About Us

Graham Hopkins

I am a Chartered Engineer with a career spanning nearly forty years. My last corporate role was as Safety, Technology and Engineering Director for Network Rail and, as part of that, I chaired the Rail Industry Technical Leadership Group and was also a board member of the RSSB and Network Rail Consulting. Before that, I spent many years with Rolls-Royce plc, including as Director of Engineering and Technology for Defence Engines, and as EVP of Engineering and Technology for Aerospace Component Engineering. I was responsible for the strategic direction and leadership for all the Business Sector Engineering activities and led an international team of over 2000 engineers across the UK, Germany, USA and India.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, and the RSA. I currently sit on the Industrial Fellowship Steering Group of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and have previously sat on its Leadership Group for Diversity and Inclusion. I am also a DEFRA Secretary-of-State-appointed Board Member of the Cotswolds National Landscape.

My particular expertise and interests are in lean enterprise, innovation, sustainable development, high-performance culture, infrastructure strategy, and change management.

Jenny Hopkins

My early career was as a copywriter and editor working in the for-profit sector. That background explains the satisfaction I feel transforming hard-to-understand text into clear and persuasive communication. Later, I switched to the not-for-profit sector, and for ten years I was CEO of a local charity. I used my writing and storytelling skills to help treble the organisation’s turnover, and led its transformation into a forward thinking and highly respected not-for-profit. In 2016, the charity was one of the runners-up in the national Charity Governance Awards. Managing its turnaround was hugely rewarding and at the same time challenging, requiring strong and creative leadership to build the charity’s resilience and sustainability. By the time I left, it was a contract partner of choice for the local authority and health trusts, an employer of choice for job seekers and, above all, a trusted place to turn to for the people it serves.

I am currently studying part-time for a PhD on the subject of marketisation and local deaf charities. I am content curator of the blog The Boiling Frog. I am also a trustee/director of two charities.

My particular skills are in writing and editing for clear communication, strategy and business planning for smaller organisations, and charity governance.