Mark Pannone and Zoe Billings have formed the Adapt and Evolve Consultancy. The two met while Mark was an Assistant Chief Constable for North Yorkshire Police and Zoe was his staff officer. Pictured are Zoe and Mark; and Phil King from Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle based Serious Injury Team who carries out well-being training. They have already gained a number of national clients.
Phil said: “We’ve asked Mark and Zoe to look at how biological well-being can be supported and how to improve dynamics within our teams. Our team works across the UK assisting clients and their families who are victims to road traffic collisions some sadly resulting in fatalities. Mark and Zoe have first-hand experience of the traumas and emotions we face on a day-to-day basis and so they can not only prepare the right training for us, but they can relate to our lives and show empathy because they too have been in those tragic situations.”
Mark who lives in North Cumbria served with Essex Police, Cumbria Police and latterly with North Yorkshire Police as an Assistant Chief Constable. Zoe from York is still a serving officer.
Mark said: “I really enjoy the management of complex situations having been involved in many major incidents throughout my career. It’s very satisfying to be able to make sense out of chaos. Zoe and I can help individuals and organisations gain the confidence they need to make tough business choices and help people understand how to make defensible decisions through effective problem solving.
“Zoe’s role when we worked together was as a Staff Officer – basically to be the critical friend and sometimes the conscience of a senior manager and I suppose that’s what we’re doing with Adapt and Evolve Consultancy. We want to be that critical friend; we will stand back and look at what someone is doing and say that’s great, but you could be better, then we will help them move forward.”
Mark has experience of looking after 800 staff, and managing budgets; while Zoe has a biology doctorate. She sid: “I use my background as a biologist to challenge thinking on how we perform and how we need to adapt, and balance this with my experience in the workplace as a senior investigator managing road traffic fatalities.
“Everything we do relates to the mind and the body and there is still a stigma about mental health. There will always be some people that feel embarrassed talking about it, so my well-being approach comes from a completely different angle. By looking at the biology of it rather than the psychological side, this reduces any perceived stigma related to chronic stress and really increases engagement. The feedback that I’ve had to date has been phenomenal and is making a really significant impact on people’s ability to look after themselves, their families, their colleagues and actually do their job effectively.”
