The Team
Heather Wilkinson, CEO and Chair
Heather has fused and integrated her key skills and knowledge to generate this innovative social enterprise that gives young people access to professional coaching and training.
She has had extensive experience working in the economic development sector since 2000, specialising in the area of business support, social enterprise, and community regeneration. During her career she has worked for the private, third and public sector through her roles at Business in the Community, Hertfordshire TEC, Corporation of London, and Economic Development Consultancies EDAW and GHK.
In June 2005 she left her full-time consultancy position to set up Striding Out, and she continues to provide national and local level consultancy specialising in entrepreneurship and social enterprise. She is also a qualified business coach and NLP practitioner.
Since starting Striding Out she has won the Edge Upstart Social Enterprise Mentor of the Year Award for 2006, Lambeth Female Entrepreneurship Award 2011 and was a finalist in the RBS SE100 Index, for fastest growing social enterprise.
As the CEO and Chair of Striding Out, Heather leads the organisation and is responsible for business development strategy.
Hannah Robinson, Personal Assistant
A graduate of Kent University with a BA Hons in Politics and International Relations, Hannah has enjoyed a variety of PA and sales roles in the Medical, Law and Recruitment sectors. Her previous work experience has only worked to hone her flexible but determined work ethic, and her love of new challenges.
Her ambition and drive are inherent in the work she does, and Hannah is both excited and expectant about the future with Striding Out.
Howard Bailey, Head of Learning and Development
Howard is a passionate, accomplished Learning and Development Consultant and accredited Co-active Coach with demonstrable experience gained in developing training and support infrastructure for the education and private sectors.
A positive and proactive leader with a successful track record in undertaking training needs analysis of clients, developing curriculum, designing and implementing of learner focused training projects in a variety of mediums and quality improvement programmes.
Personable with strong planning and management skills who remains focused on objectives whilst ensuring a compelling and rewarding learner journey.
Howard leads on delivering Striding Out services in the Yorkshire and Humber Region and also acts as Head of Striding Out’s ILM Centre nationwide.
Barbara Wilkinson, Finance Director
Barbara is the Financial Director of Striding Out. She is a qualified book-keeper and manages the financial requirements of the organisation, working closely with our Accountant Pratish Patel of Tax Clarity.
Paula Gardner, PR Support
Paula Gardner provides training and support in PR and Media Relations to our team of coaches.
Paula Gardner is probably the best known PR coach in the UK. She has over 20 years experience in the PR industry, including running her own PR agency, and is the author of the respected PR and marketing handbooks Get Noticed and Do Your Own PR.
Richard Jenner, Online Optimisation
With over 12 years experience, Richard has been involved in the search and digital marketing arena since its early inception. Richard works for Organic Development, who provide our web and online optimisation support.
Prior to Organic, Richard worked as a senior account manager at one of the UK’s largest Direct Marketing Agencies, and more recently heading up the marketing and communications team for a high-end software development firm
Pratish Patel, Accountant
Pratish, a Chartered Certified Accountant, is the practice partner at Tax Clarity. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He has over 15 years accountancy experience and has worked for accountancy practices both large and small.
He particularly enjoys helping smaller businesses develop and grow from being reliant on their owner to being sustainable entities in their own right.
He also has first-hand experience of the consultancy market having worked for Netscape/ AOL, RSM International and Alliance Boots so he is well equipped to advise clients from both sides of the fence.
