Nita Clarke OBE IPA Director Expand Director of the IPA since January 2008, Nita has a long career in the trade union and labour movement. She joined COHSE from university in 1976, working for the health union until 1983; after seven years at the GLC/ILEA including four year’s as Ken Livingstone’s press officer she rejoined COHSE in 1992 and was merged into UNISON the following year. She was press officer and then political officer for UNISON until January 2001 when she joined Downing Street as Tony Blair’s assistant political secretary with responsibility for trade union liaison. At No 10 Nita was directly involving in establishing important social partnership developments including the transposition of the Information and Consultation Directive, the Woman at Work Commission, the commissions looking at the right to request part-time working, the Turner Pensions Commission and many others. She was instrumental in securing government support for the groundbreaking two-tier workforce deal and the Cabinet Office guidance on the treatment of staff in contracting; she was also one of the prime movers behind the establishment of the Public Services Forum, bringing together public sector unions and employers and was one of the government nominated members of the PSF. She was particularly involved in the development of the Drive for Change toolkit, which embodies the principles of partnership working. She also ensured that proposal for a Compact, further equalising the treatment of directly and indirectly employed staff, was included in the Warwick Agreement of 2004, and worked on its implementation right up to leaving No 10 in June 2007. She was a strong supporter of a social partnership approach to delivering change and reform in public services and supported successive secretaries of state in education and health in developing partnership agreements. She has an in-depth understanding of the positive role that modern unions and representatives can have in the workplace and a very wide knowledge of the trade union movement as well as business needs. She has close working links with the TUC and many individual unions as well as the CBI, EEF, Chemical Industries Association and many individual companies Nita’s report on relations between trade unions and the voluntary sector for the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations was launched in June 2008. She was vice-chair of the government commissioned MacLeod Review of employee engagement and co-author of the widely praised report Engaging for Success published in July 2009. She is much in demand as a motivational speaker on employee engagement and positive employee relations. She has a BA in history and politics and an MA in labour history from Warwick University. She was a founder board member of the New Opportunities Fund and is the author of London for Beginners (Writers and Readers Press). Contact Nita: » [email protected]
Derek Luckhurst Training and Development Director Expand Derek joined IPA in 2000 and is responsible for the design and delivery of IPA’s training and consultancy services. Previously he was the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union’s National Secretary for Legal & General where he was instrumental in the establishment of a breakthrough partnership agreement, which was signed at L&G in 1997. He was a key player in developing a framework for flexible working in Legal & General and was responsible for the training of both managers and union representatives in how the concept should work in practice. A new anti-harassment and bullying procedure was established during his term of office together with improved grievance and disciplinary processes. At IPA he has developed partnership and closer working relations between organisations and trade unions for many clients including the Inland Revenue, Victrex, DP World, Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, Morrisons Utilities, Aintree NHS Trust, Bolton NHS Trust, Devon and Cornwall Housing and Santander. In conjunction with workshops, he has written an induction programme specifically tailored for people working on partnership initiatives. He is a regular speaker for Business Forums International where he presents a Negotiation Skills Masterclass. He is the author of “A Practitioner’s Guide to Sustaining Industrial Partnership” published by the IPA with DTI support in 2004, updated and re-published in 2011. He has also written a number of Handbooks for Employee Representatives, commissioned by Sanctuary Housing, Halfords, Catalyst Housing, BP, Coral Racing and Avon Cosmetics. Derek has worked with many organisations helping them improve employee relations and engagement, often through developing effective mechanisms for employee voice and training and mentoring high performing employee representatives and managers. Recent clients include United Welsh, SopraSteria, Standard Life, Bank of Ireland UK Financial Services, Siemens, Pfizer, CBI, BP, City & Guilds, B&Q, Amey, Stonewater, Cushman Wakefield, WorldSkills, General Medical Council, LexisNexis, ThermoFisher, Network Homes, Leonard Cheshire, Pepsico and Coral. Derek introduced the option-based consultation model for the effective involvement of the representatives of employees - union or non-union - in identifying opinions and influencing the decision making process at a strategic level within organisations. Described by Keith Sisson, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations at Warwick Business School as a ‘landmark in UK industrial relations’. Derek leads the IPA’s influential IPA Hub and, with them, developed the popular “15 Strategic Questions” that have proved an essential tool for representatives and senior managers alike. He is also the author of The 5 Key Steps to Employee Engagement, published in 2007, which explores the unique role representatives can play in ensuring staff lose the cynicism that blocks engagement.
Patrick Brione Head of Policy and Research Expand Patrick joined the IPA in 2016 and he leads on IPA's policy and research work. He previously worked as director of research at Survation, a market research and polling organisation, where he was responsible for the overseeing of major projects of quantitative and qualitative research for major businesses, charities and political campaigns. He has also worked at the think tank CentreForum, where he co-authored two research papers on employee empowerment and employee ownership. At the IPA, Patrick's work includes planning, managing and delivering the IPA's research projects, focused on the future of the workplace, employee engagement and social partnership. These are carried out with a variety of clients from trade unions, and public sector organisations to private companies and other charities. In 2017 Patrick published "Mind over Machines", a major research publication for Acas looking at the links between technology and employment relations, and he has since spoken at a number of events around the UK on this subject. Patrick's work also includes editing the IPA e-bulletin and maintaining the website and social media presence. His role includes providing research support for the IPA's consultancy work and delivering the IPA's policy responses. Patrick holds a MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Magdalen College Oxford. Contact Patrick: » [email protected]
Sarah Dawson Business Development Manager Expand Sarah joined the IPA in 1997 and leads on the IPA’s election services, working with client organisations to develop online and postal nomination and voting solutions for the election of employee representative bodies, member nominated pension fund trustees, and supplier forums. She has worked with major clients to support the development of effective employee voice mechanisms, including B&Q, Pfizer, Guardian Media Group and SopraSteria. Sarah also acts as project manager for major and complex consultancy and research projects and is the IPA's Quality Manager and Data Protection Manager. Contact Sarah: » [email protected]
Meghan Grant Policy and Research Officer Expand Meghan joined the IPA in 2016 and works on a number of projects undertaking field interviews, focus groups and literature reviews and writing research reports. She was the author of the 2017 report, "Tune in to Temps" looking at engagement among agency workers. Meghan joined IPA following completion of her MA in Social and Public Policy from Leeds University. Meghan also manages the IPA's social media and works on producing the monthly IPA e-bulletin, which you can sign up to below. Contact Meghan: » [email protected]
Lorraine Modeste Office Manager Expand Lorraine Modeste is responsible for managing the day to day running of the office and looking after the IPA's members. She also provides administrative support for the events programme and project management for research and consultancy projects. Lorraine also provides executive support to the Director and the IPA Executive Committee. Contact Lorraine: » [email protected]
Monty Bamgbala Accountant Expand Monty looks after the IPA's accounts. Contact Monty for all invoicing related enquiries. Contact Monty: » [email protected]