Workplace coaching · Mediation · Board development

Helping your people and your organisation grow.

Organisations work in complex, demanding environments. We partner with businesses, NGOs and organisations working with local authorities to provide coaching, mediation and organisational development that helps them, and the people in them, flourish.

Arrange a conversation What we offer

EMCC accredited coaching ILM Level 7 Executive Coaching TCM qualified mediation 40+ years combined NHS and care experience South West based, working online across the UK

The challenges we recognise

Does any of this feel familiar?

Our clients often come to us facing one or more of these. If they sound like your organisation, we'd welcome a conversation.

Senior leaders who need a confidential, challenging space to think through complex decisions
Managers who are technically strong but struggling with the people side of their role
Colleagues in conflict or difficulty that, left unresolved, risks escalating into formal processes
A growing neurodivergent workforce, and uncertainty about how best to support colleagues and managers
Talented staff who feel stuck, unsure of their next step, or aren't using their full potential
A board lacking clarity on strategic direction, or not yet working as effectively as it could

What we offer

Three ways we can help

Workplace coaching

One-to-one, confidential, built around each person

Coaching for people at every level of your organisation, shaped by their own goals.

Executive and leadership: For directors, chief executives and senior leaders who want a trusted thinking partner. A space to reflect, develop and perform at their best while looking after their wellbeing.
Management: For managers who want to lead their teams well, handle difficult conversations with confidence and find their own management style. Especially useful during change or growth.
Career development: For people at a crossroads who want to make the best use of their talents, consider a new direction, or find more clarity and purpose in their work.
Neurodiversity: For colleagues who identify as neurodivergent, including those with ADHD, autism and dyslexia, and for the managers who support them. Practical, affirming and strengths-based.

Workplace mediation

Resolving conflict before it becomes formal

When working relationships become strained, early and skilled help can stop things escalating and protect both people and the organisation.

We provide confidential, structured mediation for colleagues in workplace disputes, helping everyone involved reach their own workable solutions without formal proceedings.

Our mediation is focused on work and on the future, delivered by accredited, experienced practitioners. It suits colleague-to-colleague disputes and works well as an alternative to formal HR processes, or as a first step before them.

Board development

Stronger boards, clearer direction

An effective board is one of the greatest assets an organisation can have. We help boards lead, plan and work together at every stage of an organisation's journey.

Strategic aims: Facilitated board conversations to clarify vision, set strategic priorities and build real shared ownership. We help turn ambition into a strategy you can act on.
Board team working: Helping boards communicate better, work through difference, clarify roles and build the trust good governance depends on.

How we work

Partnership first

Before we propose anything, we take time to understand your organisation, your culture and the challenges you face. Everything we do is:

Bespoke

Tailored to your context, never off the shelf.

Confidential

Coaching and mediation within a clear, robust confidentiality framework.

Practical

Focused on real, lasting change rather than insight alone.

Inclusive

Accessible and affirming for every colleague, whatever their background or identity.

Where your needs fall outside our core expertise, we draw on a trusted network of associates, including specialists in board legal responsibilities, neurodiversity and workplace wellbeing, so you always have the right support.

Our team

Experienced coaches with roots in public service

Our backgrounds span the NHS, adult social care and the voluntary sector, so we understand the pressures your people work under.

Kate Lock

Executive Coach & Mediator

Kate is an ILM Level 7 Executive Coach and trained mediator. She works with people who want to make the best use of their talents, progress in their work and make a lasting contribution to their organisations. Her approach is open and incisive: she believes the right questions are the most powerful tool for helping clients gain insight and move forward.

Kate has 25 years of NHS experience. She trained as a nurse, moved into healthcare management, and worked as an internal management consultant in an acute district general hospital, improving performance, team working, patient experience and efficiency. She trained as a coach at the University of the West of England and is working towards Professional Membership of the EMCC.

Internationally, Kate has trained basic healthcare workers in the West Bank and Gaza, and since 2010 has coached and consulted for Walk For Life, a highly successful club foot programme in Bangladesh.

Self-awareness
Team leadership
Confidence
Managing conflict
Leading change
Career planning
Mediation coaching

"You are gifted at coaching, never once telling me what to do but asking probing questions which opened my eyes and mind. I will certainly be recommending your skills."
Coaching client

Louise Sims

Workplace Coach & Mediator

Louise is an EMCC-accredited coach and qualified TCM mediator with seven years' experience helping individuals and teams move forward with clarity, confidence and calm. She blends coaching and mediation skills into a balanced, human-centred approach, helping people feel more grounded, more understood and more able to move forward in a way that feels right for them.

With a psychology degree and 16 years in healthcare management and adult social care, Louise has always been drawn to understanding people and helping them thrive. She now leads Business Operations and Development for a community interest company providing dementia day care, work that keeps her close to compassion-led practice and the realities of supporting individuals and families.

Career transitions
Relationships at work
Confidence
Rebuilding trust
Difficult conversations
Team mediation

"Working with Louise was a turning point for me. She has a rare ability to ask exactly the right question at the right moment. I left each session feeling clearer, calmer and more confident in my own judgement. I can't recommend her highly enough."
Senior Manager, NHS

Let's talk

We'd welcome the chance to learn about your organisation and explore how we might help. Tell us a little about what you need and we'll arrange an initial conversation. There's no obligation, just a chance to think together.

hello@walnutcm.co.uk

Where we work

Based in the South West. Working online with clients across the UK.

Privacy notice

Walnut Coaching and Mediation ("we") is responsible for the personal information you give us through this website. You can contact us about it at hello@walnutcm.co.uk.

What we collect and why

When you send an enquiry we receive your name, email address, and any organisation, phone number and message you choose to include. We use these only to reply to you and to arrange a conversation about our services. Our lawful basis is your consent and our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries.

Who else sees it

Enquiries are passed to our email inbox by a form-handling service acting on our behalf. We don't sell your information or share it for marketing.

How long we keep it

If you don't go on to work with us, we delete your enquiry within 12 months. If you become a client, we'll explain how we handle your information as part of our coaching or mediation agreement.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete the information we hold about you, or withdraw your consent, by emailing hello@walnutcm.co.uk. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

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