Dr Simon Haslam has over 20 years experience as a consultant and workshop facilitator. He leads the strategy faculty for the Institute of Directors and teaches strategy at different international locations, working with directors and senior leaders from a range of organisations. Simon co-owns the market and social research firm FMR Research Ltd, whose work has been cited in Westminster and Scottish Parliaments. He is also a voluntary non-executive director with a community transport charity and a board member/trustee of the Social Research Association. He is a Visiting Fellow at ‘triple accredited’ Durham University Business School, where he leads the Strategic Management module on the Global MBA programme and contributes to programmes on change management. He is a double-finalist in the CMI/Institute of Consulting UK ‘Consultant of the Year’ awards (runner-up in 2011) and was nominated to represent the UK in the 2012 Constantinus International (International Council of Management Consulting Institutes) awards. In 2013 he was elected to the UK Institute of Consulting, Advisory Committee. His clients include award winning public, private and third sector organisations, notably a 2008 Queens Award winner, for whom Simon was lead consultant on its strategic review and mentor to one of its executive directors, and a 2008 UK National Training Award winner, for whom Simon designed and delivered Strategic Decision Making director development.

Jean Pousson is one of the senior IoD consultants and covers finance, strategy and the Diploma programme. He is also a director of Board Evaluation Limited Jean previously held the position of Director of Studies at the TSB Group Management College before spending two years in the City of London with DC Gardner & Company (now Euromoney plc) as Assistant Director, Corporate Banking delivering training courses for banks on credit worldwide. His banking career at Barclays Bank spanned 15 years and within the last five years he occupied various management positions within retail and corporate banking. For the last 32 years, Jean has lectured and consulted on issues of strategic planning and implementation, credit risk and finance to an international client base consisting of financial services organisations, SME’s, multinationals, charities, housing associations, professional firms and public sector bodies. As well as maintaining his own client base (Jean Pousson and Associates was founded in 1994) he also speaks regularly at Vistage, the San Diego based, Chief Executive network which is the largest in the world, and to programmes run by The Chartered Institute of Credit Management. He was voted lecturer of the year in 2013 and 2018 for UK Finance the professional body of the Asset Finance Industry. In a typical year Jean will work with over 600 directors and about 8 to 10 Boards. He has a B.Comm degree from the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa), is a Chartered Member of The Institute of Bankers in South Africa(CAIBSA), received a distinction of the joint Barclays/University of Witwatersrand Senior Management Programme(a nine month long executive programme) and obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration from The University of Warwick(1996). He also holds the IoD’s Certificate and Diploma in Company Direction

Steve Giles is a chartered accountant with over 25 years’ experience of advising directors and managers on business issues concerning governance, risk and compliance. Whilst at Deloitte, he worked on a number of high-profile assignments including managing the Polly Peck investigation. After leaving Deloitte, Steve has set up and run two companies and has worked in many countries to achieve successful outcomes for his clients with a variety of business issues, including weak board performance, poor risk management, cultural issues, corporate fraud and reputational damage. He specialises in working with directors and senior executives to improve performance. Steve speaks extensively around the world on corporate governance, risk management, economic crime and business ethics. His engagements include chairing and speaking at international conferences; lecturing for professional bodies such as the ACCA and ICAEW; facilitating regular corporate governance workshops at the London Stock Exchange; and running hundreds of training courses over the last 15 years. Steve became a course leader with the IoD in 2016. Steve is much in-demand because of his expertise and his engaging delivery style. He always ensures that his material combines the latest theory and best-practice techniques with practical tips and advice. Steve holds an MA from Christ Church, Oxford, has been a guest lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire and is a published author, his first book being “Managing Fraud Risk” and his most recent one being “The Business Ethics Twin-Track” published by John Wiley & Sons in 2015