Belinda Kent-Lemon
Belinda founded Occam HR in 2001 with Gerald Kreinczes as an outplacement consultancy specialising in the communications sector. The company now helps leading communications agencies address issues relating to change, talent and motivation mostly through coaching, mentoring and outplacement. Belinda also works with clients in the public and third sectors and in other parts of the private sector often with or through other client companies.
Coming from a background in media and marketing, Belinda retrained at Master’s level, first in organisational behaviour and then HR consultancy. An accredited coach, she is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Chartered Management Institute and the Royal Geographical Society, and a member of the Institute of Directors and founder member of the Association for Coaching.
Belinda has worked full-time for ITV, Express Newspapers, NABS and Capital Radio, as well as leading projects and collaborating with Occam HR’s clients on a diverse range of HR, coaching and engagement issues.
She has judged the Personnel Today Awards in the Employer Brand category, has worked as an HR consultant to both the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) and the Advertising Association, and teaches coaching & mentoring on London South Bank University’s MSc in HR.
Belinda has an Honours Diploma in Communications, Advertising & Marketing and a BA in English & History from the University of Western Ontario, and is qualified to use three different psychometric measures. Belinda has trained with the CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) is an experienced mediator. She holds the CMI certificate in coaching and mentoring and is an accredited coach with Results Coaching.
Gerald Kreinczes
Gerald was previously vice chairman of Ammirati Puris Lintas London, where he led the development of the integrated offering as well as overseeing the planning and media planning departments.
As well as his advertising and communications agency experience Gerald is also a qualified coach, working with his business partner, Belinda Kent-Lemon at Occam HR since its inception.
Whilst at Occam, Gerald has led projects in the public as well as the private sector. So, as well as research ‘spikes’ in ‘considered purchases’ (such as business-to-business, automotive and financial services) he has also conducted several projects for the Department of Health, Nest (an agency of the Department of Work and Pensions) and for the COI.
In the past, Gerald helped found KMM, the first London-based integrated communications company. His client experience includes five years at Nestlé and both quantitative and qualitative research experience at AGB and The Kreinczes Partnership, a qualitative research agency which he owned.
As chairman of Occam Insight Ltd, Gerald provides strategic guidance, business focus and management mentoring, together with research leadership for organisation change.
Consultants
Occam HR’s consultants have all held senior roles in client companies or in private, public or third sector organisations. This is a direct result of the close relationships we form with our clients.
Nick Briggs
Nick is course director for an MA in management at a London university. He has taken a lead role in developing a team of coach-tutors and a cohort of internal coaches at his university and has also run a unit in developing mentoring skills in the health service.
He is a graduate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, a graduate member of the British Psychological Society, a chartered member of the CIPD and a Fellow of the CMI. He holds the CMI’s Chartered Manager award. He has degrees in physics and psychology and in 1995 he took a masters in applied psychology. He is now completing his dissertation for the award of a masters in coaching and mentoring, to add to his CMI certificate in management coaching and mentoring. Nick holds British Psychological Society type A and B accreditation to run selection and personality tests, and is qualified to run the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory.
For the last fifteen years he has developed his academic career mainly in the areas of leadership and management skills development. Previously, Nick held board level roles in a professional institute and in higher education. His current focus is on developing teams and individuals.
Consultants
Occam HR’s consultants have all held senior roles in client companies or in private, public or third sector organisations. This is a direct result of the close relationships we form with our clients.
Aliya Drabu
Aliya was Head of People at a major international communications group before becoming an HR consultant working for clients such as the Cabinet office and Saville & Holdsworth alongside her Occam HR work. She cites her greatest achievement there as having rolled out a global HR function from scratch.
Her responsibility is exceptionally broad and covers everything from learning & development, recruitment and employment law, to incentive & reward, people support and CPD accreditation.
Moreover, her background is almost as varied. In addition to HR experience in the communications sector, she has worked for an extremely high-profile dot.com, the BBC and two investment banking giants.
Aliya holds a BSc in Cognitive Science and an MSc in Occupational Psychology, and quotes psychology as being a deep ongoing interest. She is BPS level A and level B qualified, which means she can conduct a range of psychometric measures.
Consultants
Occam HR’s consultants have all held senior roles in client companies or in private, public or third sector organisations. This is a direct result of the close relationships we form with our clients.
Andrew Summers
Andrew is an independent management consultant, trainer and coach. Whilst his experience spans most sectors, his strength is the public arena. He has held managerial appointments or undertaken major consulting assignments in central and local government, the health service and the third sector. Andrew spent five years as Director of Personnel and Management Services for a large London Borough which followed six years’ senior level experience with a south-east county council.
Andrew also has a significant international public sector profile. As well as being a member of the Occam team, he is an Associate of RIPA International for whom he has led a number of management training events abroad. These include, in Nigeria, running an Enhancing the HR Function course in November 2009 for the Central Bank of Nigeria. In The Gulf during 2006, he undertook two management training assignments for managers of Qatar Petroleum. In Russia, he has contributed to a training for trainers course for participants from across the whole Federation.
He has also been a tutor on three Commonwealth Secretariat courses for senior public sector managers worldwide held in Southern Africa, the Caribbean and UK. For the latter, Andrew was the Director of Studies. Also with RIPA, he tutors regularly on their London-based courses for senior managers and personnel practitioners from a range of countries worldwide.
Andrew currently lectures on the MSc Human Resources and MPA courses at London South Bank University where he holds a half-time appointment. He is the Course Director for the Postgraduate Certificate in Local Governance for Councillors, one of the few university courses in the UK for serving politicians. He recently was part of an LSBU team training a Moscow University in the running of a public sector MBA.
Andrew currently acts as internal coach and mentor to other university staff and is expanding this area of his work into other spheres. He holds the CMI Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring, an MSc in Human Resource Development and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development.
Consultants
Occam HR’s consultants have all held senior roles in client companies or in private, public or third sector organisations. This is a direct result of the close relationships we form with our clients.
Piers Myers
Piers is Senior Lecturer in HRM Strategy and Consulting at London South Bank University.
Piers’ research, writing and teaching interests centre on business psychology, leadership, HR strategy and organisational change. Before joining London South Bank University in 2001, he was a management consultant and coach, and he continues to undertake selected consultancy and coaching projects.
Piers has also worked as a psychotherapist, in the computing industry and in social work. He has degrees in mathematics from Oxford and Princeton Universities, and an MA in psychotherapy and counselling from City University. He is lead author of a forthcoming textbook on leading and managing change to be published by Oxford University Press.
Consultants
Occam HR’s consultants have all held senior roles in client companies or in private, public or third sector organisations. This is a direct result of the close relationships we form with our clients.
Emily Stokes Hotchkiss
With a degree in Russian and German, Emily realised there was no obvious career path ahead and spent the first few years of her working life adventuring around Europe before settling down to a career in strategic brand planning at Publicis, Rapier, Wunderman, McCann Erickson and St Luke’s.
After a decade spent developing the potential of brands, Emily wondered if she could use her skills to develop the potential of people. She went on to train as a coach and workshop facilitator and now enjoys using her skills in communication and creativity to deliver training workshops and coaching within the communications industry.
Emily is an experienced coach and trainer who combines her business background, psychological training and coaching skills to support her clients in thinking creatively in order to solve business problems and to perform at their peak. Her coaching style has been described as intelligent, energetic and collaborative.
As well as a BA from Oxford University, Emily is qualified in two psychometric instruments (Emergenetics and DISC) and is an associate member of the Association for Coaching.
