About usWe work with people from many different sectors around the world. Ian and Michael have been fortunate to work with some great companies over the years including: Cathay Pacific, Lonza Pharma&Biotech, Camden Borough Council, Weber (Saint-Gobain), Carphone Warehouse, Barratt Developments, Faithful+Gould, Oracle, Arla Foods and many many more.
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The Partnership
Michael ParkesMichael began his career managing two successive typography and creative design houses, before joining an innovative publisher of teaching resources called Lifeskills Associates (founded by Dr Barrie Hopson and Mike Scally) in 1987 to help develop their expansion into adult learning and training resources. After 2 years, he became a co-owner and director of Lifeskills. By the mid-late 1990s Lifeskills International was a respected consulting and learning business in the field of customer service, career development/management, and one of UK's leading specialists in custom designed work-based learning. Michael continued to build his experience working on customer service programme design and subsequently leading a series of successful international customer service improvement programmes. His international work continued with partnerships in Asia and Canada where he co-created innovative e-learning/technology platforms with Prof. Steve Murgatroyd.
Michael co-founded invigor8 which combined the disciplines of creative learning design, internal comms, change leadership and OD. The partnership was joined by Ian Ireland. Since then Michael and Ian have worked together and separately on many highly regarded client projects in the UK and around the world. |
Ian IrelandIan's career began as an idealistic history teacher wanting to make a positive difference to young people's lives. After five years in three different schools, he transferred his skills for teaching and educating into the adult sector as a management trainer at Tesco. Over the next eight years he progressed through the ranks to a leadership role in the People Team who were the key architects of the great customer centric culture change that took Tesco from No 3 in the UK to No 1 and into international markets. Ian's next move was to Forward Trust, an HSBC company, who were looking to achieve accelerated culture change in what had been a traditional financial services business. Over the next two years walls came down, hierarchies were challenged and ambitious programmes were put in place.
It felt natural from here to move into consultancy in order to specialise further and work every day on culture change, customer centricity and leadership. To help leaders and organisations change and at the same time to keep building the skill set and best practice about what works in this critical aspect of organisational improvement. Ian chose first to join Lifeskills and then invigor8. It is at invigor8 that his partnership with Michael began. Their complimentary skill sets enabling them to win work and deliver for clients across borders and sectors. This brings us to the next natural chapter, the Parkes Ireland Partnership. |