Our bespoke approach, with the input of our cadre of expert partners, ensures we can offer you the tailored support you need to achieve your mission.
We understand that the best solutions often require a multidisciplinary approach. Our cadre of expert partners include:
Mark Crabtree
People, Culture and Organisation Development Expert
Mark is an award-winning facilitator, qualified coach and work-place mediator with over 30 years' experience in leadership and management development. Specialising in team development, change management, building and maintaining resilience, executive coaching, conflict management, and work-place mediation.
Mark brings a practical, business perspective to organisation development initiative, working closely with key stakeholders in complex and diverse organisations to enable them to develop their people and structures in line with strategic ambitions and values.
Mark is able to draw upon extensive Higher Education Sector, Private Sector and Local Government experience from the senior positions he has held in these areas.
Sianne Haldane
Legacy and High Value Fundraising Expert
Sianne Haldane is a STEP qualified lawyer with over twenty years’ experience working and consulting in the third sector as well as advising private clients. Formerly Head of Planned Giving Philanthropy at Cancer Research UK, the UK's largest charity, working across the Philanthropy and Legacies team, Sianne brought in their three largest ever individual gifts, totalling over $100M.
Sianne is a committee member of the STEP Global Philanthropy Advisors Special Interest Group, sits on the Advisory Committee of the UN Global Compact UK and acts as an advisor on UBP's Biodiversity Restoration Impact Fund. She regularly gives keynote talks at philanthropy and private client conferences and events. She is also a Trustee of both Save the Rhino and Mosaik Education, a charity helping refugees access tertiary education. She also works with corporates on their sustainability and CSR strategies.
Kenneth Ferguson
Social Bridging Finance, Charity Management and Grant Making Expert
Kenneth is a Chartered Accountant by training and worked originally in the Institute for Public Sector Accounting, before moving to the Diplomatic Service. Subsequently, Kenneth worked in industry for a number of years before becoming Finance Director in a national Children's Charity. From 2011-2020 Kenneth was the Chief Executive of the Robertson Trust, Scotland's largest independent funder. In his time at the Robertson Trust he led the development of Social Bridging Finance and is excited by its potential to bring about fundamental change in the way public services are delivered. Kenneth has previously served as the Convener of Scottish Grant Makers (2015-20), Vice Chair of the Association of Charitable Foundations (2014-20) and currently serves as a Non-Executive Director & Honorary Patron of Social Investment Scotland.
Guy Davies
Finance and Governance Expert
Guy has considerable experience with a varied portfolio of voluntary roles. His core skills cover audit, governance, grant-making, fundraising, and financial advice for over £300m charitable assets.
For over 20 years Guy has held senior roles as a charity investment manager working for Barclays, Lazard, Barings and Heartwood Investment Management.
Having served in the Army, Guy has a strong interest and deep experience and expertise in military charities and has been a trustee of ABF The Soldiers' Charity, is a trustee of the Army Central Fund and Blind Veterans UK, where he is chair of the investment, finances and resources committees.
He chairs the advisory committee of The Armed Forces Charity Growth and Income Fund CAIF, a pooled multi-asset fund. Guy is secretary of the Charity Investors Group, an independent group with a common interest in promoting a greater understanding of investment related issues for charities.
Guy is a Chartered Fellow and Chartered Wealth Manager of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment; he is also Co-Founder and Director of Charity Intelligence with Lynn Pates, a digital database of charity investments and managers. This enables charities to review their investments in one place and on a consistent basis.
Tom Murray
Philanthropy Advisory Expert
Tom works with philanthropists and grant giving charities to develop plans to maximise the impact of their philanthropy. He also advises charities on governance issues and helps people who want to establish charities and foundations.
Tom is a director of Mercy Corps Europe an international development organisation working in 40 of the worlds most transitional countries with complex humanitarian problems caused by poverty, conflict and disaster. A Trustee of The Scottish National War Memorial and Protector of the JESSICA Trust, established and endowed by the BIG Lottery to create community driven social enterprises to make lasting changes to those communities by way of grant/ loan finance.
Previously Tom was a solicitor specialising in Charity Law, recognised as a band 1 leading lawyer in Charity Law and he also co-authored “a Practical Guide to Charity Law”.
Lynn Pates
Charity Investment and Endowment Specialist
Lynn has over 25 years’ experience working in Financial Services, specialising in the third sector and fourth sector. She started her career working in Life and Pensions sector firstly for Royal Life, then Prudential Holborn followed by Sun Life Broker Services in Liverpool.
Lynn spent over 10 years working at a large charity in the Finance Department of Notre Dame Trustee Company where she was involved in the running of the endowment fund, including cash-flow planning and the appointment and monitoring of external investment managers.
Lynn is well known in the industry for her consultancy work for at Asset Risk Consultants in Guernsey on the Private Client Indices Research Team before becoming a Director of ARC UK. Lynn was responsible for initiating, developing and leading their charity services. This included architecting and establishing the Charity Indices for Peer Group analysis on Discretionary Portfolios and Charity Multi Asset Fund Report.
In addition, Lynn provided consulting services that including manager selection and portfolio reviews as well as working as a management consultant for various Investment Houses and other establishments. She has a vast experience siting on numerous charity boards as a trustee or adviser. Lynn has a maths degree and is a chartered management accountant holding both the ACMA and CGMA credentials
Adam Brown
Marketing and Communications Expert
Adam is a marketing expert with agency and client-side experience in the strategic leadership of marketing and communications operations. Until recently, he was Director of Marketing and Communications at Durham University, a member of the University Strategy Development Board and responsible for all marcomms activity and strategy development across the University.
He has a wealth of experience across all areas of marketing and communications, including brand development and management, internal and external stakeholder engagement and reputation management, employee communications, staff and student recruitment, crisis and major incident management and reviewing and optimising operating models (both people and processes), amongst others.
Adam’s greatest skill is being able to quickly get to the heart of an opportunity or problem and develop long-term, sustainable solutions that get results. The more complex and knotty the better.