Each member of the team has had a corporate career in excess of 20 years that have included responsibilities for leading teams to achieve Key Performance Indicators.

Gary Oakley BSc(Hons), MSc, MRICS, AIMgt

An international negotiation consultant and trainer with experience and expertise in negotiation and influencing skills since 1989. Gary is the Managing Director of Influencing and Negotiation Services (INS Ltd).

Gary exclusively focuses on the development of negotiation and influencing skills within client organisations. He has provided negotiation consultancy and training throughout the UK , Europe , Russia , the Middle East , Far East , Asia , Australia and North America . His skills-orientated training programmes are usually aimed at high-level professionals with extensive prior experience.

As well as providing advanced negotiation skills training, Gary also provides consultancy services to help teams, individuals and organisations maximise their outcomes in important negotiations. It is this 'hands on' negotiation experience that makes his training so highly practical, relevant and fully field-tested.

He has commercial experience from his time as a surveyor with a leading London practice and Managing Director of Effective Development Limited. Along with extensive training experience and expertise as Principal and Course Director at the University of Westminster , London .

Gary ’s clients cover a broad range, from major multi-national organisations to smaller, more specialised, niche companies, as well government departments and ministries.

Gary has a degree from Reading University and a masters degree in management from Henley Management College and Brunel University . He has researched the development of personal skills and the effectiveness of certain personality traits in management activities, such as negotiation.

He now specialises in negotiation and is a principal consultant with ENS International, the world's leading negotiation training and consulting organisation. INS Ltd is the company licensed to deliver ENS International services, consultancy and products in the UK .

Michael Cook

Michael is a negotiation consultant and trainer with senior-level commercial experience in the shipping and transport industry since 1986. His multi-levelled, global experience with negotiations includes establishing commercial presences in new markets such as China and South Africa as well as developing existing European & North American markets further.

As an expatriate for 10 years living in Asia and Germany , Michael was extensively involved in China’s shipping services when the mainland Chinese markets opened up for trade in the early 1990s. He has also conducted frequent business in North America alongside key work in the UK and mainland Europe . 

Michael now focuses on the development of negotiation and influencing skills with clients eager to bring a fresh and highly effective style to their commercial activities. His commercial experience enables him to provide sophisticated negotiation consultancy and training anywhere in the world, and for all levels: from high-level professionals with prior experience, to newcomers to the negotiation field.

Michael also provides a consultancy service to help organisations, teams, and individuals on a one to one basis, maximise their outcomes in important negotiations. It is a testament to the degree of his varied “hands on” negotiation experience that makes his work with clients so practical .

Elspeth Mills Rendall,

Barrister, B.A. (Hons), Visiting Lecturer at St Mary’s College, The University of Surrey .

Elspeth, a barrister, is a negotiation consultant and facilitator now specialising in professional skills development. Particular areas of expertise are negotiation and communication skills to enable individuals, teams and organisations to realise their potential, inspire change and maximise outcomes.

Elspeth has been involved in the training and development field in professional services since 1992. She was formerly the Head of Professional Development at City solicitors, Herbert Smith, and National Head of Training at DLA, an international law firm with regional offices in England and Scotland .

Elspeth gained “hands on” negotiation experience in commerce and industry as an in-house lawyer specialising in music, television and film copyright law, at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the BBC’s Independents’ Planning Unit, (the IPU). She has also worked in private practice.

Elspeth was the first Chambers Director at Enterprise Chambers, Lincoln ’s Inn where she was responsible for the successful overall management and profitability of chambers. She was actively involved in client liaison, complaints’ handling, marketing professional services and persuading new clients to instruct members. As Chambers Director she also negotiated, for example: IT provision agreements, Barrister’s fees, employee contracts and salaries, facilities management and consequent lease renewals.

These varied roles have given Elspeth an insight into the power of negotiation and the skills needed to persuade and influence at the highest levels. Through her interpersonal skills and communication expertise, she is able to facilitate skills transfer at all levels.

Elspeth is also a visiting Lecturer in professional skills at St Mary’s College, the University of Surrey on the Masters in Education Programme, the Outreach Centre for School Improvement. She is also a freelance writer and editor.

Annie Richardson (FCIH) Associate of INS

A negotiation consultant with practical negotiation experience as well as expertise in development and coaching since 1996. Annie has provided high-level negotiation and influencing skills coaching throughout the UK and Europe . Clients include major multi-national organisations and smaller specialised, niche companies.

A professional in both management and consultancy, Annie’s career has progressed through senior management in Local Government (Regional Director of Housing), business consultancy in IT (business consultant for ICL/Fujitsu), and Training and Development consultancy.

Annie’s corporate career in Local Government and IT has given her first-hand experience of negotiating and influencing with elected members and committees, through to “virtual team“ management and negotiation in sales.

Annie’s experience and interpersonal skills make her a professional negotiator who is able to facilitate skills transfer at all levels. Her substantial coaching experience and expertise supports interventions at one to one and group level.

Annie has an Advanced Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring from the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring, accredited by Oxford Brookes University . The Diploma complies with the Standards and Code of Ethics developed by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

Annie is also currently a faculty member of The Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring.

Michael Robbins MCIH

A negotiation consultant with extensive experience as a senior manager in central and local government since 1984. Mike has developed his negotiation skills in a variety of management and training situations. Initially, he was a Branch Negotiator with the National Union of Public Employees whilst at Manchester City Council.

Mike’s clients include a wide range of Local Authority service providers with whom he has negotiated contracts in commissioning and procurement of services, facilitated multi-agency approaches to anti-social behaviour and racial harassment and has trained and assisted senior Local Government staff in negotiating Service Level Agreements. He is also a member of the Board of Management of Cowane’s Housing Association.

The Ministry of Defence is another client. His negotiation and influencing work for the Ministry has involved interaction with senior military officers, government ministers and senior civil servants. For example, Mike assisted in negotiating the first Public Finance Initiative for the provision of Services Accommodation and the disposal of surplus assets of the military estate in Scotland .

As a consultant to the Cabinet Office, Mike provides training and consultancy services to the Government’s Centre for Management and Policy Studies in both Sunningdale and Whitehall .

Recent commissions include: negotiation skills training for a major European packaging company; for the marketing staff of a global Mining Company; facilitating the negotiation of a major contract between UK and Japanese ore producers; reviewing the Management Info rmation Systems of a large Local Authority; and planning and running a series of workshops with the Institute of Public Finance .