Julia Exton
John Haigh
Andrew Houlston
Brian Richardson
Sue Roberts
Ian Wells

Our team is comprised of professionals with extensive experience of supporting individuals, teams and organisations to develop the capabilities needed for success.

We pick the team members involved in any project for the skills they have to meet the particular needs of the client. This also means that the people the client meets at the initial point of contact are the ones who will be working with the client to make a difference in their organisation.

Julia Exton
Julia has been working with organisations undergoing change for the past 14 years. Over that time her ability to develop individuals into highly effective teams has been utilised across the globe to support client organisations in achieving their strategic initiatives. As a Director, Julia is responsible for or involved in all aspects of the business including the design and development of Soma's interventions.

Julia has a Masters Degree in Management Development and is an Associate of the Institute of Management Consultants . Her knowledge and experience are of benefit to all of Soma's work, however her passion for facilitating the development of individuals uses her training as a Life Coach and Psychometric Instruments - Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Firo-B - to support individuals in achieving their greatest potential.

Most of our clients are multi-national organisations and Julia frequently works in North America supporting Executive Teams to manage growth in their business.

John Haigh
John is Soma's administrator and provides the main point of contact in the office for enquiries and questions.

John's previous management roles have given him a broad knowledge of business conditions in the U.K. and an ability to empathise with people under pressure. A graduate of Cambridge University , John acts as the "anchor man" to the Soma team, dealing with administration and day-to-day issues and so leaving the consultants free to give clients their undivided attention. He is always delighted to speak to clients on the telephone and specialises in trying to provide a quick answer to urgent queries.

Andrew Houlston
Throughout his working career Andrew has developed considerable skills and experience in facilitating the development and learning of others. He is an experienced facilitator with a proven track record of designing and implementing first class behavioural development and management training interventions which deliver corporate wide culture change and promote High Performance Teams. By creating an emphasis on continuous learning that embraces change Andrew works with clients to create an environment that challenges the status quo and leverages enhanced performance from individuals across the workforce.

Andrew utilises his MSc in Management Development and Training to incorporate current and proven organisational development theories with observed good practice and an understanding of how different people learn in order to facilitate both the personal and professional development of managers, leaders and teams from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds. He works with business leaders, at all levels, to create clear and shared objectives and develop teams that are able to manage and embrace the creative opportunities provided through working openly with conflict.

As a Director of Soma, Andrew specialises in strategic client relations in addition to his facilitation work.

Brian Richardson
Brian Richardson has been a driving force behind Soma's success since he founded the business in 1984. He has been instrumental in the development of its innovative training methods, particularly in the fields of human relations, management training, organisational development and transitional management. He has devised and implemented many experience-based skills development programmes, and trained others in how to deliver them. He is a change agent with vast experience, much of it in culture change programmes. Over the last decade he has been involved in pioneering work assisting companies to overcome traditional ways of behaving and form co-operative long term strategic relationships.

Sue Roberts
Sue is a highly skilled facilitator of experiential learning and development with a proven track record of translating business needs into pragmatic training solutions and delivery. Working in the field of people development since 1995, she specialises in behavioural and attitudinal change at all levels of management development, increasing personal effectiveness, which has a direct impact on business performance and culture. As Soma's development consultant Sue specialises on consultation on development needs, and design and delivery of solutions to a number of clients. Her work includes coaching senior executives, middle and senior management development work, facilitating business meetings and solutions, conducting independent evaluation research for leadership development work, and facilitating senior team development .

She holds an MA in Management Learning from Lancaster University , one of only two business schools in the UK to have a six star status. She also holds a first class honours degree, and is a Neuro Lingusitic Programming Practitioner, a registered practitioner in Myers Briggs Type Indicator, a TA 101 Counsellor and an accredited coach.

Ian Wells
Ian Wells has 17 years' consulting experience including  at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he led the development of PwC's change management approach used by clients and consultants worldwide and most recently as a partner at PA consulting. He specialises in helping leaders and project teams to implement complex change successfully.

He has led and delivered a large number of change and partnering programmes including post merger integration, HR and organisation-wide transformation, reorganisation, cost reduction and systems implementation. Change projects usually combine more than one of these goals to increase complexity and change challenge.

Ian is also an experienced HR manager of over 10 years and is highly skilled at bringing HR experience into wider change programmes and supporting HR functions enhance their strategic contribution.

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