Send us a textIn this episode of Coach Class, I sit down with Leah Spears, Head of Brand at Paddy Power, to discuss her career journey and the lessons she’s gathered along the way. With over 20 years of experience, Leah shares how her childhood dream of working in television transformed into a passion for marketing, eventually leading her to roles at Brazen PR, a long tenure at Asda, where she embraced an entrepreneurial culture that encouraged creativity and risk-taking.Leah reflects on...

Send us a textIn this episode of Coach Class I'm thrilled to be joined by James Sills, a freelance choir leader, vocal coach, and author of the inspiring book Do Sing. In his work, James advocates for the transformative power of singing, not only as a form of creative expression but as a remedy to the stresses of modern life. His book encourages readers to overcome their inhibitions, find their voice, and experience the joy of singing—whether alone or as part of a community. In the ...

Send us a textIn this episode of the Coach Class I chat with Dr. Bob Gomersall, a prominent entrepreneur, founder of Surpass Assessment, and chairman of Advanced Digital Innovations. Bob takes us through his fascinating journey, starting from his early days as a physics teacher to becoming a successful business leader, and now an author. His reflections provide valuable lessons on innovation, entrepreneurship, and the importance of finding purpose in work and life.Bob begins by sharing his pa...

Send us a Text Message.In a double-header, I sit down with Nathan Atkinson and Kevin Mackay from Rethink Food, a transformative initiative dedicated to removing hunger as a barrier to learning in schools. With a focus on innovative educational approaches and community-driven solutions, Nathan and Kevin share their journey from classroom teachers to founders of a movement that addresses food insecurity and poor nutrition among young people in the UK.Key Themes Discussed:Hunger as a Barrier to ...

In this episode of Coach Class, I catch up with Simon Eyles, Managing Director of Betty's. We discuss Simon’s professional journey, leadership insights, and his transition from various food industries to his current role.Simon reflects on the overwhelming scale and energy when he joined Asda compared to his previous roles, emphasising how each position, from beer and dairy to chips and chocolate, followed his passion for food. He credits many mentors for shaping his leadership style, hig...

Boasting over two decades of executive leadership across various sectors, Chris is now at the helm of Corkcicle, a brand known for its innovative and eco-friendly lifestyle products. Under his stewardship, Corkcicle has seen a remarkable 50% growth over the last three years,  while maintaining a sharp focus on sustainability. Previously, as a senior leader at LLBean, Chris spearheaded a team of over 2,000, driving significant advancements across e-commerce and retail channels, both...

Joy Cosgrove is a UK and Ireland based Retail Learning Consultant & Personal Coach. She has years of hands on experience in the training room and on the shop floor, and I had the pleasure of training with her at Barefoot.  She is also the proud mum of three lovely kids, one of whom is a talented and powerful young woman. Who, as it happens has Down Syndrome. I was struck by a post Joy shared on LinkedIn the other day - a powerful film of a young woman with Downs ordering a margarita...

Rosie and Claire first met over a lunch where they shared their stories about belonging, culture, leadership and coaching. Their ambitions were to create cultures where people felt they didn’t have to be something they weren’t, they were confident to speak up and contribute and leaders brought out the best in their people. Toegther they founded Flying Iguana. In this podcast we cover various topics related to leadership, team dynamics, coaching, and personal growth. Both Rosie and Claire...

Professor Ralph Tench is the Director of Research for Leeds Business School and the elected President and Head of the Board of Directors for the European Public Relations Research and Education Association (EUPRERA).  He was one of my tutors at Leeds Met back in 1994, having left the field of journalism and advertising and ventured into academia. The girls loved him, the lads loved him, everyone loved Ralph.  In this podcast we reflect on the last 30 years (nearly), and how he helped me get...

In a follow up to the podcast I recorded with my dad last October, in this episode I am pleased to introduce you to 'the mother, 'Josie Burch, my mum, whose life story is a testament to resilience, compassion, and the indomitable spirit of believing in yourself.  Our conversation is rich with personal anecdotes and pearls of wisdom, as we delve into the experiences from her upbringing in Dunmurry Northern Ireland, to her impactful work in social causes, offering invaluable insights into the...

In this, my 50th podcast, I welcome back Steve Smith, who was my first guest on Coach class nearly three years ago. Steve shares valuable insights into leadership and life,  being your authentic self whether you're washing the car, buying a bagel or appearing on stage as the CEO of Maine's most famous brand L.L.Bean. With a break from the norm, we also take questions from Coach Class listeners who admire Steve or were positively influenced by him when he was at Asda and Walmart - like Gal who...

Tony Page is a turnaround specialist and an expert in solving distress situations particularly for private equity-backed businesses. He is also a transformative leadership mentor and coach. He started his career as a fresh produce buyer at Sainsbury's. But really cut his teeth at  Asda in the mid 90s and early naughties.  In our podcast he reflects on those early days describing how Asda's culture of freedom and rule-breaking inspired him.  "Asda just gave you that ability to break rules....

Claire is the Chief People and Inclusion Officer at Co-op. Prior to the Co-op, she worked across Asda and Walmart for 23 years, setting up, establishing and leading the procurement team. As well as sharing learning and experiences with wider Walmart international markets to grow procurement support and influence, Claire also held a UK-based role leading the  US IT Sourcing team, working remotely with teams across four countries.  Claire started her career as a factory accountant at Smith and...

After trail blazing in flexible working within their organisations, Chloe Fletcher and Laura Walker came together as a jobsharing pair in 2021. After repeatedly being asked to share tips and advice, and realising the gap in knowledge of the benefits and practicalities of jobsharing, The Jobshare Revolution was born. They now offer inspiration, advice and consultancy support to help organisations to drive gender equity through jobsharing. Alongside this, they continue their Senior Finance...

Where do you start, when you interview your own dad. An inspirational leader and coach in his own right, albeit a university lecturer and football team coach, rather than the type I normally interview. Lucky to survive his birth, his aunt Agnes nursed him for the first three weeks of his life, then fortunate to survive a heart attack when just 44, he is 80 tomorrow. His own father died when he was six, and as a result he lived a fairly solitary life with few friends, until he went to...

Neil Nugent is a professional chef and food innovation expert, having left school at 16 and worked his way up through professional kitchens in his home town, then London, then across the world. He then entered the retail sector, innovating new food ranges at Asda, then Waitrose, Morrisons and Iceland. He now develops his own range of food  - Panku - that is sold in many of the major grocery retailers. He also works alongside Gino D'Acampo personally selecting food ingredients from...

Dave Barber is an experienced internal comms professional and colleague engagement expert. He cut his teeth in retail, having studied supply chains and worked his way through various logistics roles at Asda. Seeking a change of scene, he took a maternity role cover in the colleague comms department and immediately found his passion for internal comms. After leaving Asda six years ago he set up his own consultancy, taking the plunge into self-employment, while helping companies with their...

Stuart is the chief people officer at Zenith the UK's leading independent leasing, fleet management and vehicle outsourcing business. He's also a qualified business and executive coach. He joined Zenith from Virgin Health Care, where he was chief people officer before transitioning to chief operating officer. He has also held senior people roles at Costcutter, Morrisons and Asda. He joined Asda at the tender age of 16 working on the shopfloor where he learned the importance of good people...

Martin Benefer has a passion for human development and loves to help people achieve their potential, both personally and within their career. He's a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), with a Postgraduate Certificate in Business & Personal Coaching and over 1,000 hours of coaching practice, supporting more than 300 clients.  He's also a Coaching Tutor at Barefoot where he trains new coaches, and occasionally, like me, turns up to new training courses, which is where we met. A couple of...

Ben Cooke is a highly accomplished coach and agile delivery professional with more than 15 years experience.  He helps businesses, teams and individuals to respond to an ever-changing  business environment through coaching, training, consultancy, mentoring and facilitation.  Outside of his client work, he is also a long-distance runner, and is interested in electronic music and contemporary art, having once had to build online ticketing sites for the likes of the Arctic Monkeys.  In this...

Jayne is a coach, author and burnout retreat organiser and host. She is also the author of Burnout to Brilliance and the Co-Founder of Balanceology, specialising in the prevention and recovery of workplace burnout. With 15 years experience specialising in burnout prevention, recovery and culture change consultancy, Jayne is a fellow recovering burnee (is that a word?).  She experienced burn out herself while working at a major UK corporation - the BBC. Since launching her practice in...

Frances Lee-Rogers is the founder of Butterfly Development, a professional coaching organisation. She's spent the best part of 18 years working in HR for large corporate companies across several industries, including Professional Services, Aerospace, Logistics and the Public Sector. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in HR and Employment Law, and is qualified in Psychometric and Personality Testing (SHL). In the latter part of her HR career Fran supported Directors and their leadership teams to...

Jon is a self-styled agile coach who works with teams, organisations and leaders so they can understand themselves better and improve the ways they work together. Offering 1 to 1 coaching, team coaching and facilitation, Jon is a professionally certified coach (ICF PCC) . He is also a passionate advocate of Agile Software Delivery, with substantial practical experience as a lead developer, Scrum Master, project manager, and software consultant for a variety of clients in the financial and IT...

Joy Cosgrove a retail training consultant and coach. Based in Ireland Joy started off studying psychology, mentored by Dr Sharon Lambert - then did her PhD in Edinburgh before ending up in retail for major brands like Harrods and Selfridges.  Sharon encouraged Joy to stop, listen and question - which led her to an addiction to coaching and opened so many doors. She is so thankful for that moment. Since graduating from Barefoot, Joy offers both personal coaching and group training. She has a...