Personal de McCourts

Stephen Gabbert - Organizational Change Management:Steve has 38 years of experience in the formation of international joint ventures and strategic partnerships, corporate restructuring, interim management, litigation supervision, strategic planning and risk assessment, government relations/lobbying, business development and acquisitions. He is accustomed to working in international, entrepreneurial environments and balancing competing interests in order to identify management problems, maximize positive teamwork and achieve results under difficult circumstances.Steve has worked throughout the Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean and USA on projects which have included: interim management of manufacturing facilities and hotel properties (Turkey and the Philippines); corporate and shareholder restructuring (Turkey and Jordan); new business startups (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and Syria); balance-sheet clean-up (the Philippines and Turkey); share capital increase and corporate strategy development (Jordan); litigation settlement (Jordan, Holland, the Caribbean and USA); and investigations of misappropriation of funds and assets (the Caribbean).During 2001 – 2006, Steve frequently appeared as an invited guest on talk radio shows in Washington, D. C. and San Francisco, California in order to provide insights on developments in Iraq from the perspective of a business person who traveled throughout Iraq. The radio show’s format included presentations and the answering of listeners’ telephoned questions.In his work with McCourts, Steve is applying his extensive experience to the areas of organizational change, facilitation, coaching and leadership development.

Roy Sallabank - Project Consultancy: Roy has worked in the Chemical, Petrochemical and Pharmaceuticals sectors for over 35 years. His career started with BP where he was involved in plant operations and project commissioning. He then joined ICI where he spent several years in major projects before moving into operations management. Here Roy’s passion for developing people, to enable them to foresee and plan for business change, grew and evolved.Roy moved into consultancy 18 years ago, initially in the areas of organisation and management development. He has worked with companies who have been through significant change programmes, including helping Eutech (now part of ABB) to set up a successful Engineering Consultancy business.Roy joined McCourts in 1999 to pursue his interest in developing people in order to improve businesses performance. Working largely in the three sectors he is familiar with, Roy has worked with many managers and management teams in setting business and project objectives and growing peoples’ skills to operate most effectively.

Peter Joy - Teamwork Training: During a 30+ year career with British Gas Peter worked in Operations and HR, holding senior posts in Training and Development. He was involved in many organisational change programmes, some focusing on improving performance and others to do with managing reductions in staff and facilities whilst maintaining operational performance. He collaborated with senior academic institutions to develop innovative management development programmes to meet the needs of employers and accreditation bodies. This gave him a broad experience working with people at all levels in a range of organisations.Peter joined McCourts in 1997and has worked with a diverse range of clients in the Financial Services, Construction, Petrochemical, Manufacturing, Utilities and the not for profit sector. The main focus of his work is coaching groups to improve their personal and business performance by developing Teamworking skills. Peter has worked with teams at all organisational levels from graduate recruits and ‘blue collar’ to board level.Peter has a passion for helping individuals develop skill, particularly in working cooperatively.

Peter Clarke - Project Consultancy: Peter has over 30 years experience in engineering, operational and capital project management roles, mainly in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. These included the project management of a wide range of complex chemical plant investments as well as leading significant Business restructuring projects.As former Head of Engineering for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals he had global responsibility for major capital projects and the leadership of the engineering function. He has always maintained a keen interest in best practice project management and led the successful application of alliance working in Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca.Peter joined McCourts in 2002 and is now applying his experience and skills to enable clients to deliver demanding business and project objectives successfully and consistently.He is also a Director of the Boulting Group plc (Electrical/Mechanical Engineers) which gives him a supplier’s perspective in addition to his experience as a client.

Kevin McCourt - Teamwork Training: Kevin has been a consultant for more than thirty years. He has extensive experience of building high achieving teams in organisations ranging from international agencies such as The United Nations, The International Monetary Fund and The World Bank, through large multinationals to charities and even a professional football club.Kevin founded McCourts in 1981. From the outset, Kevin applied his experience to demonstrating the link between the development and growth of people with the achievement of key business objectives.These principles have been continuously developed and refined over the last twenty years. Although originating from work done primarily in manufacturing and process industries, subsequent work in the financial, service, leisure and public sectors has demonstrated that these principles are universal. Not only do they cross sector borders, they cross national ones.McCourts has grown steadily and now comprises over thirty consultants.

John Mehta - Project Consultancy: John has over 40 years experience in management, engineering, project and technical roles, mainly in the process industries. He has worked and lived not only in the UK but also in the USA, Brazil, Japan and Pakistan, where he was closely involved with local and expatriate communities and enterprises.As a senior Project Manager for ICI he established a track record in the successful completion of large, international chemical manufacturing plant projects, devoting over 15 years to leading teams from project inception to beneficial operation, in intercultural and multidisciplinary environments.John also has experience in the implementation of IT and business change projects, managing technical design groups, and developing engineering, project and management strategies for diverse businesses.John is one of the founder members of McCourts Project and is applying his experience and skills to enable clients to deliver demanding business and project objectives successfully and consistently.

John Doerr - Teamwork: John has over 20 years of industrial experience in a variety of industries, including railways, textiles, steel, building services and refining. John fulfilled roles in maintenance, capital projects and refinery operations with Esso, while also becoming an internal coach to the company management development program. He was heavily involved in the equal opportunities, graduate recruitment, teamwork and performance assessment programmes.In 1990 John joined McCourts giving the ideal platform to use his wide range of experience. With McCourts John has successfully delivered programmes with clients from utilities, financial, construction, petro-chemical, motor and charitable sectors. In 1993 John joined the newly formed McCourts Project group within McCourts, which provides a unique opportunity to combine his experience of business world projects and personnel development for the benefit of clients.John is also a world renowned sailing judge and coach. He has sailed since boyhood, and has won a World Championship. John has worked with the British Olympic Team since 1992 and has been the Chief Umpire for the 1995 America’s Cup, more than 20 World Championships and for the Olympic Games in Sydney 2000.

Ian Kennedy - Facilitation: Ian has been a consultant for 15 years, following 20 years of industrial and commercial experience with Smiths, 3M and Whitbread.During his career with Whitbread, he held senior posts in finance, information technology and human resources. As financial controller for the international wine and spirits operations, he was involved in the acquisition of a French wine producer, a company for which he subsequently completed a major IT project.He returned to the UK to manage new systems development for Whitbread’s wholesale distribution business. However, it was while working as group IT training manager that his enthusiasm for management development grew and led to a change of career direction.Before joining McCourts in 1999, he worked with two consultancies specialising in communication skills - experience on which he continues to draw. He provides advice, coaching and facilitation for clients facing teamwork, partnering or communication-related challenges.Recently, he has been supporting the partnering ambitions of major construction projects, including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, and long-term PPP collaborations between the NHS and its private sector providers. He also works with companies in the financial services, healthcare and public sectors.

Clive Landa - Teamwork Training: Clive has enjoyed an extensive career in senior management and consultancy over a wide range of businesses including industrial strategic planning and marketing, current affairs reporting, media management and communications.After graduating, Clive joined Esso Petroleum (now Exxon Mobil), working in both strategic planning and marketing. Then, after attending the London Business School he joined Granada Television as a current affairs journalist later transferring to LWT. He next returned to management with an emphasis on service companies involved in the communication business, filling senior positions in a number of well known companies.All of this wide general management experience required the development and implementation of new strategies and the accompanying changes in management, staff and cultures. As a result Clive’s consultancy activities are based on hard experience, as well as relevant academic theory. He is also familiar with the different context of non-profit making organisations and has carried out a number of assignments in that sector, working with both paid staff and with volunteers.Clive relocated to the USA in 2004 to open a McCourts office there. He now splits his time between projects in the US and UK.

Chris Gilbert - Project Consultancy: Chris has more than 20 years of experience of project, contract and people management. His experience covers a variety of types of projects delivered in the UK and in Middle East.Chris spent 15 years as international staff in Shell where his responsibilities included 9 years on major North Sea construction projects in design, procurement, construction management, and offshore hook up. It also included 6 years in front end definition of development projects and management of IT systems in Oman.Subsequently Chris moved to ABB Eutech as a project consultant and as the project manager of projects in internal change and European research. These roles included people and change management, required effective interfacing between companies, and demanded strong customer relationship and contract management.With McCourts Chris currently works with management teams developing strategy and generating agreement for organisational change. He develops teamworking skills with groups in order to improve their performance and often works as a facilitator. He mentors individuals for Huddersfield and Durham universities. He is also currently the project manager for a number of projects introducing new process technologies to the chemical industry.

Arthur Dicken - Facilitation: Arthur has been with McCourts for eight years, following 35 years experience in plant engineering, process design, project management, business development, business management and latterly in the management and restructuring of large manufacturing sites.He was Manufacturing Manager for the ICI Group and a Director of ICI Technology. He was appointed to the National Manufacturing Council and to a CBI Regional Executive, and was a member of the first Technology Foresight Panel for Manufacturing and Process Systems. He is also deputy Chair of an NHS acute hospital trust.He has worked with McCourts on manufacturing business performance improvement, in the management of organisational change, and in the development and delivery of strategic business plans with Boards and senior management groups. He has extensive experience as a coach, facilitator and mentor in a variety of business situations.