Cathy Bridge

Cathy is an experienced organisational development and change consultant. She began her career in banking before moving into management positions in the retail and public sectors. She is an experienced management trainer, using both Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Accelerated Learning Techniques. She is a qualified NLP practitioner. For the last twelve years, she has worked with both blue chip and smaller organisations, facilitating implementation of the Investors in People Standard. She has been a registered Investors in People assessor since 1995, and was involved in the consultation group when the Standard was revised in the mid 1990s.

Cathy has been owner-manager of a successful training and consultancy company for five years. During this time, she has designed and delivered an extensive range of supervisory and management training programmes, and worked with clients from all industry sectors to help them solve their business problems. One of her most successful projects was to set up, on behalf of a North West college, a comprehensive training programme aimed at improving the skills of women managers.

She has particular strengths in business strategy and excellence, and has recently been working with Board members of several Primary Care Trusts, facilitating their strategic planning. Her excellent analysis, facilitation and communication skills prove invaluable whilst undertaking this type of work. She has worked with many clients on management development programmes and change programmes that have had lasting and meaningful impacts

Cathy has wide experience of the EFQM framework, having been trained to assess this, and selected by Excellence North West as an Assessor and most recently, Senior Assessor for the North West Quality Awards. She uses a straightforward, pragmatic approach to advising clients, cutting out the jargon that surrounds frameworks such as EFQM and Investors in People. She has the ability to translate management theories into practical, usable management tools and techniques.

Although she doesn't regard herself as an academic, Cathy has an MBA, and during her studies, specialised in Strategic Business Management. Her dissertation focused on how the EFQM framework is used by small businesses in the private sector. Cathy is also a full member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD).

Skills

• Appraisal Skills & Systems
• Business & HR Planning
• Business Planning
• Change Management
• Communication & Interpersonal Skills
• EFQM/Business Excellence
• Evaluating Training & Development
• Facilitation Skills
• Investors in People
• Leadership Skills
• Management Development
• Team Building and Motivation
• Training Needs Analysis
• Workforce Development
• ...and others!

Interests

Cathy believes that there's more to life than work, and achieves a balance by going to the theatre, socialising with friends, cooking, going to the gym, redecorating her house, taking interesting holidays and reading huge amounts!