative Leadership, North Carolina, USA. Andrew is Visiting Professor at the University of Ulster, Ireland; Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Australia; Thunderbird School of Global Management, USA; Université Panthéon-Assas, France; Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. His areas of research cover boards and top teams, the governance of enterprises and the governance of governments, international relations and conflict resolution.

Professor Anthony King

Anthony King, a Canadian by birth, teaches political science at the University of Essex. His books include SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party (with Ivor Crewe) and, most recently, The British Constitution. He served on the original Committee on Standards in Public Life and on the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords. He also chaired the Royal Society of Arts Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy. He is currently completing a book on American constitutional development and conducting research on why British governments seem to make so many mistakes.

David MacLeod

David has a portfolio of responsibilities which include being a Non Executive Director of the Department for International Development, and of the Ministry of Justice. He is a visiting Professor of the Cass Business School and a Fellow of the Ashridge Business School. Early in his career he was Head of Marketing for the Dulux brand before going on to be Chief Executive of European and then Global businesses. He also spent a year and a half working in the Cabinet office. He has co-authored a book called the The Extra Mile on the theme of how to engage your people to win and is co-author of the MacLeod Report to Government called Engaging for Success.

Jonathan Powell

Jonathan was Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. He was responsible for co-ordinating all political and non-political work in No.10 Downing Street. Before joining Tony Blair, Jonathan was a British diplomat for sixteen years and prior to that he was a journalist with the BBC and Granada TV. Since leaving No.10 Downing Street in 2007, Jonathan has worked as a senior managing director at Morgan Stanley in London and as a negotiator and senior adviser on different conflicts across Europe and Asia for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva. He also works with Tony Blair Associates, Tigris Financial Group, Save The Children and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. 

Nicole Smith

Until early 2008, Nicole was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, the UK regulator of political parties. Her previous experience includes nearly ten years working at senior levels in the Home Office and two years as Assistant Director of the Constitution Unit think tank. She now runs her own management consultancy firm and also holds a number of public appointments, including Board Member of the Legal Services Board, Panel Chair for the Judicial Appointments Commission and Fitness to Practice Panellist for the Nursing & Midwifery Council.

Jon Stokes

Jon is a business psychologist and leadership coach with many years experience consulting and advising senior executives and boards in both public and private sectors as well as internationally. He is co-founder and director of the leadership and management development firm Stokes & Jolly. He trained and then worked for over 20 years as a psychologist at the Tavistock Clinic and Institute. His consulting work includes advising on inter-personal, group and organisational dynamics; designing and providing for the in-depth assessment and selection of senior executives; and assisting with the on-boarding of new senior hires. Current clients include professional service firms, private equity partnerships and advertising. Jon is a Visiting Professor at the Graduate Business School of Strathclyde University, a member of Faculty of Henley Business School, and teaches at Said Business School, Oxford University.

Colin Talbot

Colin is professor of public policy and management at Manchester Business School. He's been a specialist adviser to two Select Committees (Treasury and Public Administration) and many other national and international public bodies. He's been a guest speaker in over 20 countries and written dozens of academic and professional articles and authored, co-authored or edited several books. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Public Administration and also publishes the well-respected blog Whitehall Watch.