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ABOUT BIRCH CONSULTING GROUP

Birch Consulting Group, established in September 2003, specialise in the development and delivery of finance for non-financial managers training, as well as providing executive coaching, leadership and management development, change management, mentoring and career development programs.

Since its inception, Birch Consulting Group have worked on a number of projects and training for a range of clients including: the Australian Institute of Management, Monash University, World Wide Fund for Nature, StarHub Ltd, National Archives of Australia, Right Management Consultants, Linatex, GE Commercial, Pacific Premium Funding, and Sustainability Victoria.

Philosophy and Overall Approach

	At Birch Consulting Group we believe in working in partnership with our clients. We want to meet and exceed your needs. Our success is your success.
	Being responsive. We will ensure that you have access to us at all times and we pride ourselves in getting back to you in a timely manner and always meeting agreed deadlines.
	We do not try to sell you what you do not want or need. We believe in long term relationships. We endeavour to be leading edge in our chosen areas of consulting and if we are not the most effective consultancy to meet your needs, we will tell you and if possible, work with you to find a better solution/alternative provider.
	Being approachable and honest. We value honest and open relationships. We want you to feel that you can trust us.

Key Team Members

	Cherry Birch has considerable experience in organisational consulting and management development, coupled with a strong financial background gained through qualifying and practising as a Chartered Accountant
	For the last 16 years, she has primarily focussed on the areas of executive coaching, leadership, change management, career management and general management development, gaining international experience through working and living in the UK and SE Asia before moving to Australia
	Cherry is currently providing executive coaching to CEOs, executives and senior managers. She sits on the Executive Coaching Panel of the Australian Institute of Management, coaches a number of partners in law firms and acts as the external coach and HR adviser to one professional firm
	She is an English Chartered Accountant, a former partner in a firm in London and was a senior tutor for 4 years at PA Consulting's management development centre, Sundridge Park, in the UK followed by a further 4 years in SE Asia, based in Malaysia
	Cherry has delivered courses in the UK, Switzerland, Sweden, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Thailand, India, Korea, Macau, Hong Kong, PNG and Australia
	Recent assignments include;
		Conducting a Training Needs Analysis, then designing and rolling out totally customised Finance Training for the top 265 senior managers at Monash University
		Designing and running 4 x 2.5 hour workshops for the partners and senior associates of a law firm on Delegation, Feedback, Performance Reviews and Coaching
		Designing a workshop to be delivered in house by a bank to explain their Customer Profitability Reports to their Business Development Managers in their Pacific region. This assignment centred around Activity Based Costing
		Running 3 half day workshops to brief the mentors and mentees at the start of an Oil MNC's annual graduate mentoring program
		Running fun finance training workshops for the National Archives of Australia in Canberra.

Graeme Skinner, an associate of Birch Consulting Group, recently commenced his own business solutions business after a career of more than 30 years in the finance industry in various senior management roles. Having completed numerous training programs including the Leadership Development Program (Monash); Achieving Business Impact (GE Crotonville) & the Omega Lending program; Graeme specialised in Risk and Collections management and has lead numerous projects and process flow reviews to maximise efficiency and effectiveness.

A logical & lateral thinker, with excellent analysis & evaluation skills he is adept at expense & cost control; increasing Net Income as well as developing strategies & training staff to maximise efficiency & effectiveness.

Born into a business family, Graeme has been involved in all facets of business, enhanced by operating his own Mercantile Agency & Consultancy/Training business for 5 years.

Community minded Graeme has continually been involved in community support programs previously being leader for the National Volunteers program for Pacific (GE Capital) & ongoing involvement in numerous community events outside of his employment.

Barb has over 25 years of experience in senior and international HR roles in the financial services industry with Reserve Bank of NZ, National Westminster Bank in both NZ and London, National Mutual Bank and at ANZ where she had with a strong focus on International HR, and in particular the Asia Pacific region. She worked as a member of Divisional leadership teams with a broad range of responsibilities including HR and training strategy, planning and budget management, organisational development, change management, performance management, remuneration and rewards, and succession, talent, graduate and career management

Barb works with clients to develop and deliver HR, Learning and Development and Career Management solutions across a broad range of organisations and industries. Her focus is on working collaboratively with business partners and applying rigorous project management capabilities to improve both individual and company performance.

Cherry Birch's career highlights in the area of finance training include working with organisations such as Australian Institute of Management, China Light & Power (Hong Kong), Texas Instruments and World Wide Fund for Nature.

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