Hidden Differences 2080 Ltd

Kevin M Thomson FCIM ABC

Founder

Kevin has a background of Business, Brand, Marketing and Communication - Kevin himself a dyslexic, has pioneered the use of internal marketing and branding inside organisations for more than twenty years. He was founder and President of the Marketing and Communication Agency (MCA), Europe’s foremost internal marketing agency, acquired by WPP in 2001.

Formerly President of Enterprise IG Business and Brand Engagement - a part of Enterprise IG, the worlds leading branding agency with clients like Vodafone, Ericssons and Sony.

Books and Articles - A leading authority on communication in the workplace, Kevin has written numerous published articles and many management books including the ground-breaking Employee Revolution (FT Pitman), Emotional Capital, Passion at Work (Capstone) and his latest book, The Company Culture Cookbook (FT Prentice Hall). He has also featured in other books including the Financial Times Management Handbook.

Honorary Professor University of Birmingham School of Business
Fellow Chartered Institute of Marketing
Accredited Business Communicator - IABC
Formerly President Enterprise IG Business and Brand Engagement
Author The Employee Revolution, Managing Your Internal Customers,Emotional Capital, Passion At Work, The Company Culture Cookbook www.thecompanyculturecookbook.com, EASY! English.
International Speaker on Business Communication
Co-founder - Textic Ltd
Recently discovered dyslexic

Clients and Awards - His organisational communication clients have covered many of the worlds leading organisations including BA, Sony, Vodafone, Electrolux, Anglo American, KPMG, Barloworld, Royal and Sun Alliance. His team has won many awards including the New York Film Festival for non-broadcast video Gold and Silver Awards for BA Putting People First Again, IABC Gold Quill Awards and IPR Awards of Excellence

Founder and Director - Textic - As a result of a family member with communication difficulties including dyslexia and ADHD Kevin saw a need to become involved in promoting the needs of people with communication difficulties to the marketing and communication profession.

He set up Textic to develop strategies, training, research and tools to assist in the three areas of’ reading, writing and responding in a text driven world – for people with and without communication difficulties. His aim - to take the difficulty out of communication.

Sally Hayward, BA (Hons) and Barrister, Gray's Inn.

Director of Legal Compliance

Sally has 20 years' experience working as a government lawyer. She was a member of the Home Office led Sexual Offences Review team which made widespread recommendations resulting in a major revision of the law. She has represented the United Kingdom on legal issues at Strasbourg, and provided legal policy advice to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney General and Cabinet Office on a wide range of topics. Sally has written and delivered legal training packages to Crown Prosecutors and the police. She has also assisted in area performance audits for the Crown Prosecution Service, and was a key player in prosecution planning for Y2K. Most recently, she has specialised in the high profile area of anti social behaviour, as one of a team of specialist lawyers reporting directly to the Attorney General.

Sally relishes the challenge of helping companies and organisations understand and implement the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Acts. 'This is a real win win for everyone. Making communication accessible to all not only opens up the marketplace, it also helps to empower employees, so they can give of their best. The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) have started to become active in tackling non compliant communication, and the 2005 Act will make it all the more essential that all advertisers get their message across in accordance with the law. No company or organisation would want to have the negative publicity of being sued by the DRC. The legislation requires a new mindset, and I look forward to helping service providers broaden their communication horizons.'

Jane Myers

Training Director

Jane Myers has a background in psychology and has spent many years working as a trainer within the field of Specific Learning Difficlulties. Having worked within the dyslexia field for several years, dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties have become a specialism for Jane. Jane Myers has been involved in a variety of projects taking dyslexia into the workplace. She has worked with the Armed Forces to create a range of training packages, including an innovative package to train their educators to be dyslexia advisors. Jane has a keen interest in information processing and how we communicate information and ideas.
Much of Jane’s work has been around the concept that the changes made to accommodate dyslexic individuals are good for everyone.

What is Dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia, literally means poor movement. It can affect organisational and time management skills, attention span, and oral communication.

It is often linked with Dysgraphia, literally poor writing, which affects fine motor skills.

About 2% of the population have dyspraxia/dysgraphia, which are recognised as specific learning difficulties under the DDA.