Oakland Associates are not only chosen for their very unique business skills and competencies, they are also chosen for their rich experience in the world of people development. All of them are professionals in the truest sense and own and run their own companies which provide them with the valuable and added dimension of commercial awareness. We are individually, and as a team, highly dedicated and we have one clear intention in mind: to bring lasting and positive change to the people and the organisations we work with. The team consists of:

John Fargin. After an early career in retail management and consumer goods sales, John joined Hallmark, the world’s largest greeting card company. Starting in sales and progressing through retail development, John became Development Director, Marketing Services Director and finally UK Managing Director in the early 90s. A period of self employed consultancy, including retail operations and career consulting work, led him to Penna plc, one of the UK’s largest HR Consulting Groups.

Initially delivering career coaching to senior managers, John joined the board of principle company Sanders & Sidney and held posts including UK Operations Director and Director of Business Architecture for the Penna Group.

John is a highly respected and sought after consultant and executive coach who brings with him a wealth of ‘hands on experience’ gained in a competitive and challenging market place.

Contact John at J.Fargin@oaklandtraining.co.uk

Diana Hogbin is proficient at achieving change for individuals, teams and organizations. She specializes in the disciplines of talent management, career development and people-based change to achieve continuous improvement for her clients. She is an expert in the design and delivery of talent and career solutions particularly talent engagement, talent retention and career development. Her people-based change management expertise ranges from consulting through to implementation, with particular emphasis on the role of communication. Diana's work is underpinned by her core capabilities of consultant, facilitator, trainer and coach to support organising achieve on-going continuous improvement.

Diana has worked for global, European as well as locally based client organizations in a variety of industries, including, but not limited to retail, pharmaceutical, financial services, manufacturing, media, professional services, utilities and the public sector.

She is passionate about creating empowering and high performance environments where people capitalise on their talents to make the difference.

Diana holds a BSc in Mathematical Sciences with a major in Statistics, she also holds a second bachelors degree in Psychology. Her training qualifications include a coaching certification and a NLP Practitioner certification. She is currently a student of the Enneagram.

Contact Diana at D.Hogbin@oaklandtraining.co.uk

Graham J. Bird is the founder of Oakland Training. He has a wealth of experience in sales, marketing, training and running teams. He worked for a number of years with Hallmark, the world’s largest greeting card company. Whilst with Hallmark, Graham excelled in sales by becoming one of only a few Brits to achieve the coveted ‘European Sales Person of the Year’ award and many regional and zonal awards. He held various posts whilst with the company, eventually running the company’s training and recruitment department before leaving to form Oakland.

Graham is passionate about exploiting the potential of companies and their people. He focuses on supporting individuals and teams to set and achieve their goals, and he insists on making them big, audacious ones, especially those they've come to believe are impossible to reach. To Graham, achieving those things that we truly want in life is mostly a matter of clarification, rock solid self belief, 100% determination, strategy and a plan of action.

Graham excels in the disciplines of Training, Executive Coaching and Motivational Speaking. He is in high demand, typically by senior managers for his coaching skills. He regularly speaks on a variety of subjects, from motivating oneself and others for peak performance, how to set and achieve goals, to improving business performance and bottom line profits

He has worked for a broad range of International, European and UK based client organizations in a variety of industries, including, but not limited to retail, utilities, pharmaceutical, financial services, distribution and education.

Graham is a Certified Practitioner and Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming. He has a Diploma in Business Coaching and a Certificate in Executive Coaching and Life Coaching. He is also a Certified Performance Coach and has been certified in Psychology for Trainers and Advanced Psychology for Trainers with The Chartered Institute for Personal Development (CIPD).

Graham is a Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management.

Contact Graham at graham@oaklandtraining.co.uk