Our People
At Leapwise, our consulting teams comprise highly skilled professionals with a diverse mix of backgrounds, abilities, and perspectives. We draw on this interdisciplinary group of experts to deliver maximum impact for clients in the policing, justice and public safety sectors.
Our people include our core in-house team, our Policing, Justice and Public Safety Advisory Council, and freelance associates with a rich breadth of skills.
Our Team
Tom Gash, Managing Director
Tom is Leapwise Managing Director, leading the organisation, overseeing its most critical projects, and developing many of Leapwise’s tools and methods. He has spent his career supporting the decision-making of ministers and prime ministers, senior officials and the boards of non-profits and private companies in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Australasia.
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Tom works at the interface of government, business and academia and is passionate about the need for better decision-making to solve our most pressing social problems. Before becoming an independent adviser and founding Leapwise, Tom was Director of Research at the Institute for Government, where he was part of the organisation’s set-up team and board and led a range of ground-breaking research to improve government effectiveness. Before this, he was senior adviser (Home Affairs) in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit in the mid-2000s, a role that followed a period supporting FTSE 100 executives as a strategy consultant with Boston Consulting Group.
Tom’s sector specialism is crime, security and justice, and he operates across Leapwise service areas. He is the author of Times ‘Thought’ Book of the Year “Criminal: The Truth About Why People Do Bad Things” (Penguin, 2016), an in-demand international speaker on both criminal and organisational decision-making, and a regular media commentator (BBC, Sky, ABC, Fox) and government Select Committee expert witness. He has directed over 100 consulting and research projects and authored over 30 academic and practitioner-focused articles, as well as articles for The Financial Times, The Times, The Guardian, WIRED, and Prospect Magazine. He is an Honorary faculty member of University College London and a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Government.
Valeria Ilies, Senior Manager
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Dr Tanvi Bhatkal, Manager
Tanvi is a Manager at Leapwise with over a decade of experience at the intersection of strategy and mixed methods research across the public sector, with a passion for social justice. She brings deep expertise in developing and applying robust analytical frameworks and research methodologies to address complex systems challenges.
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At Leapwise, Tanvi has led projects across UK policing, criminal justice and local government with a particular focus on complex social challenges. Her work combines a strong analytical approach with a collaborative, pragmatic style, using data-driven insights and human-centred design to develop evidence-based organisational strategy and programme design. Most recently, she led our work supporting the design of an innovative approach to the new National Police Wellbeing Survey.
Tanvi holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and an MSc from the University of Oxford, and brings a strong research foundation to her consulting practice.
Annie Haswell, Senior Consultant
Annie is a Senior Consultant at Leapwise, specialising in policy, evaluation and behaviour change. She also brings experience in organisational development, including governance improvement work.
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Annie has worked on Leapwise projects in policing, justice and local government, including a behaviour change project to reduce fly-tipping and work to promote preventative approaches in public services. She previously worked in the tech industry, developing behaviour change solutions that reduce carbon emissions.
Annie holds a master’s degree in Behavioural Science and an undergraduate degree in Psychology, both from Durham University. At Durham, she founded and led the Durham University Behavioural Insights Society and led a randomised controlled trial project focused on evaluating the impact of a leadership development tool. She has helped shape some of Leapwise’s core project methodologies relating to workforce and public behaviour change, and is passionate about creating positive social impact through behavioural science.
Joe Bowen, Senior Consultant
Joe is a Senior Consultant at Leapwise, where he currently focuses on supporting performance improvement and change in policing. Before joining Leapwise, Joe spent 6 years in the education sector, most recently as an English Teacher. Joe has a strong interest in high-performing organisations and worked at the top-performing secondary school in England, where he developed the curriculum that enabled pupils to rank first in national exams. He also supported national projects at the Department for Education and worked on the design of school inspectorates in Ghana.
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James Sweetland, Senior Consultant
James is a Senior Consultant at Leapwise and brings extensive experience consulting and researching on police effectiveness. Immediately prior to joining Leapwise, James advised and wrote independently on policing, technology, and AI, working with and interviewing senior policing leaders in the UK and internationally. He led a major research project on police use of facial recognition in Western countries, resulting in an academic publication and a perspectives paper for the Police Foundation, and interviewed the UK Minister for Policing, Sweden’s National Police Commissioner, and the heads of the IOPC, HMICFRS, City of London Police, and Avon and Somerset Police.
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Earlier in his career, James worked for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) and the leading Westminster think tanks Demos and Reform, where his work included co-authoring a policy paper with former Home Office Chief Scientific Adviser Sir John Aston. James holds an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Oxford University and was a previous winner of the Orwell Youth Prize. His work on policing has been published by The Times and featured on BBC Radio.
With a passion for enhancing public safety and evidence-based practice, James continues to contribute to the dialogue on effective policing strategies through Leapwise Perspectives and wider thought leadership publications, and through his consulting work.
Matthew Drury, Data Scientist/Consultant
Matthew is a Data Scientist/Consultant at Leapwise, specialising in data analysis and quantitative research. He’s focusing on analysing data collected through the National Police Wellbeing Survey, a project that’s helping policing organisations improve workforce wellbeing for those who serve the public.
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Jules Taylor, Executive Support
Jules is the Executive Support at Leapwise, managing Tom’s diary and looking after the HR and Operational Admin for the Business. A Virtual PA since 2019, she had previously spent 12 years working in London supporting C-Suite and HR Executives as a Personal Assistant.
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Prior to working as a Personal Assistant, Jules worked as a Travel Agent for over a decade, which allowed her to indulge her love of travel and exploring new places.
Outside of working, she is also a keen sporting volunteer. She recently supported UEFA’s VIP & Protocol Team, both as a volunteer and volunteer recruiter, during the men’s and women’s tournaments at Wembley Stadium. Her career highlight was being given the opportunity to be a Games Maker at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, based at Greenwich Park for the Equestrian.
Emma Turner, Finance and Contracts Manager
Emma is our Finance and Contracts Manager and therefore the first point of contact for everything accounts and procurement related.
During her time working for a selection of government-funded QUANGOs and other centrally funded organisations, Emma gained extensive experience working with start-up businesses and SME’s.
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Rick Gardner, Freelance UX Writer and Content Specialist
Rick is a Freelance UX Writer and Content Specialist. He manages Leapwise’s website, social media, and email marketing, and has previously worked with organisations such as the British Council, Homes England, and the Department for Education.
Our Policing, Justice and Public Safety Advisory Council
Serena Kennedy KPM DL
Serena is a member of Leapwise’s Policing, Justice and Public Safety Advisory Council, aligned to our People and Culture service area.
A highly experienced strategic leader having spent 32 years in policing, she recently stepped down as Chief Constable of Merseyside Police. Prior to that, she worked for Cheshire Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police, and held national leadership roles relating to prevention, people and culture.
She is a Deputy Lieutenant for Merseyside and holds a Masters of Studies in Police Leadership and Management from Cambridge University.
Scott McPherson
Scott is a member of Leapwise’s Policing, Justice and Public Safety Advisory Council, aligned to our Policy and Partnerships service area.
With over 30 years of senior experience across UK Government, he has served as the Director General responsible for Police and Fire services in the Home Office, and before that for the Courts and Justice system in the Ministry of Justice
Until the start of this year, Scott was also the Director General for Strategy, Policy and Programmes in the UK Health Security Agency, having moved into the health sector in response to the pandemic. He holds an MBA from London Business School.
Council Member 3
Our final Advisory Council member will be announced shortly. Watch this space!
Our Associates
Sarah Castor-Perry
Sarah is an experienced consultant with a track record of helping individuals, teams, and organisations understand themselves better and achieve sustainable change. Over the last 11 years, she has supported public and private sector organisations in addressing diverse challenges in leadership, strategic planning, and transformation. As an accredited coach, she coaches clients on all aspects of their work and life, provides specialist ADHD coaching, and runs interactive neurodiversity-awareness workshops for organisations.
Yusuf Chaudhri
Yusuf is an accomplished leader in strategy, operations, and program management, with expertise in developing and implementing operating models for complex organisations, including the City of London Police, National Highways, the Home Office, and major consulting firms such as Deloitte. With a proven track record in driving successful outcomes, Yusuf has led transformative projects, from re-designing governance frameworks and delivery processes to introducing innovative sales models and securing significant cost savings. Recognised for exceptional performance, Yusuf excels in stakeholder management, team leadership, and strategic oversight, ensuring high-quality results in challenging environments.
Sean Cregten
Sean is a former Leapwise director who has also worked across the New Zealand public and third sector for PWC on business cases, economic advice, and transformation and capability programmes.
Sean has also launched a digital start-up in Canada, created advisory offerings that benefit the public good, and developed methods for teams to collaborate and perform at their best. He has an MBA with distinction from the University of Cambridge and a BA from the University of British Columbia.
Paul Griffiths OBE
Paul is a former senior police officer who led one of the largest modern slavery investigations in the UK. He previously served as President of the Police Superintendents’ Association (2019 – 2022) and was recognised for services to policing with an OBE in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. For his leadership during the pandemic, he was appointed a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute in 2020. In his spare time, he is a Deputy Lieutenant and Magistrate, and he chairs the Board of Trustees for St John Ambulance Cymru.
Nicola Hughes
Nicola is a consultant specialising in leadership. She is an experienced facilitator, designing and delivering engaging, collaborative workshops and development programmes for a range of audiences from senior Westminster politicians to local community activists.
She works with public sector and charity leaders to help them set strategy and make better policy; some of her recent clients include the Young Women’s Trust, the Government of Jersey, London Councils, and the Cabinet Office.
Suzanne Jacob OBE
Neha Mahendru
Rick Limentani
Wayne Parkes
Louise Patience
Ellie Pyemont