Year One Consulting was set up in 2006 by wife and husband team Mary Ann and Tim le Lean. We focussed initially on arts organisations who did not have the capacity or resources to have permanent, in-house people management or organisational development expertise, but who still wanted good quality advice based on practical experience that keeps pace with new developments in the field.
We expanded into the higher education sector in response to requests and recommendations, and soon found that working in higher education had much in common with working in the arts. Both sectors produce ideas and experiences, and employ people who identify personally and passionately with what they do at work. Both sectors operate within a world where some groups totally appreciate what they do, and some groups need additional encouragement to engage with them.
While Tim remains a Director of the company, he stepped out of the day to day side of the business in 2016 to lead Tavistock Consulting, within the NHS Tavistock & Portman Trust, and Mary Ann stepped into the Managing Director role. She has expanded our pool of Associate Consultants and Coaches, and continues to navigate a path that allows the whole team to bring their best to their Year One Consulting work, and allows us all to continually learn about ourselves, our sectors, and our clients’ needs.
We started out in East Kent with offices in Folkestone and then Canterbury, and we now work virtually across the UK.
We are proud to have built such a great team at Year One Consulting, and still keep in regular touch with past team members. Former employees have gone on to exciting things, including performance poetry, theatre administration, theatre production, and higher education management.
With more than a decade’s experience of running Year One Consulting, we’re excited to see what we can achieve in the years to come.