Barry Town

Managing Director

Jenny Ibison

Non Executive Director

Paul Black

Practice Leader, Lean

Bill Wiles

Practice Leader, HR Services

David Evans

Managing Consultant

Emma Gibson

PA to Managing Director

Joanne Tinker

Assistant to the Consulting team

After a successful career at a senior level in the corporate environment of industry and business Barry became a founding Director of Wetherby Consultants, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s establishment as a significant provider of HR consultancy. He launched Town and Partners in 2001, to build on this track record and to create a thought led consultancy, designed to meet and exceed the needs of twenty first century clients and to bring a different approach to consultancy.

Barry’s expertise and experience crosses many boundaries and sectors, creating and delivering winning strategies in resourcing, organisational development & leadership and coaching. Barry’s client base spans international blue-chip organisations, privately owned emerging businesses and the public sector.

Taking a leading edge approach to the recruitment of senior executives/managers and hard to fill posts both in the UK and internationally, he has built a resourcing practice which reflects his personal mission of taking care and offering integrity to every client and candidate. Barry’s portfolio also includes acting as a one to one coach/mentor to main Board Directors and emerging leaders, supporting their personal development and helping them to unlock the potential of individuals, teams and organisations.

Barry works on pre and post acquisition organisational reviews, designing operational interventions and providing bespoke top team coaching and development programmes. His unique approach on Breakthrough has literally transformed businesses, surprising them with the power of their newfound ability to achieve, exceed and sustain challenging objectives.

By bringing a new and different way of thinking to change, he leads his field and has written a number of thought provoking papers for various organisations as well as appearing in management development videos for the BBC. Barry has also worked as a Non executive Director for a number of companies and in an interim capacity in major change or business turnaround situations.

Married with an adult son, Barry lives in Baildon, West Yorkshire and when time permits enjoys a wide variety of sport, particularly soccer, cricket and golf all of which helps to keep him fit for running around looking after his two year old granddaughter and another one has just arrived.

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An experienced recruitment and resourcing specialist of many years standing, David brings an in-depth and incisive approach to the most complex of assignments, focusing on leading edge candidate attraction methods, criteria based interview techniques and a detailed understanding of the clients’ business.

David joined Town and Partners in 1998, rising to Managing Consultant soon after, having honed his skills as a consultant at Wetherby. David’s core activities centre on a wide client base ranging from global multi national organisations such as Rolls Royce, Honeywell, Denso, Ideal Standard/Armitage Shanks, and Saint Gobain/Solaglas through to a privately owned businesses and SME’s.

His expertise is broad and he has had strong exposure to a number of sectors including Automotive, Aerospace, Electronics, Food & Drink, Legal, Building Products, FMCG’s, Construction, Packaging, Specialist Vehicles and General Engineering, to name but a few.

He has recruited at every level from Board Director to junior manager in a number of professional disciplines including Operations, Commercial Functions, Finance, Manufacturing, HR and Sales & Marketing as well as successfully completing a number of international assignments in the US and Europe. Additionally, he is a qualified Psychometric Profiler and uses a selection of assessment tools and techniques including Personality Profiling and Motivational Assessment which he uses across the whole client talent management agenda, from recruitment and succession planning activities, through coaching and the internal assessment of employees.

He has also been instrumental in developing a range of bespoke coaching and career guidance programmes for displaced personnel within organisations. These are tailored to a range of individuals from shopfloor workers through to chief executives and are focused on developing appropriate tools and techniques which would be used not only to ensure a successful outcome today, but also during an individual’s entire business career.

A graduate in Marketing and Business Administration and Enterprise, he began his career at ISA International, Europe’s largest distributor of computer consumables, where he was Product Manager for the company’s own label brand portfolio. He later had a successful career at Morphy Richard’s as Group Product Manager, before moving into Consultancy in the late 1990’s.

Married, David lives in Alwoodley and has a twin daughter and son. He is actively involved in community life being a school governor and sitting on a number of charity committees. Additionally he is a keen sportsman playing league table tennis and football.

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After twenty years as a senior HR communications professional, Jenny joined Town and Partners in a non executive capacity to advise on communications, new markets and service delivery in November 2005.

An instinctive people person, with a history of creating winning teams and managing performance to deliver value to shareholders, clients and staff, Jenny is an inspirational and visionary leader with a proven track record of driving sustainable, profitable growth in a multi million pound, fast moving, business services environment. Jenny has resilience and a passion for excellence when it comes to developing business success through exceptional customer service and a challenging yet supportive approach to developing client relationships.

Jenny worked for Euro RSCG Riley for 12 years rising from Agency Director of an embryonic Leeds agency to Group CEO. As the leader of one of the UK’s largest HR communications companies, with a client base comprising many of the country's leading employers, Jenny has experience of a broad range of candidate attraction techniques which she uses to support the Town and Partners professionals in their client work.

A graduate of the University of London and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Jenny is married and lives in Leeds, she has two adult stepsons. Jenny is an Executive Board Director of Investors in People and in her spare time enjoys distance running, travel and interior design.

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Paul brings extensive experience of business transformation, gained from a proven track record at the highest level of some of the world’s leading organisations, to the Lean business practice. Having achieved significant cultural change, rapid financial improvement and market share growth for a diverse range of companies, from international blue chips to smaller, privately owned companies, he moved into consulting in 2005 to head up this exciting and dynamic business practice.

Paul has a sound reputation for inspired creative thinking, visionary leadership and integrity, developing exceptional strategies to transform client companies, leading change and turnaround or re-engineering and re-structuring. Paul offers far more than pure theory based strategic direction, however, preferring to take a ‘sleeves rolled up’ approach to tactical delivery and produce measurable, accountable outcomes.

Taking a completely holistic approach to the application of ‘Lean’ manufacturing principles, Paul works with clients to transform every aspect of their business process and organisational model, acting as a vital part of the team whilst retaining the helicopter view at all times. He takes a fresh approach to tried and trusted business techniques, ensuring that programmes are fit for purpose, easily embedded into the client organisation and sustainable over an appropriate time frame.

As an instinctive communicator and relationship builder, Paul builds trust and respect at all levels within the client organisation, never afraid to challenge and question received practices but keen to exceed both current and future expectations whilst delivering against stretching corporate goals and objectives.

With a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and Membership of the Institute of Management Services, Paul continues to combine a thirst for new knowledge in the field with the desire to ensure successful practical outcomes are achieved.

Married, with three adult children, Paul enjoys a wealth of activities in his little spare time, including golf, walking, reading, travel and current affairs.

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A results driven, proactive and creative HR professional with an exceptional track record in organisational development, change management and industrial relations, Bill has developed a first class HR services practice designed to add value to organisations and individuals.

Before moving into consultancy in 2004, Bill operated as an HR professional at Executive Head of Function level for over 20 years building up an impressive portfolio of sector experience including food, drinks, building materials, automotive manufacturing and retail. With the ability not only to create and author significant strategic intervention through people but also to deliver at a practical, operational level, Bill works with organisations to raise productivity and reduce costs, whether the need is single or multi site, international or based on a specific geography.

With an adaptable yet planned approach, Bill has broad expertise of differing organisational cultures, allowing him to seamlessly complement an existing team whilst retaining that all important third party impartiality, vital when developing and delivering world class HR services.

As a seasoned practitioner in career coaching and guidance, to both individuals and teams, Bill has created a range of bespoke programmes, designed to support and challenge senior executives. Whether searching for a new career opportunity, changing direction or coping with organisational re-structuring these programmes aim to unlock the individual’s unconscious competencies, releasing their true potential for future growth and development.

Bill is an accomplished psychometric assessor and tester, qualified and approved by both Saville and Holdsworth as well as the Oxford Psychology Press. He continues to update and lead thinking in this vital area, devising new and relevant testing and assessments procedures for each client’s specific needs.

A graduate from the University of Liverpool with a Diploma in Management Studies (DMS), Bill is a firm advocate of Continuing Professional Development, enhancing his own skills and those of his clients.

Bill is married with three adult children and enjoys keeping fit in his spare time, running half marathons and walking his dog in the countryside near his Nottingham home.

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As PA to Barry Town, Emma plays a pivotal role at Town and Partners, ensuing that all promises made to clients and candidates are delivered on at every stage of the process. Emma oversees the smooth running of the operation as well as working closely with Barry so that she can keep a careful eye on everything that is going on. It’s a very busy role but one which Emma relishes.
Emma has been with Town and Partners since 2001, having previously worked for a Commercial Chartered Surveyors in Leeds.
Emma lives in Morley with her partner and twenty one month old son. What with taking care of Barry and her little boy, Emma doesn’t get much spare time these days but when she does she enjoys theatre, cinema, salsa dancing and spending time with family and friends.

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Jo plays a vital part in ensuring the successful completion of every assignment carried out by the Managing Consultants and Practice Leaders. As a client or candidate you may often hear her cheerful tones when you ring in to the office for a progress report. Jo helps Emma to keep everything moving along smoothly, allowing the consultants to focus on their assignments.

After working at Yorkshire Television and Asda, Jo joined Town and Partners seven years ago. Jo lives in Morley with her husband and three year old daughter. When she has a moment to herself, she enjoys cooking, foreign travel and socialising with her family and friends.

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