About Adalta Development

Vicky Preece, Director

Vicky is a director and founder member of Adalta with over 24 years experience in training and organisational development. She has appeared on Sky TV and local radio to talk about developing people and organisations, and her forte is in training design, measurement & evaluation. Accredited by US Based Jack Phillips, she knows how to create powerful training programmes that work in the real world and impact on the bottom line.

She has partnered and collaborated with clients from a diverse range of industry sectors to create and implement a wide range of strategic development initiatives and programmes in the public, private and not-for profit sectors.

With a wealth of direct operational, sales and management experience combined with a successful career in learning and organisational development, Vicky is able to look at people, problems and situations from different perspectives. An eternal optimist and creative problem solver, she loves a challenge, and attributes Adalta’s long-term success to providing practical training that works in the real world. Her mantra for success is: “Customer first. No exceptions. No excuses”. She genuinely gives a damn about customers, and constantly pushes boundaries to help Adalta keep their edge.

Karen Young, Director

With over 19 years experience in developing people and organisations, Karen is a director and founder member of Adalta. As a strategic thinker who also thrives at the sharp end, her focus is on running a very slick business so that Adalta’s clients get great value and service. She has been the driving force behind the professional management qualifications side of the business, which has put Adalta firmly on the map. She has also featured in a TV business documentary for management and organisational development as well as having published several articles on this topic.

Karen firmly believes that training and development shouldn’t be a chore, and that in working with Adalta clients will get truly bespoke, top-notch training that doesn’t blow the budget.

An incredibly tenacious and resilient individual, Karen places the client at the heart of everything she does and always delivers what’s expected – and then some! She has a knack for making the complex straightforward and simple, and never forgets that the client is the reason for the business. She feels privileged to have worked with senior teams from a vast array of diverse and interesting organisations in both the public and private sector to help them realise their strategic ambition and goals. Through listening to and learning from clients she has developed a deep understanding of their unique culture and challenges, in turn helping them achieve the things that matter most to them through providing targeted training programmes that give people the tools they need to do their jobs brilliantly.

Wendyanne Shapiro

A commercially astute, results driven L&D/OD professional who really knows how to turn the ‘soft stuff’ into the ‘hard stuff. Wendyanne is a truly inspirational and powerful communicator.

She is able to influence critical decisions and inspire innovative solutions that solve business problems, promote growth and continuous improvement and lead to better performance and results. Operating at Board, Senior Management and Operational levels, she has a real knack for engaging with people; first seeing their world through their eyes, then empowering them to the point where they see old problems with new eyes. Wendyanne has genuine passion, integrity in abundance and incredible insight, which she uses to transform people and performance. When clients want someone who is motivational, inspiring and will help them get to where they want to be, Wendyanne is certainly a lady who can!

Ron Oliver

Ron is a highly qualified senior consultant and facilitator with over 30 years experience. He has headed up training and development functions, primarily in the financial services sector where he was Head of Management Development at TSB Bank, Head of Training Delivery at Lloyds TSB and was Head of Learning & Development at Britannic Assurance.

He has worked across a wide range of organisations, in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, e marketing, retail, financial services, and facilities/asset management companies. Ron consults with the CBI to centralise project management processes, and is a non executive board member for Savvy Wise; a cloud based development company. He has extensive experience of working with the NHS and other public sector organisations where he has been able to influence a more commercial approach to drive essential change. In addition to his work in the UK Ron delivers training programmes to organisations around the World in countries such as the USA, South Africa, UAE and China.

Ron is a pragmatic facilitator who ‘gets’ business and the need for process whilst helping learners realise the power of their behaviour in driving and influencing successful outcomes. His ability to inspire change through powerful leadership whilst applying sound business logic sets him out above others. Ron makes the complex simple and helps people solve their own business problems through insightful observations and expert guidance. His enthusiasm and down to earth, easygoing approach means he integrates easily into a range of different environments and cultures, and he consistently achieves great feedback and very high client satisfaction scores.

Shaleena Gothivarekar

Shaleena brings to the table significant experience; 10 years’ experience in learning and development, coupled with 13 years’ experience as a senior operations manager with responsibility for teams of up to of 50-70 people. Her success in her career was measured on her ability to deliver results through others. As a passionate learning and development professional Shaleena has never lost sight of the people side of management. She has a natural instinct for people and an ability to ignite their passion and sense of purpose to achieve what they may not have previously thought possible. Her philosophy has always been to focus on the people – then the results will speak for themselves. Her passion comes from her belief that every individual possesses unique skills and talents – whether they are consciously aware of them or not. She believes firmly that the manager’s role is simply to help people establish a path that takes them from where they are now to where they need to be – personally and professionally. ‘The journey may take twists and turns. She claims, ‘as long as it gets them to the right destination, and when they get there, a new journey begins, because learning is a journey, not a destination.’

As a natural problem solver, Shaleena uses her experiences to help coach and support individuals through finding practical solutions to problems and seeking opportunities. ‘Great managers look inwards before they look outwards’, she claims, ‘and they make things happen, rather than waiting for things to happen.’

As well as being a highly experienced and Level 7 qualified coach and assessor, Shaleena is an NLP practitioner and has coached senior managers to support successful transformational change initiatives and has developed performance management processes. She also delivers Apprenticeship programmes, providing coaching, assessment and support to existing and aspiring managers.

Rob Hoblin

A highly effective, diligent management professional, Rob has provided transformational leadership and direction across a diverse range of business functions over a successful career spanning thirty years. As a successful Operations Director he has a strong strategic focus and excellent understanding of quality management processes within business and secure/ critical environments, having been instrumental in negotiating key cross-government contracts at Ministerial level.

He has led on core business functions which have included Leadership & Management, Executive and Team Coaching, Mentoring, Organisational Development, Programme and Project Management, Customer Relations, Business Continuity, Corporate Governance and Operational Assurance,

As an engaging, personable and highly credible trainer, facilitator and coach, Rob is dedicated to developing team members’ strengths to build dynamic and highly-performing teams who surpass company/organisational goals. Using his transformational leadership skills he has been very successful in turning teams around and achieving results.

He is an excellent communicator, capable of representing an organisation at all levels, and thrives on delivering in fast-paced business and/or security-oriented environments in the face of constant challenges.

Rob is highly qualified, including an MA in International Studies through Kings College London as well as an MBA through the Open University. He has delivered numerous leadership and management interventions across the UK and in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Holds security clearance to a high Government standard.

Vanessa Naldrett

As a passionate, commercially astute and pragmatic learning and development professional, Vanessa has a knack for enabling people to translate learning and transform behaviour to deliver real results in their day-to-day role.

She brings 25+ years’ ‘real world’ experience gained through a combination of senior management roles and the delivery of management, leadership and HR development across diverse sectors, including aerospace, manufacturing, local authorities, finance, retail, engineering/ construction, pharmaceuticals, private industry and education.

Having worked extensively in high-pressured operational environments, she is highly results-focused and understands the pressures of delivering outputs in fast-paced, ever changing environments.  With a reputation for turning around even the most disengaged learner, Vanessa’s ‘no fluff’ approach focuses on using her practical know-how and clever questioning to help learners make sense of things and create those important ‘aha’ moments that make learning stick. Most importantly, she keeps them focused on the outputs to drive up performance, deliver improvements and ensure tangible results.

Dave Rees

As a highly experienced facilitator, coach, author and moderator, Dave is an exceptionally articulate and skilled communicator, and he has helped many clients achieve their goals through influencing positive behavioural change and leadership skills at junior, middle and senior management levels.

He facilitates learning and development in a way that focuses on getting both the inputs and outputs right. His talent for observation and highly perceptive feedback enables people to examine their behaviour and learn from their experiences. He focuses on ensuring that learners make specific links to their own environment.

He has worked extensively in the UK and Europe with a diverse range of public and private sector organisations, from niche companies to well-known global brands.

His work is extremely diverse. As well as management and leadership development, Dave is a communications and influencing specialist. He delivers and assesses professional management qualifications from junior to senior level and helps managers attain the prestigious ‘Chartered Manager’ status, for which he moderates on behalf of the Chartered Management Institute. He also delivers workshops and lectures to disabled employees and their managers on how to manage disability positively, which are backed up by the published book, “Why are you pretending to be normal?” (co-written with Phil Friend).

Carl Kovacs

Substantial operational, functional and consultancy experience in the private, commercial and industrial, public and not-for-profit sectors combined with excellent communication skills working at all levels from shop floor to board level have enabled Carl to influence and drive change management programmes on a range of time frames.

Successes include:

A long term programme of business process re-engineering working with the senior management team in a privately owned fmcg business that has seen it rise from a marginal case to become a highly profitable, sector exemplar through the combination of lean process modelling, standard costing and continuous improvement.

An “urgent fix” with a UK based subsidiary of a US business that had “hit the wall” when a poorly planned relocation of their UK distribution hub brought their UK operation to a halt. Working directly for the UK MD, Carl designed and oversaw the execution of an action plan to re-establish the operation in 4 weeks requiring the commitment and “buy-in” from all functions: operations, sales and marketing and, importantly, gaining the trust and support of a disillusioned shop floor of new starters.

Working with the partners of a firm of solicitors to restructure and convert the business to Limited status from which it has not looked back.

Victoria Warren

A highly qualified psychologist and HR professional with extensive experience in leadership, management and behavioural development at all levels.

Victoria is an engaging and energetic facilitator and coach who has an ability to tune in to people’s needs and respond accordingly.

Described as generous with her knowledge and warm with in her dealings with people, Victoria knows how to get results and is focused on the needs of the people she works with. She is a natural strategic thinker and her passion for helping organisations see tangible business benefits is evident.

A strength of Victoria’s is her ability to help people encounter a ‘penny drop’ moment where everything clicks together clearly. A naturally positive person who is hard working and just gets things done.

Jamie Chambers

Jamie is a highly experienced, qualified, award winning and nationally recognised professional within the world of learning and development. Jamie specialises in leadership development and customer experience and is passionate about empowering change, transformation and growth in a fun, creative and inspiring way.

Jamie has designed and delivered world class bespoke workshops, transformation events, corporate coaching, provided qualifications, supported apprentices, facilitated business development and ran assessment centres to over seventy national and international blue-chip organisations.

Some of the sectors that Jamie has worked in include retail, banking, automotive, property, health care, tourism and leisure, welfare to work, charities, education and many others.

Alongside his CIPD training qualifications, Jamie is also an ILM NLP Practitioner Coach, a trained Level 3 Assessor and is qualified to facilitate Insights and Belbin. He also has a degree in psychology and counselling. You will never meet anyone who has a bigger passion for learning and development than Jamie. He is always looking to learn and grow; one of his favourite sayings is “self-development, not shelf-development”.

Away from work, Jamie’s loves watching American football, the WWE and listening to a wide range of music. He isn’t afraid to call himself “the king of the geeks” due to his love for miniature wargaming like Warhammer 40,000, comics, video games and his dinosaur and toy

Julie Hobson

Julie is a highly qualified functional skills specialist that has worked in the education and training field for over 20 years as an Assessor, IQA and Curriculum Writer. During this time, Nickola has attained a wide range of qualifications and experience enabling her to effectively deliver and assess functional skills at level 1 and 2.

Julie’s strength is tailoring every programme to meet the needs of the learner being able to teach functional skills in a way that promotes understanding. Her personable and warm approach helps to instil confidence in learners and ensure that they successfully develop in this area.

As a member of Apprenticeship team, Julie is a passionate educator and a firm believer in changing inequality in education.  She is highly committed to supporting learners and is an Assessor that instinctively goes over and above what is required to help learner’s attain their qualifications.

Ruth Broome, Business Support

Ruth oversees training logistics and helps to manage every event we deliver. She joins up dots, and makes sure the show runs smoothly. She runs a tight ship and keeps us all in check!

Her role also involves coordinating all things related to qualifications from learner registrations to processing moderation and distributing certificates.

Ruth is unflappable and helps to keep us calm and retain an important perspective!

Sarah Handley, Apprenticeship Business Support

Sarah supports all things Apprenticeships, from enrolment through to end-point assessment. She helps us to absorb an enormous amount of data into something workable and meaningful.

Sarah’s proficiency with systems means that she can work with multiple systems at pace; plus there isn’t much she can’t do with an Excel spreadsheet!

She helps us to coordinate quality assurance for the Apprenticeship provision which ensures we are compliant and ‘on things’ in a timely way. Sarah really ‘gets’ the apprenticeship journey and appreciates the process from both an employer and learner perspective which means she is always ahead of the game.