Expert Trainers for Business Support
Zee Associates was founded in 1995 to meet the growing demand for training & development for professional secretarial and business support staff.
Our consultancy has grown because we are experts in our field - each consultant has personal experience of the environment of our clients, and of the topics they each specialise in and train on.
Click here to view our list of trainers>>
Our programmes are highly interactive and participants learn through doing rather than by `being told`. We aim for all our participants to gain personally as well as professionally from our courses and offer an environment that is conducive to learning.
We are proud of our reputation for achieving results: 95% of our clients use us repeatedly and most new clients come to us through `word of mouth` and personal recommendation.
We can offer your organisation a range of services and courses that will meet all your training needs but if you do not find what you are looking for in our course list and would like a course designed specifically for your organisation we would be delighted to help.
Our speciality: We are experienced in all areas of soft-skills training for professionals but we are also one of a select niche of firms specialising in skills, knowledge and career development for secretaries, PAs and business support staff.
Each course is individually tailored to reflect the corporate identity and business aims of our clients and all courses are delivered in-house to ensure minimum disruption to the day.
Our range: Professional development courses to reflect the needs of the marketplace including communication skills, management and assertiveness training, time and stress management and people management. We also offer consultancy on a variety of HR and training issues such as staff appraisals, training policies and processes.
Our aim: To help our clients and participants achieve their business and personal goals by delivering value courses that are tailored, relevant, inspirational, motivational and effective. All of our courses have a high interactive content.
Des Whitehorn
Training Principal
Our trainers
Our consultancy has grown because we are experts in our field - each consultant has personal experience of the environment of our clients, and of the specialist topics they train in.
Click on the following links to view a profile of each trainer:
All of our consultants are firm believers that the best way for participants to learn is through practical experience. We are all consultants who are experts in the areas of professional development in which we train.
This means that you always get the best consultant for your training need.
Des Whitehorn
Training Principal of Zee Associates. Des started Zee Associates in 1995 and the firm now offers consultancy and over 52 tailored courses covering a wide range of skills development.
Background:
Des has many years' experience within the legal sector: in senior secretarial positions (most recently at Nabarro Nathanson as the Senior Partner's PA for ten years); as an in-house trainer for four years; and as a management consultant for the last decade.
Experience:
Des has worked with very many of the country's top law firms, both large and small, and some public sector organisations. She is a well-known adviser to many leading professional service firms and has written a number of articles for professional journals including the Law Society Magazine and the Business Law Review and the journal of the institute of Legal Secretaries.
Approach and specialism:
Her motivational, understanding and inspirational training style; her personal knowledge of her specialist sector; and her ability to empathise and identify with her participants makes her the first choice for many firms requiring personal skills training. Her focus is on the career and development of secretarial and support staff; building working relationships; and personal effectiveness.
Major clients include:
BDO Stoy Hayward, Burges Salmon, Dickinson Dees, Wragge & Co, Mills & Reeve, Osborne Clarke
Words of wisdom:
"The only person who stops you doing what you want to do, is you."
Judith Di-Castri
Professional Communication Skills Consultant Trainer with Zee Associates
Background:
Judith has worked in secretarial and administration; sales as a sales executive and manager; and training and development as a trainer and consultant.
Experience:
She has 20 years' experience as a trainer (five years as an in-house trainer and 15 years as a freelance trainer). As part of her consultancy role, Judith is often asked to review and assess existing courses for Europe's largest training provider. Judith specialises in Business Writing, and was commissioned by the Law Society magazine to write a series of articles for them on writing plain English.
Approach and specialism:
Judith's enthusiastic, down-to-earth style of training involves helping people to look at what they do now and how to do it better by making realistic changes. This helps her participants leave with the confidence 'to give it a go'. Judith has developed the Proofreading courses for secretaries and trainees and has also developed the note-taking courses for graduates and newly qualifieds.
Major clients include:
AYH plc, Bird & Bird, Dechert, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Saffery Champness, S J Berwin
Words of wisdom:
“Small changes make a big difference.”
Val Tyler
Consultant Trainer with Zee Associates
Background:
Val has many years experience as a secretary (legal and medical), and as an IT Systems Supervisor. Following seven years as a journalist on local and national newspapers, and a career in radio journalism, Val discovered the world of training in 1991.
Experience:
Val is a Member of the International Stress Management Association (ISMA). She is a regular speaker at Crème, Crème de la Crème, and Crème Fresh at Olympia since 1994. She has published articles in Office Secretary and Executive Secretary magazines; and has directed and produced three training videos since 1996.
Approach and specialism:
Her valuable years of management experience combines with her journalistic background to ensure that she builds excellent communication skills training into the courses she delivers. Val's humorous, practical approach to training makes every event enjoyable and memorable. Participants get a great deal from the sessions and take away many relevant action points. As an accredited Strengths Deployment Inventory (SDI) Adviser, and superb communicator her focus is on stress management and time management courses. She also specialises in Training the Trainer programmes and Instructional Skills for IT Trainers.
Major clients include:
Clarke Willmott, Hewitson Becke & Shaw, Hewitts, Smith & Williamson, Thompsons
Words of wisdom:
"Anything is possible with a positive mind."
Isobel Trumper
Consultant Trainer with Zee Associates
Background:
Isobel worked as a freelance and in-house translator and interpreter with multinational corporations for many years. She then became involved in training and personal development as a lecturer and training consultant.
Experience:
Isobel has a number of years' experience in both the public and private sectors, more recently with the Employment Services delivering courses to develop Job Search Skills. As well as her work as a freelance trainer, she is also currently involved in several government initiatives developing and delivering training programmes to upgrade skills in the workplace.
Approach and specialism:
Her practical and enthusiastic approach to training focuses on the individual's needs and she offers time, encouragement and support at every stage. Isobel's experience of working with a very varied range of clients ensures an emphasis on personal motivation and clear communication. Her specialist areas are business writing and grammar workshops, CV preparation and interview skills.
Major clients include:
Berwin Leighton Paisner, Ernst & Young, Hadens, H W Fisher & Co
Words of wisdom:
"Take time to think: it's the source of power."
Kate Hendrick
Consultant Trainer with Zee Associates
Background:
Kate was a teacher before her 14 years' experience as an in-house trainer, and has now been a freelance training consultant for three and a half years.
Experience:
Kate's in-house training experience with insurance companies and retail companies; and three years as Training Manager of law firm Beachcroft Wansbroughs has given Kate a wealth of experience in developing business leaders. Currently Kate delivers Institute of Leadership and Management programmes, on behalf of a number of further education organisations.
Approach and specialism:
Kate has a commitment to a learner focused approach and firmly believes that responsibility, and motivation, for learning is developed within each participant. Consequently her programmes are very interactive. She specialises in leadership and team building skills; communication and presentation skills; plus management development.
Major clients include:
Law South, College of Law, Irwin Mitchell, Wiltshire College
Words of wisdom:
"I'm sure that mountain's not as high as it looks!"
Bill Carpenter
Consultant Trainer with Zee Associates
Background:
Bill is a Chartered Engineer with 15 years' experience in the Aerospace Industry as a development engineer, project manager and training manager.
Experience:
As a training consultant, Bill has worked in the UK and abroad in a wide variety of public and private sector organisations including the finance, legal, IT, government, engineering, education, health and housing sectors.
Approach and specialism:
Bill's patient, approachable, interactive coaching style enables participants to learn from their own experiences and discover new ways of doing things which will actually work in their particular context. His infectious enthusiasm for people and ways of managing and leading them to get the best from and for them encourages those with whom he works to make a real difference for themselves and their organisations.
Major clients include:
Nabarro, SJBerwin, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust, University of East London, Watson Marlow
Words of wisdom:
"What are you going to do to make a difference?"