About us
Board members
The ABP Board is composed of experienced psychology professionals.
Steve Whiddett
(Chair)
In 2002 Steve left Pearn Kandola to start WHE (UK) Ltd., a consultancy practice which integrates experience with research and takes a holistic view of individual, group and organisational performance. It aims to ensure that interventions achieve long lasting systemic changes that address the causes and not just the symptoms of performance challenges.
Steve is a regular contributor to journals and conferences on the use of psychology to enhance individual and organisational performance.
Steve’s other interests include: real ale, walking and mountain biking (in real mountains), music, films, wood carving, guitar, renovating his house, conversation, wine and cooking. Steve is a qualified martial arts coach and teaches Tai Chi Chuan and Hsing I Chuan (two of the Chinese internal martial arts).
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Dr. Carol Cole
(Vice Chair and Chair of the Standing Disciplinary Committee)
Carol has run her own successful practice in Organisation Development for over 15 years, applying psychological principles to enhance capability and effectiveness in organisations, teams and individuals. Working with clients in both the public and private sectors, both in the UK and internationally, she trains, coaches and consults on organisation, design and strategy, change management, team building and leadership. Her interventions are based on a unique mix of multi-sector experience, academic and psychological insights as well as high level interpersonal facilitation.
A Chartered Clinical Psychologist with a doctorate in behaviour change, Carol began her career in the NHS helping establish the NHS’ own internal change management consultancy before joining Shell as an organisation consultant. She is based in Richmond, Surrey and has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford, The Kings Fund and Ashridge Management College. She is the author of various publications including A Manual of Organisational Development: the Psychology of Change (1997) and The OK Toolkit (2008). Currently Vice-Chair of the ABP, she is also a Senior Associate of the National School of Government.
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Mark O’Sullivan
(Treasurer)
Mark O’Sullivan, having a first degree in classics, has a background as a generalist civil servant – in his case, in a wide range of posts in the Department of the Environment and the Scottish Office; but, having also taken the Birkbeck MSc with distinction in 1992, he is now in private practice as a business psychologist, leading a consultancy firm, Resource Synergies Ltd, which is based in Bath and in south-west Scotland.
He has been ABP Treasurer since 2005. In that capacity he has been primarily interested in improving the administrative and organisational infrastructure of the Association: he introduced devolved budgeting and improved financial reporting and other procedures, as well as the handling of investments, and also promoted revised Articles of Association and Regulations. More recently he has been involved on the DoH proposals for statutory regulation of business psychologists.
He is author of A Review of the Scottish Examination Board, co-author of Retaining School Leaders: a guide to keeping talented leaders engaged, and editor of The Environmental Consequences of the Wreck of the Braer.
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Debbie Hance
(Secretary and Chair of the Marketing and Communications Committee)
Debbie is a practising business psychologist with 13 years’ international consulting experience. A Chartered Occupational Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the Division of Occupational Psychology, she has worked in both the private and public arenas, across a range of sectors including financial services, central government, professional services and transport and logistics. Currently Debbie runs her own small consultancy, pH7 Consulting, based in Essex, but previously headed up the assessment and development centre practice at Willis, one of the largest insurance broker and risk management consultancies. Recently, her work has primarily focused on talent management; designing and delivering assessment, development, succession planning and performance management programmes.
Debbie’s particular interests are around the alignment of psychology with HR, business strategy and decision-making processes and the promotion of business psychology as a profession. This has led to her becoming interested in playing a more active role in the ABP and she will be chairing the Marketing and Communications Committee as well as acting as Company Secretary for the ABP (whatever that means!).
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Deborah Barleggs
(2010 Conference Dean)
Deborah Barleggs is a chartered occupational psychologist, executive coach and team facilitator at Heron Consultants; working with individuals and organisations to help them achieve their goals. She helps her clients to clarify purpose; explore reality, perceptions, beliefs and values; generate options and identify motivating and realistic ways forward.
Deborah combines her psychological knowledge of how humans live and work together with strong interpersonal skills and commercial sense so that her clients leave sessions knowing what they do best and wanting to do more!
Deborah is licensed to use a range of psychometric instruments to raise self awareness, assess work style and provide developmental direction. She actively seeks to improve her own capability through coaching supervision and attending professional conferences. Deborah is always keen to share stories, tips and perspectives and is available for associate work, so do get in touch.
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Trisha Cochrane
(Marketing and Communications Committee)
Trisha is an occupational psychologist and has been a member of the ABP Management Board since 2009. She is passionate about the ABP conference and nothing, so far, has kept her away from it since 2003 because of the networking, intellectual stimulation, and great socialising.
She works as a freelance associate, mostly in assessment and development, and is registered to use a wide range of psychometric tools.
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Peter Burton
Peter has worked as a consultant, mainly on people issues, since 1994 when he completed the Birkbeck Organisational Behaviour masters. He has subsequently taken a PG Certificate in Coaching and Performance Management, and a PG Diploma in coaching psychology. His current interest is how to achieve high levels of employee engagement in organisations, and passionate boards of directors.
Before becoming a consultant, Peter spent 25 years as an entrepreneur during which he was a founder of two companies, both of which he took public. He has also served as a non-executive director in a number of public and private companies, and has written several papers on corporate governance. He has served as an elected member of a local authority and as a university governor. He sees himself as a generalist on the ABP Board.
His professional memberships include the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, the Association for Coaching, the European Coaching and Mentoring Council, and the Richmond Group. He is the owner of a consultancy, Statec Coaching and Consulting, based in St Albans.
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Dr Richard Plenty
Richard started his career as a physicist before realising that neither laboratory work nor theoretical physics were for him and what he really wanted to do was psychology. After a year spent in France teaching English and learning French, he managed to get into the masters course in experimental psychology at Sussex University before starting work with British Steel Corporation’s human factors group, where he worked from 1974-79 on job design and also completed a part time PhD on the effects of physically demanding work done in extreme conditions.
When British Steel’s group closed down in 1979 Richard joined the engineering consultancy WS Atkins to help set up a human resources development group. He worked as a human factors consultant for the power generation industry looking at the strategy for design and safe operations of nuclear power stations ( in particular Sizewell ‘B’) and as a result of this work became a Fellow of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.
He then joined Shell International where he worked for 20 years from 1983 to 2003 in a variety of strategic organisation development and senior HR leadership roles in Europe, North America and Asia. He formed This Is in 2004 with Terri Morrissey as an organisation and leadership development consultancy aiming to create better organisations. His main work interests are organisation and leadership development, cultural and behavioural change, and business and executive coaching see www.linkedin.com/in/richardplenty
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Dr Stephen Benton (Chair of the Membership Committee)
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Stephen Carter
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