Adrian Pyne has two impressive track records: practical and professional. For more than 20 years he has run or rescued change projects and programmes in many sectors, learning all the time how to adapt successfully. Adrian has also put this knowledge to good use in designing, building and managing project and programme management capability for organisations. Since 1995, he has worked mostly as an independent consultant. Professionally, Adrian has been at the forefront of the evolution of programme and portfolio management best practice. He is a frequent speaker, has written papers and is co-author of The Gower Handbook of Programme Management. Adrian is also a visiting lecturer, eg at Nottingham University Business School. Adrian says: "Despite all the great developments in best practice over the last 20-30 years, largely in process and (software) tools, much change still fails, wasting huge investment. This is because organisations seem unable to address that most difficult success factor – people. There is so much potential for work in this area and for good, very good business reasons."


Back to top of page

Steve Mitchell has worked as a director, client and consultant in the UK, Europe and USA in the fields of construction, business change, organisational development and a in a broad range of management consultancy assignments.

As a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and professional Project Manager, he spent 25 years in private sector roles including BAA, Coopers and Lybrand and The Nichols Group, working with blue chip clients including Norwich Union, Railtrack, British Airways and Laura Ashley. Steve joined The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in 2003 to develop an internal consultancy group to support OGC's wide range of high profile and sensitive project related work, and in particular to meet the growing demand for senior talent to intervene and influence at the highest levels in Whitehall.

Steve's role has since developed in the field of major projects, where he has worked to establish increased visibility of the Government's investment portfolio and stronger and more integrated scrutiny and assurance methodologies, building on the highly successful Gateway process and HM Treasury's Major Projects Review Group.

As Deputy Head of the recently established Major Projects Authority (MPA) within Cabinet Office, Steve is charged with delivering improved understanding and performance across the government's portfolio of 200+ major investments, in accordance with a mandate issued by the Prime Minister. In exercising this mandate, MPA is empowered to offer support, directly intervene, re-scope or stop projects and programmes in difficulty or with no proven and realistic chance of success.

Presentation: Managing change, maximising value for money

The Major Projects Authority (MPA) is a partnership between the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, responsible for overseeing and directing the effective management of all large-scale projects that are funded and delivered by central government. This keynote presentation will set out how best to manage change, and how to attain value for money.

Back to top of page

Chris Edwards worked in industry for 12 years, involved in developing business systems. During that time he qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and, hence, tended to specialise in financial information systems. After gaining his MA he joined the Scottish Business School as a Lecturer. Upon receiving a PhD he moved to Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, and then to the Chair of Management Information Systems at Cranfield University.

His interests lie in IT-enabled business change, particularly in the role required of very senior organisational management to successfully action such change. Recently his focus has been the development of proposals for change investments to deliver real value. In this area he has conducted seminars on benefits/change management throughout the world. His talents lie in engaging senior management in the subject, in a non-technical and involving manner.

Chris is an experienced international speaker, engaging and interactive. He has worked with a multitude of organisations in both the public and private sectors. Recently he has worked with two large banking organisations and the United Nations in Vienna.

Presentation: Managing for benefits delivery

In the past, many projects have failed to deliver the benefits aimed for. It is now essential that projects and programmes are viable, and that they truly deliver. Benefits management is a way of organising and managing, where feasible benefits are identified at the outset of a project, and are then actively managed and reviewed to make sure expectations are met.

Back to top of page

Peter Thomas is Director of Civil Service Reform at the Institute for Government. The institute is an independent charity working to increase government effectiveness.

He leads the institute's work on Civil Service Reform. This includes longitudinal evaluations of the change journey of a number of major departments, and a major collaboration with senior leaders and Cabinet Office on the future of the Civil Service.

From 2009 to 2011, Peter was Director of Strategy and Change in the Ministry of Justice. As Director in the Cabinet Office, he led the Capability Reviews Programme from its inception to the start of the second cycle of reviews. This high-profile and high-pressure programme challenged the fitness for purpose of Whitehall departments - the first systematic external public scrutiny of senior leaders in Whitehall.

Previous roles include Director and then interim Head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, Associate Director of Public Services Research and Director of Performance Development at the Audit Commission, and Director of Policy and Regeneration at the City of Westminster Council.

Unpaid roles include five years as a founding board member of the Improvement and Development Agency for local government Chair of Finance and General Purposes Committee, as well as the Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors at the University of Middlesex.

Presentation: Resistance to change

For change to be effective, there has to be radical new thinking about the design and delivery of services. The public sector is traditionally perceived as being rather resistant to change, and particular challenges in getting around this include those of dealing with complexity, constraints, culture and conflict.

Back to top of page

Lynn Drennan has been the Chief Executive of Alarm since August 2006.

She started her career with the Eagle Star group and then spent 19 years at Glasgow Caledonian University, where she was Head of the Department of Risk and Financial Services – leading both the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in risk management and acting as the Executive Director of the Cullen Centre for Risk and Governance.

Lynn's first degree is in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Strathclyde and she has a PhD from the University of Glasgow, where her research topic was 'Total Quality Management in Higher Education'. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute, the Institute of Risk Management and the Higher Education Academy, and has gained Chartered Director status with the Institute of Directors.

Lynn is a well-known presenter at national and international conferences and is a member of the judging panels for a number of awards. She is co-author of two risk management books, entitled Reputational Risk: a question of trust and Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector.

Presentation: Risk management

Risk management can help public sector organisations produce better outcomes more efficiently in these challenging times of change. A risk-managed approach can aid efficiency and effectiveness by ensuring that the organisation's key objectives are clearly articulated, the actions required to achieve these are defined and impediments reduced or eliminated.

Back to top of page

Martin Donnelly joined the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills as Permanent Secretary in October 2010. Prior to this, he was acting Permanent Secretary at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) from May to August 2010, guiding the department through the first months of the new government. At the end of 2009 he led the Cabinet Office review which produced the Smarter Government Report and in 2008-09 was on secondment to Ofcom as Senior International Partner.

Martin has extensive economic and international experience. He joined the FCO Board in 2004 as Director General, Europe and Globalisation, where he was G8 foreign affairs sherpa. Between 1998 and 2003 he was the Deputy Head of the Cabinet Office European Secretariat, leading work on European economic reform for No. 10. He has also been a member of the personal staff of Leon Brittan, then European Commission Vice President, and been on secondment to the French Finance Ministry.

During his career, Martin has worked on policy across Whitehall and with key business stakeholders. He was Policy Director of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at the Home Office and led the Treasury team controlling defence spending and managing European monetary issues. He has served as Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Martin studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford and international economics at the College of Europe, Bruges. He has also studied at the Ecole Nationale D'Administration Paris.

Presentation: Managing the change process

Effectively managing the change process is a significant challenge for public sector leaders. This session will offer insight into the techniques used in the leadership of a major government department.

Back to top of page

Mike Nichols is Chairman & Chief Executive of the Nichols Group, Chairman of the Association for Project Management, Board Member of the Major Projects Association, Chairman of the BSI Standards Policy & Strategy Committee, and Member of the Council of the Railway Industry Association.

Mike is a respected entrepreneur, strategy advisor and programme director. He is a leading campaigner for enhancing capability to translate policy into delivery for both the public and private sectors; to enhance professionalism in portfolio, programme and project management; and to focus on systematically reducing uncertainty in major investments.

He formed and led Transcend, a joint venture with two large international companies, which is Programme Partner on the £15bn Crossrail programme, the largest infrastructure development in Europe.

Mike has extensive experience in planning and directing major projects in transport, telecommunications and electricity industries, including directing a management contract for first phase of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway and project managing the initial stage of the Docklands Light Railway in London - both completed on time and within budget.

He has also carried out a number of highly successful strategic reviews, including one for the Secretary of State for Transport of the Highway Agency's £12 billion major roads programme resulting in the Nichols Report of March 2007, and another in 2009 of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's major projects and programmes.

Mike has advised numerous organisations on strategy for programmes and projects, PFI initiatives, outsourcing, franchising and placement of concessions.

He has led new developments in portfolio, programme, project, and risk management, including Sponsorship, Portfolio Management Office, Progressive Baselining, Lean and Assured Project & Programme Management (LAMPP), RAMP (Risk Analysis and Management for Projects) and STRATrisk (a guide for directors on managing strategic risks). He has lectured widely and wrote an opinion piece on Intelligent Clienting published by the National Audit Office last year.

Before forming the Nichols Group, Mike was Corporate Director of British Leyland and General Manager of BOC, after holding senior positions in computer systems, consulting and operational research.

Mike is a graduate of the London School of Economics, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Association for Project Management, and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries.

Presentation: The value and practice of being an intelligent client

In order to deliver projects and programmes on time and on budget, attaining real value for money from multiple providers, it is essential to engage properly with stakeholders.

Back to top of page

John Taylor joined Acas in 2001 as its first Chief Executive, having been part of the team in the mid-1970s which set up the modern service.

John's background is in the public sector, where he has been involved in training, economic development, rural development and employment relations. He has been a member of numerous taskforces, a German Marshall Fellowship Scholar to the USA and was admitted a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute in 2003. He is Deputy Chair of the University of West London, member of the NHS Partnership Board and Chairman of the Skill Exchange Partnership.

Presentation: Communicating for change

In order to lead change effectively, clear communication and excellent employee engagement are vital. Ensuring that staff understand the reasons for change, that they have a clear idea of what is happening and why, and that they have the relevant support through training and development, are all key to success.

Back to top of page

Ben Willmott joined the institute in October 2003. He heads the CIPD's public policy team which has a remit to inform and shape debate, and influence government policy and legislation in order to enable higher performance at work and better pathways into work for those seeking employment.

He is responsible for ensuring the CIPD's interests are represented across a wide range of public policy areas including: skills; employment regulation; employment relations; diversity; reward and pensions; health and wellbeing; and welfare reform. His personal areas of interest include: leadership and management skills; employee engagement and wellbeing; stress and absence management; and conflict management.

Ben has led the CIPD's involvement in research with the Health and Safety Executive on line management behaviour and stress and with the British Occupational Health Research Foundation on line management support for return to work. He also authored the CIPD's annual absence management survey for a number of years. He has authored and helped edit a wide range of guidance for HR practitioners and line managers on a variety of subjects including managing drug and alcohol misuse in the workplace, stress management, working with cancer, employee voice, tackling staff fraud and dishonesty, and managing conflict at work. His other areas of interest include working time, flexible working, and data protection.

He has a Master's degree in Employment Law from the University of Kingston.

Prior to joining the CIPD he was news editor and employment law editor at Personnel Today magazine.

Presentation: People management in times of change

The efficiency and reform agenda is putting additional pressure on public sector workers and their managers. Achieving success requires the full effort of the workforce, and so effective people management is extremely important. How people feel they are being treated at work and the atmosphere of the workplace, both strongly influenced by managers, can have a real impact.

Back to top of page