Zircon.

Chris KingAssessment Consultant

Previously in the Army, Chris has had a varied career spanning 4 decades. He is now an assessment consultant and has over 30 years’ experience in selection & leadership development, and assessment centre management within a variety of Government and public sector organisations.

Having worked for Zircon since 2005, Chris is one of the longest standing colleagues of the business and has particular expertise in senior assessment for recruitment and succession. His interests are in selection and development from graduate to CEO level, spanning small size companies up to multi-billion dollar corporations.

His signature strength is Methodical.

Julie LeeBusiness Psychologist

Julie is a business psychologist specialising in assessment for development and supporting business executives in maximising their talent and achieving their aspirations.

She has worked with a number of diverse industries for over 20 years, has an MSc in Occupational Organisational Psychology and has been an associate consultant with Zircon since it was founded in 2000. She is a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and has the expert ability to blend BeTalent with partner assessment tools to create real value for our clients.

Julie is motivated by working with individuals and teams in raising awareness of their strengths and value.

Julie is now based in France and her signature strength is Genuine.

Claire BremmerBusiness Psychologist

Claire first joined Zircon as an associate in 2010 and then rejoined the business in 2020 after a stint away in permanent consultancy roles.

She is an ICF-accredited coach (ACC) and a highly experienced Chartered Occupational Psychologist, with extensive experience in leadership and team development, leadership coaching, group facilitation and in-depth leadership assessment.

A Chartered Member of the Division of Occupational Psychology within the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a Certified Principal Business Psychologist within the Association of Business Psychologists (ABP), Claire has 20+ years’ experience supporting individuals to be their best selves at work and helping organisations to get the best out of their people.

Based in Hertfordshire, Claire’s signature strength is Innovative. 

Katie HumesBusiness Psychologist

Katie is a business psychologist based predominantly in Manchester, with experience in a wide range of industries and business sizes. She has been working with Zircon since 2012, originally as a full-time employee and now more flexibly to support her family and personal requirements.

Katie has an MSc in Occupational Psychology and enjoys applying the principles of psychology to the workplace. As a senior executive assessor, Katie works with candidates to understand their top energisers, their true motivations and what drives them.

She likes to use this strength to find new opportunities to develop people within client organisations and to think of new ways to help people learn.

Katie's signature strength is Innovative.

Dirk PalmBusiness Psychologist

Dirk is a business psychologist with many years of expertise in people assessment, development and organisational research.

He joined Zircon in 2006 and has since become a Business Manager for the firm. He focuses on talent and leadership development, though also finds himself advising businesses on what really matters to their people, such as well-being, hybrid work and how businesses can support their teams to lead them to even better performance.

Dirk is a native German who is based in Barnet, North London, though he works globally and is happy to pack his bag and travel wherever curiosity takes him. He loves gigs and concerts and can be found in small, hot and loud venues in Camden Town as well as the Royal Albert Hall.

His signature strength is Responsible.

Jan de JongeBusiness Psychologist

Jan has been an associate with Zircon since 2013 and is based in the South of England. He is a business psychologist with over two decades of experience in international talent strategy, assessment, people & business development, and leadership & executive coaching.

An Associate Fellow of the Division of Occupational Psychology within the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a Certified Principal Business Psychologist within the Association for Business Psychology (ABP), Jan has over 23 years’ experience in designing and delivering talent strategy initiatives across most continents and all sectors.

With Dutch origins, Jan is a regular international speaker and commentator, straight-talking researcher and published author.

He loves learning languages, and his signature strength is Risk Taker.

Linda LitherlandExecutive Coach

Linda is a leadership coach based in the South East with over 25 years' experience and works with senior leaders and middle managers to enable them in driving strategic success.

Linda’s particular focus is enabling leaders to maximise their potential, step up to the next role, manage and lead high performing teams, and to also identify and remove blockers, risks and flaws.

She has also worked across all areas of the organisational development and talent space to bring about cultural change. Originally a client for over 10 years, Linda joined Zircon as part of the extended delivery team in September 2021 and has been supporting us with leadership capability projects utilising the BeTalent product range.

Her signature strength is Harmoniser.

Harriet YoungExecutive Coach

Harriet Young is an executive coach and professional leader with 25 years of creative and marketing experience in the retail and product sectors. A strategic and organised thinker with a keen eye for identifying talent and a proven track record of developing highly effective teams and leading major strategic initiatives, she coaches others to capitalise on their individual skills and strengths to achieve their career goals.

Harriet was formerly Vice President, Retail Sales and Marketing, heading up the franchise creative teams for Disney Consumer Products (DCP) Europe. Harriet is a distinctly creative individual with an unusual balance of commercial understanding and general management skills. Throughout her career she has advised, supported, and coached many executives and regards this focus on developing talent as key to her successes and achievements.

She enjoys supporting and empowering individuals to innovate and think dynamically. She helps them thrive, adjust to changing market conditions, leverage strengths and develop high performing teams to exceed targets or pioneer change.

Harriet's signature strength is Innovative.

Garvey SeatonExecutive Coach

Garvey is a qualified career and executive coach and former recruiter. Garvey is passionate about helping corporates to develop their talent and helping professionals to maximise their potential.

He delivers his impact through workshops and coaching and has over 10 years’ experience developing and shaping careers across leading corporate institutions. He speaks on topics centred around talent development, behavioural change and inclusion.

Garvey's signature strength is Competitive.

Cara McCarthyExecutive Coach

Cara draws on over 20 years’ experience within industry as a senior HR and talent leader, including over a decade spent in asset management, advising leaders through change and developing people, systems and organisational cultures to enable business performance and growth.

The leaders Cara works with are often navigating both professional and personal transition and are ready to take accountability for their development and growth. Cara partners with them to respond more purposefully to the challenges and opportunities they face and to step into their full leadership potential.

In her work as a team coach, Cara helps teams become strong, healthy and cohesive units that understand how to work together to deliver outstanding and long-lasting results.

Cara previously led the OD, Culture, Learning and Talent function for M&G Investments, a leading international asset management firm. She is a member of the Association for Coaching (AC) and the Henley Centre for Coaching.

Cara's signature strength is Compassionate.

Simon TattersfieldExecutive Coach

Simon is a coach, leadership facilitator and consultant, with over 30 years of experience in senior corporate roles. Passionate about developing talent, Simon works with clients to move past blockers and reach their potential.

Simon is a Certified Professional Coactive Coach, accredited by the ICF and qualified in the BeTalent suite.

Believing deeply in people, Simon helps his clients connect with their goals even when it gets tough. Developing resilience, a growth mindset and treating confidence as an outcome not a requirement are all areas where Simon specialises. Simon loves working with passionate, ambitious clients in a fun, engaging and direct way.

Simon's signature strength is Innovative.

Alison FlowerExecutive Coach

Alison is a highly experienced and commercially focused recruitment, talent, assessment, coaching and development specialist. She has a breadth of experience across multiple business sectors and has supported individuals and companies to enhance their capabilities both when recruiting and developing talent. She has worked on campaigns or with specific individuals across all levels of seniority and has significant experience of advising and collaborating with senior business stakeholders up to Board level.

Her positive, non-judgemental approach encourages individuals to believe in themselves and to openly discuss difficult topics. Her intuitive, observant style coupled with a subtly challenging and creative questioning style allows for an empathetic environment and allows others to identify new possibilities and engenders a ‘can do’ attitude.

Alison’s signature strength is Methodical.

Tom EmeryExecutive Coach

Tom is an executive coach and organisational development expert with extensive leadership experience from a long career in leading people functions and operating at C-suite level. He understands the challenge facing executives and senior leaders and is adept in exploring systems, strengths, development areas, and relationships to encourage positive cognitive and behavioural change.

Tom’s particular focus is on enabling leaders to build an understanding of how their beliefs and behaviours are contributing to their performance and relationships, and how they can take positive action to break through barriers and achieve their goals. He is accredited to use the Hogan Development Survey and the suite of BeTalent products.

His signature strength is Energising.