Oakwood International is an established, successful and diverse company providing management consultancy and business focused training with operations in the UK and Overseas. Our name and logo represent both the tree as a seat of learning through the ages and the strength of the oak in the structures we put in place.
"I like the fact that "what you see is what you get" at Oakwood. Care, attention to detail, along with real industry experience makes their help very practical."
Student quote
A nucleus of highly motivated individuals
Management
Janine Bunning - Managing Director
Janine has extensive experience in HR and Training strategy and implementation. She was an HR Manager both in the private and public sector. Janine has been an HR, Management and Training Consultant for the last 20 years and has been designing and delivering CIPD programmes on behalf of Oakwood in the UK, Bulgaria and Gulf regions for the last 15 years.
Janine has experience of working with Senior Managers assisting the implementation of significant change programmes. Also providing Management and Executive Coaching to enhance their personal effectiveness. Janine is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a founding director of Oakwood International.
Dennis grew up in the Finance and Banking industry with Lloyds TSB. Dennis specialises in strategic and financial management, particularly in the SME market where he has extensive knowledge and experience of operations.
Dennis has been involved in consulting for a number of years prior to forming Oakwood. He brings a pragmatic 'hands on' approach to all projects undertaken.
A key area of activity is the reworking of complex business issues, turning these into practical and straightforward solutions which add value to clients/organisations.
Carrie Baghurst - Business Liaison Manager
Carrie joined the team in 2002 having previously worked for several large organisations such as American Express, Lloyds TSB and a commercial broker for Lloyd's of London. Carrie has been a vital part of building the Oakwood success through managing client relationships, strong planning and organisational skills and understanding the need for change.
Since joining Oakwood, Carrie has risen to the challenges of a fast expanding business which Oakwood has become, embracing many different cultures and products.
Student Liaison Team
Oakwood are pleased to announce the establishment of a new student liaison team to mark students’ work and provide e-Mentoring services. Team members are: Shelley van Kooten, Fleur Blanford and Michele Creed. Team Leader, Shelley van Kooten, states that: “Our mission is to use all the resources available to us to support our students in gaining their qualifications and facilitate the learning process.”
Shelley van Kooten - Student Liaison Manager
Originally from South Africa, Shelley is educated to postgraduate degree level. Shelley previously worked in a Further Education College supporting learners to achieve their level 3 qualifications.
Her speciality is her extensive experience of training within a multi-cultural environment and supporting students who are studying in a second language. This equips her to assist all learners in meeting their learning objectives and achieving their qualifications.
A qualified NVQ assessor, educated to post graduate degree level, her 10 years experience in further education has brought her into contact with many international students. In addition to delivering and assessing courses, she has offered students one to one mentoring in support of their personal goals.
Michele Creed
Michele gained her Business Management and Human resources experience at HSBC in various roles and at Converse as their European Human Resource Manager. Michele, a graduate of the CIPD, joined Oakwood in 2006 and currently oversees all communication with Oakwood’s International and European students.
Associate Directors
Deborah Grove - Associate Director
Deborah had over twenty years wide ranging experience as a manager and trainer within organisations in both the Public and Private sectors before joining Oakwood International. She now specialises in assessing the detailed training needs of either an individual or a team before designing and delivering workable, interactive training programmes with an in depth focus on management development, team building and the enhancement of motivational skills.
Martin is an experienced trainer and coach and has worked in many different marketplaces. Most of Martin’s sales career has been spent in FTSE 100 companies ending up as head of international sales before taking on the head of training role. Martin trains all levels of skills within the sales arena as well as developing managers and coaching senior executives up to an advanced level.
Lesley Kaye - Associate Director
Lesley has experience as a facilitator, trainer, development consultant and coach. Lesley works in partnership with clients across a number of business sectors including FMCG, drinks, financial, manufacturing, airlines, public sector, insurance and software to align and maximise individual, team and organisational performance. Lesley is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD with Diplomas in both Coaching and Management.
Harry Puckering has worked with Oakwood for more than five years. He has provided a bespoke training service to organisations: from learning needs analysis, through programme planning and delivery to evaluation. Recent programmes have included coaching, leadership, assertiveness, motivation, communication and influencing skills, team working and presentations.
Harry is a member of the CIPD and BPS, and is qualified and registered to use level A and B psychometric assessments.
Bernadette Ramsay has worked for over 20 years in the financial services sector in a variety of HR and training roles and now works with both public and private sector clients.
Bernadette is an experienced group facilitator and trainer with particular strengths in developing personal skills to make individuals more effective. She has an MSc in Training and a diploma in Business Coaching and is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
Kay has worked in the Human Resource development field for over 20 years and over that time has developed strong facilitation and change management skills. She now specializes in designing and delivering bespoke management development events for individuals and teams.
Her approach is pragmatic and perceptive with an ability to grasp the heart of issues. Kay is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD.
Professional Support
Greville Baghurst - IT Manager
Greville has been delivering, supporting and managing IT initiatives within the Commercial and Finance industry for over 15 years working with many organisations including Aon, AIG and Lloyd's of London.
Greville is responsible for devising and delivering our IT strategies and ensuring the smooth running of our operations, web sites and online services.
An expert in business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing, Nick believes fundamentally in the importance of client focus in all marketing and business development activity.
He has held senior positions with Readers Digest, ITV, the Sunday Times and Leo Burnett the world’s largest advertising and marketing services agency.
Nick is a non-executive director of Sussex Enterprise and a committee member of the Institute of Directors.
He speaks regularly throughout the South East on Strategic Marketing and runs a number of marketing seminars and meetings.
