The Catalyze Team
At Catalyze we have a strong experienced team of consultants, facilitators, decision scientists and software engineers. The depth of this team allows us to apply the most appropriate resource to meet our clients’ requirements.
Dr Kevin Bossley
Kevin is Managing Director of Catalyze. He helps organisations with a wide range of portfolio planning and management challenges, such as strategic balance of investment; rationalising and delivering large R&D portfolios; developing operating plans; setting up portfolio governance structures and financial management methods; and generally helping to develop and mature the PMO. He has a degree in cybernetics and control engineering and a doctorate from Southampton University’s Electronic and Computer Science Department, and is on the committee of the OR Society’s decision analysis special interest group (DASIG).
Bob Kitchen
Bob is the founder and Financial Director of Catalyze, and a Director of the Catalyze Employee Ownership Trust. He brings over 30 years experience in the consulting business holding a number of senior management positions including business consulting, innovation, strategic planning and new market development. Before starting Catalyze in 2001 Bob was a Partner and Director in Hewlett-Packard’s European Consulting business. Bob enjoys using his experience and skills to help clients in realising the potential of their organisations. He holds a degree in Engineering, is a Member of the IET and an active Member of the International Decision Conference Forum (IDCF).
Patrick Warburton
Patrick is a Managing Consultant at Catalyze and a Director of the Catalyze Employee Ownership Trust. He helps clients design, structure and embed decision-making processes, covering data collection, data analysis and management, MI and business intelligence. He has undertaken a broad range of consulting roles within the UK MoD and major Financial Service institutions on business transformation and software implementation. Patrick also leads the development of the Catalyze strategic portfolio prioritisation and management toolset. He has a Masters degree in Strategic Entrepreneurship and an Honours degree in Management Sciences from the University of Southampton.
Ben White
Ben is a Managing Consultant at Catalyze. He specialises in helping clients achieve their strategic objectives, through the definition and delivery of transformational change. His skills and experience enable clients to establish successful change portfolios and programmes, incorporating the core Catalyze capabilities of portfolio prioritisation and strategic decision making. He has over 20 years of experience across the Defence, Aerospace and Transport sectors, in management consulting, business development, programme management and engineering roles. Ben has an Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brunel University and is proud to have previously been the BAE Systems Technical Authority for the Propulsion System in the Harrier Aircraft.
Will Jones
Will is a Managing Consultant and Lead Analyst at Catalyze. He combines strong analytic skills developed in scientific research with project knowledge from working in the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory with roles including postings to MOD Main Building, Permanent Joint Headquarters, UK Missile Defence Centre and as the UK Exchange Scientist at the US Joint National Integration Centre. His final role in Dstl was to lead the creation of a team of Science Gateways within Navy Command to support the Navy’s tasking and exploitation of scientific research. He leads analysis in Navy Command including the redesigning of the Navy Command Capability Audit and portfolio wide Balance of Investment. Will has a Masters in Mathematics from Oxford University, is a chartered Mathematician and Member of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.
Dr Grace O’Connor
Grace is a Senior Analyst and Consultant at Catalyze. Her main roles include problem structuring, process design, data analysis, management information, and tool design, development, validation and verification. She has worked on a wide range of engagements and combines strong analysis skills developed in scientific research with a broad base of consulting experience. Grace is a certified practitioner of Management of Portfolios (MoP) and has recently worked to help embed Project, Programme and Portfolio management at Army HQ. Grace has a PhD and MSci in Astrophysics.
Dr Tim Gardener
Tim is a Managing Consultant with Catalyze and leads Catalyze’s work in health. Tim has delivered successful projects for NHS commissioners, for providers of health care and for NHS England. Tim joined Catalyze from Capita where he designed and developed the NHS model to support health and care systems to plan their urgent and emergency care more strategically. Tim is a highly qualified mathematician with a doctorate from the University of Oxford. He started his career as a lecturer at Oxford before moving to the civil service and then into consulting. Tim is skilled in the application of quantitative techniques blended with the softer qualitative techniques that are essential for successful transformation.
David Payne
David is an Analyst at Catalyze. His skills and experience include strategic planning, financial modelling and data analysis, including the use of Power BI. David helps deliver and support a wide range of projects and also assists with the development of Catalyze’s strategic portfolio prioritisation and management toolset. David has worked on projects across different areas of the MoD, the NHS and with a global life-science business. Prior to joining Catalyze, David was a Strategic Planning and Pricing Analyst at the cruise company Carnival UK. He holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Southampton.
Pete Thurston
Pete is a Managing Consultant at Catalyze. He has extensive experience leading major transformation and outsourcing programmes. This included the design and delivery of a finance and capability transformation programme and a £200M technical and airfield enabling outsourcing programme. Latterly, Pete established and led the Royal Air Force’s principal transformation programme, which sought to improve output by innovation, digitisation and automation. Pete served 27 years in the RAF and retired as a Group Captain. As a Portfolio, Programmes and Projects specialist, Pete helps clients design and embed improved strategic portfolio management processes, governance and tools. Pete has a Masters degree in Operations Management from Manchester Business School and an Honours degree in Politics from Loughborough University.
Andy Nye
Andy is a Senior Analyst and Consultant at Catalyze. Using his mathematical and analytical background. He helps clients understand their data by applying a wide range of techniques to prepare, analyse, document and present findings to a Senior level audience (e.g. to seek approval for a Business Case). He has undertaken a broad range of consulting roles within the UK MoD including DE&S, FLCs, CAAS and Dstl covering decision support, cost modelling and analysis, and software development. Andy is an advanced user of Microsoft Excel and VBA, including the ability to design, develop and assure (e.g. Verification and Validation) spreadsheet based models. He has a Masters (MSci) degree in Mathematics with Statistics from the University of Bristol.
Michele Crossman
Michele is a Principal Consultant at Catalyze. She has experience of strategic planning, governance, change management and operational delivery. Her strengths are in stakeholder management within complex and ambiguous environments. Michele has undertaken a range of consulting roles while employed in Atkins Nuclear and Defence sectors. Previously, she served in the Royal Air Force for 24 years mostly within strategic planning and strategy development. Her work in forming the Defence Logistic Strategy underpinned the multibillion-pound Defence Support Transformation Programme. She has a Masters degree in Logistic Management and is a practitioner is Managing Successful Programmes and AgilePM.
Chris Palmer
Chris is a Senior Consultant at Catalyze and joined the company in March 2020 after careers at Rolls-Royce Plc and the Royal Air Force. He supports clients with strategy, programme management, risk management and stakeholder management. During his 16 years in the RAF Chris led teams of engineers on the Harrier ‘jump jet’ and Puma tactical support helicopter in the UK, Europe, USA and the Middle East. In various HQ roles he worked on engineering transformation, finance and strategic planning, and more recently with recruitment and retention initiatives for key skilled technical staff. Chris is a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council(UK) and volunteers to interview applicants for their Chartered status. Chris has a MBA from the Open University and a Batchelors degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire.
Dan Scadding
Dan is a Senior Analyst at Catalyze. He has previously worked for the MOD on the Engineering Graduate scheme and then working in both the Air and Maritime domains as a cost forecaster. His skills developed during this time include verification and validation of Excel based models and modelling and presenting alternative credible costs to challenge the delivery teams forecast. Dan has a Masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics with Aerodynamics.
Jane Drysdale
Jane is Operations Manager of Catalyze, and a Director of the Catalyze Employee Ownership Trust. She has over 30 years experience in defence consultancy combining a technical analysis background with business management. Jane has an Engineering degree and has had a varied career, from ammunition and ship trials, capability analysis for MOD in Whitehall through to negotiating contracts with multiple stakeholders. Before joining Catalyze Jane was General Manager for Polaris Consulting for 15 years. Jane enjoys applying her commercial and analytical background to the running of business operations.
Claire Spencer
Claire is a Principal Consultant at Catalyze. She has over 20 years experience in various business sectors, applying her analytical and people-oriented skill sets that stemmed from her BSc(Hons) Psychology with Statistics to useful effect in a variety of contexts. These include workforce planning, analysis & modelling, learning & development, programme & change management, business process improvement, system development and information management. With such wide-ranging experience Claire is able to see linkages between apparently disparate activities and propose alternate paths.
Adrian Harris
Ady is Office Manager at Catalyze. Ady joined Catalyze in 2018 having previously worked as Distribution Office Manager at Vitacress Salads. He has diplomas in Business Management and Administration Management. Ady spent 24 years in the British Army as a Musician performing at high profile events in the UK and overseas.
James Harris
James in as an associate at Catalyze. He is an experienced defence and business executive, working at the highest levels of the defence industry and the MOD with a 20 year track record of delivering industry and MOD projects to challenging performance, time and cost constraints. He has recently completed leading the development of the Information Activities and Outreach Operating Model, having previously lead the development of the Army HQ Business Operating Model.
Our Partners in Asia Pacific
Catalyze Asia Pacific is led by Paul Gordon, CEO and Technical Director and Edward Poot, Director New Zealand. Paul and Edward are supported by a versatile team of experts and consultants.
Paul Gordon
Paul is a highly accomplished business leader with over 13 years’ experience in consulting. He has worked in a wide range of sectors and particularly extensively with the Defence sector in Australia, NZ, the UK and elsewhere over the past 13 years, involved in facilitating many key decision points for major programmes and strategic planning initiatives. Paul is committed to changing the way organisations make strategic decisions – to collaborative, value-focused decision-making with clear, open communication – and frequently works with top teams in the public and private sectors to facilitate decision-making.
Edward Poot
Edward has been the Principal Consultant at Catalyze for the last five years and leads the New Zealand work. Edward has skills in assisting groups make complex decisions in a wide range of contexts and settings and regularly leads Catalyze engagements with large organisations and groups of diverse stakeholders. Edward brings experience in advising Ministers through appointments in Ministers’ offices and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet