About Us

Jigsaw@work are award winning learning and development consultants based on the prestigious Nostell Estate in West Yorkshire.

Following a working partnership in the voluntary sector Michelle and Keith Nicholson, the Principal Learning Consultants and creators of the Jigsaw@work discovery tool, formally came together in September 2000 to create what is now one of the UK's leading providers of learning solutions.

Jigsaw@work clients include: HBOS, Royal Air Force, Health & Safety Executive, Thames Valley Police, Oxford University, BAE Systems, Tecom, Newcastle City Council and Cambridge Assessment.

In April 2006, following 6 years of development Jigsaw@work discovery tool was launched into the training market and made available to in house and independent training consultants under license.

Today Jigsaw@work has developed a team of facilitators with a wealth of experience in people and organisational development.

Meet the Team

Michelle McArthur - Founding Partner

Michelle has over twenty years experience in the hospitality and leisure industry, working in operations positions before moving into management. Upon completing her professional management qualifications Michelle held several senior manager positions within the industry. It was whilst working in the hospitality industry that Michelle's passion for people development began, as she was responsible for the management and training of customer facing teams in an industry which is renowned for long working hours, poor pay, low staff retention and morale.

Whilst working in the hospitality industry, Michelle studied with the Open University gaining a degree in Psychology and a diploma in Sociology.

Michelle is a devoted learner and continues to study with the Open University and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and development, ensuring that she keeps up to date with the latest thinking in the field of leadership and Psychology.

Michelle is a gifted communicator who excels at listening to the client and probing for information to which the client often believes they do not have the answers. This enables Michelle to find the real issues facing an organisation, which she is then able to convert to learning needs and opportunities and ultimately providing an appropriate solution.

Keith Nicholson - Founding Partner

Keith started his career working for a subsidiary of a major bank in a field sales capacity, and has gained experience of sales and customer management in a number of varied positions and market places. For ten years he was the Operations Director of a retail organisation before returning to the business-to-business environment working for such companies as Regma, Bell & Howell and latterly Kodak. It is these experiences, which allow Keith to relate to the challenges facing our client organisations.

Keith is the creative brain behind the business as he so aptly demonstrated on many occasions:

It was Keith who originated the idea of using Jigsaws as the delivery mechanism for the discovery tool.

Keith is also the creator, behind many of the learning games and activities which are developed as part of Jigsaw@work bespoke learning solutions.

Keith is a great believer in the power of stories. He has a natural ability to illustrate the learning with stories he can recall from his life experiences. Keith's stories are told straight from the heart and ignite the passion and imagination of the participants.

William Chadwick

William is our Equality, Diversity and HR Specialist.

William was previously the National Training Manager for the Equalities Commission and has over 20 years experience engaged in equality and diversity work.

Whilst working at the commission, William was responsible for training all staff in equality legislation within very clear Investors in People framework. The commission staff included senior management, technical staff, solicitors, caseworkers, administrative staff and non-clerical associates.

Since leaving the commission, William has worked across many sectors delivering training on all statues, sometimes from an employment perspective, sometimes from a customer care perspective and many times both.

Drummond Baird Small

Drummond is our Sales & Marketing specialist and has extensive experience working with senior management in global organisations.

Drummond worked for the Scottish Development Agency, and was responsible for the economic development in the non-highland area of Scotland. Initially Drummond worked with the Small Business Division and later with the Planning and Projects Directorate; he was responsible for implementing major national strategic sectorial studies including electronics, healthcare, biotechnology, food processing, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and natural resources.

After leaving the Scottish Development Agency, Drummond was responsible for the business development of Fintrac Consulting Ltd within Scotland and Ireland. During his four years in post he increased the turnover threefold, by winning major projects in both the public and private sectors.

For the last ten years Drummond has worked in a management and training consultancy role, designing and delivering learning programmes across the world.

Sian Mathews

Sian is a motivational consultant with a wealth of experience working with and inspiring organisations to effect positive change using a unique synthesis of analytical skills and the development of powerful, constructive and creative relationships with individuals at all levels.

Sian secured and led a £1.5million leadership development programme with an EU organisation. Increased profitability by 50% due to which innovative programme design and fee structure.

Sian has also achieved a high profile reputation on a pan-European basis in the field of women's development. Keynote speaker at conferences, initiator of national networks for organisations, coach and designer and developer of open learning programmes.

Sians career has taken her from working as a schoolteacher in Leicestershire to working with the BBC as a lead consultant on their global training programme, being an organisational development consultant with the Office of Public management and latterly working as a management development consultant at the Cranfield School of Management.

Jigsaw@work goes global

In September 2007, the first overseas partnership was established in the UAE, with People Plus, a Dubai based learning consultancy, who operate throughout the Gulf region.

In January 2008, the second overseas partnership will be launched in Sydney, Australia.