Hemsley Fraser’s Directors

Hemsley Fraser’s directors are committed to learning which transforms the confidence, performance and motivation of people in their working lives. They believe that by working to understand your people and organisation Hemsley Fraser’s learning solutions will deliver immediate, tangible results back in the workplace.

Todd Turner - Chief Executive Officer

Todd Turner

Todd joined Hemsley Fraser's US incorporated Group in 2006 as Senior Vice President, where he was instrumental in building a small learning solutions arm of a UK company to a substantial division in its own right, creating a Federal government consulting practice and increasing annual revenue well over 8 fold in a 4-year period. In 2009, he took on the position of President of the Hemsley Fraser US Group and added global responsibilities as the Director of Strategy for Hemsley Fraser International. As of 2011, Todd serves as CEO for Hemsley Fraser's global operation, as well as head of global consulting services for parent company Demos Group. Todd serves as a member of the Demos Operational Board.

Before joining Hemsley Fraser, Todd served in the US government's prestigious Senior Executive Service, the top tier of career civil servants. As Director of Human Capital Management for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the US government's third largest federal agency, he was responsible for leading all aspects of the agency's human capital operation, including human capital strategy, policy, training and development, and HR information technology. Prior to DHS, Todd served as the Director of Human Resources Enterprise Solutions for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, with responsibility for all human capital information technology, payroll services and organisational development, including design and implementation of a web-based ERP system for the 160,000 employee organisation.

Todd has a passion for helping organisations and individuals to 'think beyond learning' - to go beyond what they thought was possible and to use learning as a way to embrace change and breakthrough performance as a way of life. He successfully encourages creative problem solving and teamwork and has built a diverse, highly motivated, and productive workforce everywhere he has worked. Todd has a BS Degree from Clemson University in South Carolina and completed executive training at the U.S. Government's prestigious Federal Executive Institute.

In his spare time, Todd usually can be found somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean where he plans to write his own sequel to "Up in the Air..."

Wendy Brooks BA, MSc, FRSA - Director of Learning Solutions

Wendy Brooks

Wendy spearheads our change management and innovation initiatives. Continuing to develop our capabilities is such a strategically central priority within Hemsley Fraser that it has board level representation. Wendy's role is far reaching and includes working on strategic client opportunities, supporting the research and development of new capabilities and providing focus on key change initiatives that need to be implemented across the business.

We all know that change is here to stay – we tell our clients this and we live by it as well. Hemsley Fraser is working as a company to stay at the forefront of the field of learning, to continue to develop leading edge capabilities and quality solutions that can be delivered to clients as fast and efficiently as possible.

Wendy’s background is in leadership development and change management, where she has worked with a number of blue chip organisations as an advisor and leader of client teams. In her earlier career, she has been a Head of Department and Dean, where she founded a Department of Design Management, growing it to become the largest in Europe, backed by considerable private and public sector sponsorship. She has been the Director of Education & Training for the Design Council and has worked in marketing consultancy and merchant banking.

Wendy describes her greatest pleasure as seeing people being able to do new things and achieve beyond what they thought was possible. The privilege of working in Hemsley Fraser is that the business is all about developing people so that they, and the organisations for whom they work, can benefit and as is so often the case, this also has a positive effect on their personal lives as well.

Wendy enjoys gardening, music (as a performer and member of the audience) and some gentle yoga (any more could be dangerous!).

Sally Hurrell - Director of Operations

Sally Hurrell

Sally joined Hemsley Fraser in March 1998, since which time she has been involved with a number of strategic initiatives including leading the business through the transition period between ISO 9000:1994 and ISO 9001:2000 and the establishment of a Project Support Office.

Having qualified as a bi-lingual secretary, Sally’s early career was closely linked to learning, initially within a local primary school working with children with learning difficulties. She then moved into a role in educational publishing, developing and designing workbooks, reference materials and assessment aids aimed at supporting both teachers and students through the introduction of the National Curriculum. This involved a high degree of interaction with many Head Teachers across the country, at a time when they were struggling to come to terms with what the introduction of a ‘national’ curriculum meant for them in reality.

As you would expect from someone used to the ethos of ISO9001 – Sally’s interests lie very much with improving internal working practices, encouraging individuals to challenge the norm and learn from mistakes in the drive to achieve greater efficiencies both for Hemsley Fraser and clients alike.

When not at work Sally loves to spend time with her family - with 3 children and 3 grandchildren (not to mention her long suffering husband) life is never dull. On the rare occasions when her family are gainfully occupied, she likes nothing better than to curl up with a good book.

Jim Thacher - Director of Sales

Jim Thacher

Jim is Head of Global Sales for Hemsley Fraser. Having first joined Hemsley Fraser in 2006 as Director of Sales for North and South America, he has since taken on the global role of leading and managing our worldwide business development efforts. Jim leads an international business development team responsible for supporting a diverse client base, ranging from mid-size to Global Fortune 500 multi-national organisations across many industry sectors. Jim’s aim is to assist our clients in improving their business results through lifting the performance of their employees. Jim also works with several key Hemsley Fraser clients such as Schlumberger, AstraZeneca, BP and AkzoNobel, advising them on strategic and enterprise-wide learning and performance management solutions.

Prior to joining Hemsley Fraser, Jim was with the Forum Corporation, where he held several positions including SVP, Director of Outsourced Accounts and National Account Director for strategic accounts that included; The Coca-Cola Company, Vanguard Financial Services, Quintiles Transnational, KPMG Canada, and GSK. Earlier in his career, Jim was a Senior Vice President with the HSBC Bank USA, where he developed the bank’s first Financial Planning and Brokerage sales force and directed several functions including Marketing and Corporate Training and Development. He also served as a senior consultant and training manager at both Prudential Insurance and J.C. Penney.

Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Muhlenberg College and pursued a Master’s Degree at Columbia University in Organisational Development. He is also a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and holds several securities licenses, has presented at ASTD, is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group and is an Elder in his church.

Jim believes in the importance of providing insight along with information. He meets clients where they are and invests in them and their priorities, never over-engineering solutions or making them too large or complex. Jim believes in the value of teamwork. His clients learn just as the baseball teams that he coaches - how to inspire with energy and creativity, achieve results through hard work, and make the learning experience fun for everyone.

Rémi Blet - Chief Financial Director

Rémi Blet

Rémi joined Hemsley Fraser as Chief Financial Officer in August 2011. He began working for Demos Group in Paris as an International Financial Controller in 2010 where his role was to improve the financial processes of Demos's international subsidiaries.

Rémi has a Master's degree from EM Lyon Business School and graduated from Toulouse University with a Political Science degree. His career in finance began as an auditor at Finexsi where he had the opportunity to work on various projects including M&A, valuation and Sox compliance. He has also held finance positions in multinational firms such as Teleperformance and Konica-Minolta.

Rémi spends most of his spare time with his family and is always surprised to see his young daughter growing so fast. He also enjoys listening to jazz music and finding nice restaurants to eat in.

Sophie Hart - Executive Assistant to the Directors

Sophie Hart

Sophie joined Hemsley Fraser in 2007 and has worked in a variety of administration and support roles including Customer Experience Coordinator, Quality Coordinator and arranging travel and accommodation for the group.

Sophie became Executive Assistant to the Hemsley Fraser Directors in May 2011 and is thriving in the role. She particularly enjoys overcoming the daily challenges the role presents. "I never get bored in my role and enjoy liaising with Hemsley Fraser's partners and suppliers". When not in work Sophie enjoys socialising, walking her dog 'Dylan' and relaxing with a glass of rose wine.