JOSIE SUTCLIFFE

As a Founding Partner of Theatre 4 Business Josie brings a wealth of experience from business entrepreneurship, professional theatre directing, Higher Education teaching and management, and most recently Executive and Leadership mentoring and coaching.

After running several successful businesses in graphics, photography, catering and haulage Josie changed direction radically to pursue a lifelong ambition to take to the stage. She trained in theatre directing in the UK and at the acclaimed Berliner Ensemble in Germany during the exciting and exacting period of change between 1986 and 1991. Subsequently, her career took her to some of the largest theatre houses in the UK including Theatre Clwyd, Derby Playhouse, Chichester Festival Theatre, Theatre Royal, Stratford East and Plymouth Theatre Royal.

Her next career path was in Higher Education where she lectured in Theatre at Dartington College of Arts in Devon, one of the UK’s most unique and reputable centres for performing arts. She became Head of Theatre at Dartington in 1998 and was an instrumental leader in the development of an internationally recognised programme of innovative theatre making and training, leading the national ratings as a centre for excellence in the field. While at Dartington Josie was awarded one of the first DTI/HEFCE Business Fellowships in the UK – a four year award which included mentoring clients in the creative industries and the cultural sector, liaising with large corporations, small and medium enterprises and related agencies in order to facilitate and produce the work of academics and artists. The inspiration for ‘theatre and business’ grew out of that experience.

Since creating Theatre 4 Business with her partners Josie also co-directed and was Lead Coach on the ‘Creating Cultural Leadership’ programme at the Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter and has completed an ILM Postgraduate Diploma in Executive coaching and Leadership mentoring. She is also an accredited workplace mediator and conflict resolution consultant.

She works throughout the UK and Europe and has extensive experience in leading and facilitating workshops in collaboration and negotiation skills, working with union negotiators and managers in co-operation techniques, conflict resolution, team building, facilitating change and presentation skills.

Theatre continues to enhance and inform her work and her life.