OUR PROMISE
We understand what it feels like to communicate effectively in the financial sector. It’s a high-pressure environment that demands the right skills at the right time. But, when it goes to plan, it can really galvanise people and motivate future success.
It doesn’t come naturally to all of us and can require some investment to enable your team to truly shine. At MSB Executive, we combine financial services experience with professional theatre skills. Our feet firmly in both worlds, we understand the work, people and culture of financial services and through drawing on aspects of performance and theatre, we can transform your team’s communications skills.
In essence, we provide simple tools and techniques to help people communicate more confidently with the ultimate aim of growing businesses.
Tap into your team’s true potential
Employers hire people for diverse reasons and have to weigh up a balance of the right strategic, interpersonal and practical skills. But frustratingly, often the brightest and best fail to shine in front of their clients. Our practical tools help your people to communicate what makes them brilliant and as a result, gain the trust and confidence of new and existing clients.
Our mission is to transform people’s self-confidence and ability to engage and win a clients’ trust. The positive effects of this transformation are far-reaching. From a bottom-line perspective, you can expect to win more pitches and develop stronger long-term client relationships. In terms of your people and their wellbeing, this new positive approach to a task they were perhaps daunted by in the past, means happier, calmer and more productive team members.
OUR CLIENTS
We’ve worked with many great companies and individuals, get in contact
and find out why we are so highly regarded.
OUR TESTIMONIALS
Since working with MSB Executive our success rate at pitches has more than doubled. We consider their people to be an extension of our team. Whenever we launch a new product they are in the room with us working on how we can present the proposition as effectively as possible to clients.
I engaged MSB Executive with the specific aim of personal coaching to help remove and also develop techniques for dealing with anxiety connected with public speaking, presentations and pressurised communications / situations. I could not have been happier with the results and I would not hesitate to recommend MSB Executive to anyone in the same professional situation. It is still a work in progress, but there is no doubt that the techniques learnt from MSB Executive in our sessions have helped me develop greatly in these areas. In addition to that he was personally very easy & pleasant to work with and he easily put me at ease with the coaching process. I very much enjoyed the overall experience.
MEET OUR TEAM
Our team of talented Associates is vital to the unique training we offer. It is their rich and diverse experience and expertise that enables us to deliver the right training to the right business or individual.
Martyn Barmby (Founder)
Director Martyn Barmby is the driving force behind MSB. Passionate about empowering talented professionals, his mission is to tap into a person’s true potential and give them the ability to communicate their brilliance.
Martyn Barmby brings a true 360degree perspective.
A professional actor with 12 years senior executive experience in consultancy and project management, he has an innate understanding of the skills needed for exceptional presentations. Having led consultancy businesses in the UK, US and France, Martyn has also performed around the world as a professional actor. It’s no surprise that he’s skilled in advanced communication techniques and has developed powerful methods and influencing skills from the worlds of acting and business.
Nicola Hainey
Nicola is an experienced professional performance coach and qualifiedNLP practitioner, specialising in leadership development. Having previously spent over a decade working in strategic roles within the financial services sector, she understands well the demands and pressures incumbent in the modern workplace.
Nicola’s experience includes both individual and team coaching for large multinational banks and consultancies. She is enormously passionate about helping leaders do the quality thinking required to understand and develop their own leadership style, and how to inspire and bring their team with them. She creates bespoke workshops to encourage creative thinking and help businesses overcome specific challenges, as well as delivering group coaching sessions on essential life and business skills.
Steven Maddocks
Steven is MSB Executive’s Head of Voice Coaching.
Since training as an actor, Steven has worked in almost every area of theatre,
including acting, writing, producing and directing. He also runs a drama school for
children and adults, where he teaches drama and public speaking. As a Voice
Coach, he works with professionals across a range of industries and at all levels
of seniority. Drawing on his theatrical training and experience, Steven teaches
vocal and physical techniques to help his clients communicate brilliantly and
effectively under pressure, whether they are presenting to large groups or
negotiating across the meeting room table. Steven studied English at Oxford
University, where he was also president of the OUDS (the Oxford University
Dramatic Society). He has published several successful guides for drama
teachers.
Liz Hughes
Liz Hughes began her career as an economist and was an early mover into the world of compliance. She spent 10 years with several high profile Asset Management firms in compliance advisory roles working across the entire business. She founded and runs an innovative compliance consultancy that leverages agile working and is also a board member for Women in Banking and Finance. Liz’s varied and senior experience allows her to move swiftly and easily between high-level strategic issues, and technical detail. Liz creates a supportive environment where MSB clients can practice their newly acquired skills and provides intelligent, considered and constructive feedback. She empowers individuals to engage more effectively with their clients and senior management.
Alex Cameron
Alex Cameron is an experienced leader in B2B media and content businesses. Over 18 years in P&L roles, she has launched portfolios and led teams to deliver ambitious growth targets. She has run global teams with staff in Europe, MENA, Asia and the Americas. She also has experience in representing businesses during M&A.
Alex works with clients as a coach with a particular focus on helping entrepreneurs and other individuals build resilience and clarity of purpose: both key in unleashing new energy and drive in well-established careers. Her commercial experience gives her context and understanding for the challenges faced by business leaders in a range of sectors.
Kristina Mackintosh
Kristina delivers targeted, personalized business English and accent reduction coaching to MSB Executive’s non-native English-speaking clients.
In addition to 15 years’ business English tuition experience, Kristina has spent 20 years in business-to-business professional services, delivering large-scale corporate seminars and symposia to a global client base, with particular focus on the global financial and energy industries.
Jakki Bendell
Jakki Bendell brings 12 years media and marketing industry experience with a specialism in launching publishing businesses in Europe. For the past decade she has provided workshops and coaching to businesses with the aim of helping them to communicate more effectively at work. Pragmatic in her approach, Jakki’s skill lies in business writing that communicates clear compelling messages and engages audiences. Her focus is on helping people to develop better written skills that will inspire and influence others and importantly, enhance their career and business success.
Lucy Nicholls
Lucy Nicholls is hugely experienced in the world of financial services. Over the course of 15 years, she has worked at partner level for several investment management firms and has specific expertise in European private equity.
A long-term associate for MSB Executive, Lucy works with clients to sharpen presentations and pitches using her analytical approach that helps clients to develop a clear and logical argument that stands up to intense questioning.
Justin Brett
Justin trained at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama and has been an actor and comedian for over 20 years, with a career spanning from West End theatre to filming with Steven Spielberg; from running a London comedy club to improvising full-length musicals. Alongside this, he has garnered a great deal of experience in corporate role-play and as a practitioner of forum theatre. Having worked with a wide range of Financial Services clients he believes role-play training should be authentic and truthful, but also fun.
Massimo Catucci
BLOG
Stay connected as a team with online video tools
During these uncertain times where the majority of us are now working from home, it's so important to keep that sense of connection with our teams and colleagues. We share a quick video on how [...]
How to look and sound your best on video
https://vimeo.com/399938546
Worried how you look on video calls? Brighten your image.
People often feel they look washed out on video calls. Using a specialist light can transform how you look. This is a short demo of the difference it makes. https://vimeo.com/398569487
A simple guide to the best video conferencing software
In light of the rush to move communications online, we’ve been asked which video conferencing software we recommend. While we are not technology experts below is our humble opinion based on our experiences and feedback [...]
3 ways to boost your audience’s attention during online meetings
Some practical advice beyond not wearing pyjamas in meetings! Given recent events many of our clients are asking for our support to handle meetings held online rather than face to face. Below are some of [...]
Part 2: how improv can boost creativity and collaboration in business
In part 1, we covered ‘let yourself fail’ and the ‘yes and’ principles. This blog looks at how Improv can reframe the way you interact with others. Make your partner look and feel like a [...]