
Meet Our Team
Our team have held senior roles in a variety of organisations including PLC, Private Equity and HE environments. They have outstanding commercial credentials, excellent coaching skills, strong values, an understanding of what makes organisations successful and a passion to make a real difference for our clients.

Kevin Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
Kevin is a very experienced Director and coach having held Directorial and senior management leadership roles during his 30 year career within The Boots Group, Halfords and has worked across numerous sectors and organisations focusing on leadership and team development. He has a General Management Diploma in Leadership from Ashridge Management College having attended the comprehensive programme led by Stefan Wills (Professor of Leadership) the ethos of which is to develop leadership through coaching. In addition he has attended workshops involving the likes of David Whittaker (England Hockey Coach) and David Brailsford (England Cycle Team Coach).

Gemma Carter-Morris
Director of People Service & Client Relationships
Gemma has over 15 years experience as a senior manager, coach and consultant, many of which within Higher Education and has a broad business understanding supported by the completion of an MBA. Gemma is a qualified wellbeing coach and a member of the Association of Coaches, and is passionate about working with teams and organisations allowing them to be the best version of themselves and reach their potential. Gemma also delivers outplacement and career coaching and uses her wellbeing experience to emotionally support individuals and increase resilience whilst going through significant change.

Jonathan Carter-Morris
Chief Strategy Officer
Jonathan is passionate about people development and long-term coaching support, bringing MBA experience, focusing on strategy, team development and entrepreneurship. Jonathan has a wealth of understanding of business leadership, team development, strategic overview and how individuals engage with business strategy.
Having held senior roles in the leisure and hospitality sector he brings this experience to coach, mentor, develop and support those within the hospitality sector and beyond.

Ang Reh
Senior Consultant
Ang has over 20 years experience in coaching both individuals and teams of senior leaders within HE and commerce and currently coaches 23 senior leaders in one organisation across all functional disciplines. Ang has significant experience coaching and leading individuals through change and mentoring and coaching individuals through large projects. Ang is also a certified MBTI practitioner to support both individual and team development and awareness.

Gaye Morris-Osborne
Chair
Gaye formed Next Steps over 20 years ago following a successful career developing leaders in The Boots Group. Gaye has worked with many blue chip organisations focusing on leadership and change having developed her coaching skills at Ashridge Management College. She has worked alongside Sir John Whitmore’s team to improve individual and team performance through coaching excellence.

Dr Ian Tidmarsh
Associate Consultant
Ian has 16 years experience in Higher Education management and senior leadership roles. Ian has held both academic and professional services roles, the latter spanning technical, infrastructure, people & change. Ian has guided 70 universities to review their organisational structures including partnering reorganisations. Ian takes a coaching approach to development and leadership, firmly believing that everyone should have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Ian is educated to PhD level and holds qualifications in project and change management.

Alpa Raval
Associate Consultant
Alpa is a CIPD-qualified HR professional with a master's in Human Resources and national and international experience. Having worked with businesses ranging from SMEs to large corporate entities, Alpa excels in delivering comprehensive HR solutions. A true generalist, Alpa enjoys conducting HR audits, refining processes, and implementing practices that support employee well-being and foster a positive, productive work environment. Passionate about making employees feel valued, Alpa is dedicated to helping organisations thrive by aligning HR strategies with business goals.

Deb Harris
Associate Advisor
Deb has over 25 years HR partnering experience working creatively and pragmatically across the Higher Education University sector. Deb has coached at Board and Senior Management Team level through to operational and middle management levels with a focus on the people agenda including talent management; individual and team performance enhancement; transformation and change management and HR operations and service delivery.