Associates and Advisors
Gavin Devine, Advisor & Associate
Gavin began his career as a senior official in the UK Parliament, and has spent the past 14 years in corporate communications. He was formerly CEO of MHP Communications and Newgate Communications, before founding Park Street Partners in 2018.
He is a senior advisor to high-profile UK and multinational firms, particularly those facing regulatory or political challenges. His clients have included EDF Energy, Network Rail, RSA Group, Siemens, Kraft Foods / Mondelez, Crossrail, Arla Foods
and the London 2012 Olympics. Gavin is on the board of the PRCA, and was APPC Deputy Chair. He was awarded an MBA in 2004 and is CEO of Park Street Partners in London.
Michelle Comrie, Associate
Based in Singapore, Michelle is an expert in cross-border business being run by diverse cultures and personalities and a strategic global brand architect, start-up mentor and Professional Executive Coach.
She defines her mission as connecting personal transformation to tangible business outcomes and ROI, and in so doing creates magic for balanced, successful peopleand companies doing business on the global stage. Michelle is a certified Resilience
Coach sustaining high-potential corporate leaders with skills to thrive in the workplace. She was Hong Kong’s first and one of Asia’s only mBIT ™ (Multiple Brain Integration Techniques, based on mBraining) certified Coach and Trainer. mBraining is a neuroscience-based coaching technique which provides individuals and organisational leaders with practical methods for aligning and integrating their head, heart and gut brains for increased levels of emergent wisdom in their decision-making and for developing an expanded core identity as an authentic leader. Michelle has worked with some of the world’s most enviable brands in FMCG, Financial Services and Asia Buying Offices. She brings extensive experience of supporting start-ups. Originally from Zambia, she splits her time between Singapore, Europe and the USA where she offers bespoke services addressing challenges in the workplace through mentoring and consulting in person, and via video/WhatsApp/WeChat.
Peter Johnson, Associate
Peter has over 30 years’ experience of building operationally robust commercial structures for new and complex infrastructure projects – particularly in the telecoms and utilities markets. His expertise includes the refinement of initial opportunity concepts, business case development, strategy on-boarding and implementation. He advises on the benefits and risks of special purpose vehicles common in outsourced partnerships. He works closely with the key stakeholders from institutional investors to ensure that their interests in major programs are grounded in reality.
A former senior executive from the telecoms industry, Peter holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He is well known in the industry for the quiet, measured approach that he has brought to major projects in the UK, Europe, Canada and the US. Outside of work he enjoys walking, spending time with family and offering support to his location Scout group.
Matt Leary, Associate
Based in Boston, Matt is an expert in sales transformation, sales process development and top account development. Matt is also the Managing Director of Solutions Insights in the US.
Matt’s expertise covers go-to-market strategy, sales process development, sales transformation, top account development and coaching, solutions marketing and sales enablement. Matt’s global Solutions Sales training efforts helped garner Solutions Insights the 2018 and 2019 Best B2B Training Solutions Company Award from Corporate Visions magazine. Matt has delivered these programs in over 40 countries. Matt also co-teaches a masters-level Sales Management course at the Hult International Business School, and speaks often on sales and marketing topics at industry events hosted by SAMA, ISA, ISBM and others.
Prior to Solutions Insight, Matt was Vice President of Business Development for commercial partnership activities at a Boston-area technology start-up. Previously, he was Director of Member
Engagement at a leading technology marketing and sales association, where he developed custom research, consulting, and training programs. Matt’s clients included Alcatel-Lucent, Alltel, AT&T, Avaya, Bell Canada, Cisco, Ericsson, Siemens, Telcordia, Orange, TELUS, and Verizon.
Matt holds a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago.
Kornel Bazsika, Associate
Kornél has close to 20 years’ experience working with management teams who on need to make the ‘big calls’ on large scale investments. He is highly experienced at getting to the heart of complex business challenges and advising on the advantages and potential pitfalls of strategic choices. He works typically with senior leaders, framing and communicating the raw business potential of complex B2B solutions. His core expertise extends across market evaluation, monetization and go-to-market
strategies, techno-economic benefit - ROI/TCO and value proposition development. Holding a Masters in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in International Business Management, he provides a highly effective advisory bridge between senior technical and business stakeholders. Kornél has spent most of his career in commercial / advisory roles in major international corporates including Nokia. In his free-time, he plays in a band, loves the great outdoors, helping friends and family and is passionate about fixing/repairing virtually any gadget. Kornel speaks English, Finnish and Hungarian and lives in Helsinki with his partner.
Catherine Trotter, Associate
Catherine has dedicated her career to ‘empowering others’. With an honours degree in Sociology she has probably the best ‘ears’ in the business. She runs our early-in-career support practice.
Catherine started her career in the NHS and then moved into higher education where she has been responsible for pastoral care and well-being in a number of high profile private educational institutions. Prior to joining Perspective Matters Catherine was responsible for well-being at a top British Boarding School where
she was entrusted with the emotional security of over 100
national and international boys, all navigating the formative years of their lives. Catherine has an astonishing ability to unpick the complex emotional barriers that hold back true performance. She has a post-graduate diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling. She credits much of her insight to being a working mother of three and owner of a Border Terrier called Scamp.
Lawrence Gingell, Associate
Lawrence spent the majority of his career in finance at JP Morgan in London, where he was a Director in Equities Management. During his career at JP Morgan he acted as an advisor to some of the world's largest asset managers and hedge funds. His role took him to South Africa where he managed the equities team in the Johannesburg office in 2011 before eventually leaving the firm in 2015 to pursue his interest in leveraging human capital.
He completed a Masters in Human Resources Management in 2017 and is currently completing an MSc in Industrial, Organisational and Business Psychology. He developed a passion for change management during his years as an executive at JP Morgan, in particular enhancing the experience from a human capital perspective. It is that interest which has led him to return to academia in order to ensure that he is immersed in the latest developments within the field.