Our Partners

With more than 30 years in business, Grahame Robb Associates (GRA) have had plenty of time to forge relationships with some of the best training providers, business education specialists, events venues and organisations in the industry, allowing us to offer our customers an unparalleled training experience.

Read on to find out more about each of our valued partners.

The FA at St. George's Park

fasgp

GRA’s partnership with the Football Association (FA) at St. George’s Park (SGP) began in 2013, when we became the FA’s Official Outdoor Leadership Partner and proceeded to build our on-site Outdoor Leadership Centre which opened its doors in 2014. SGP is the FA’s national training and education facility in the East Midlands, used by the 24 English football teams and many other top sporting associations.

This partnership was an exciting opportunity for GRA to work closely with elite-level teams and to apply our extensive experience of working with corporate teams to the needs of high performing sports teams. With an ever-increasing level of synergy developing between the problems professional sports teams face and those faced by people in business, GRA collaborates with the world-class team at the FA to provide bespoke leadership development and team building experiences at every level, from the Premier League to county and grassroots.

The state-of-the-art facilities at St. George’s Park and its adjoining Hilton Hotel, allow us to provide unrivalled conference and event facilities to customers taking part in our face-to-face programmes.

Read more about this partnership on our blog.

De Vere Wokefield Estate

devere-wokefield-logo

Our partnership with the De Vere Wokefield Estate Hotel (formerly Wokefield Park) began in 2007, with the hotel grounds being home to GRA’s Outdoor Learning Centre and Head Office.

There has been an estate at Wokefield since the first house was built in the 1560s for the wealthy Plowden family. Set in 250 acres of Berkshire parkland, the estate boasts a high-tech dedicated conference building and modern hotel, and a historic Mansion House offering 87 guestrooms, 12 luxury suites and a number of event spaces. There is also an 18-hole PGA-standard golf course, fully equipped gym and indoor swimming pool.

GRA and the brilliant team at De Vere work hand in hand to offer businesses and corporate guests everything they would need for an enjoyable and fulfilling stay in the South East. Our centre’s unique setting is ideal for corporate team building events, team and leadership development programmes, and conference support activities.

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

Clipper23-24_Race_Official_Supplier_Stack_pos

GRA are the Official Learning and Development Supplier of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, appointed ahead of the 2019-20 race (which spanned 2021 and into 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and now re-appointed for the 2023-24 edition. We deliver tailored training that focuses on honing the leadership and team development skills of the Skippers, AQPs and Race Crew. Our main focus is to help them to be the very best they can be in high pressure situations and to enable those in leadership positions to get the best out of their teams whilst racing around the world. Using world renowned psychometrics and profiling tools, GRA will also be supporting in matching the Skippers with their respective AQPs to establish the best possible working partnerships.

The Clipper Race is one of the biggest challenges of the natural world and an endurance test like no other. The brainchild of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the Clipper Race is a record-breaking 40,000 nautical miles, spanning across 5 oceans and 6 continents. It is the only race in the world where the organisers supply a fleet of 11 identical 70-foot ocean racing yachts, each with a fully qualified Skipper and AQP, and a Race Crew composed of ordinary everyday people with no previous sailing experience.

This partnership is a dream opportunity for GRA to work with an elite and one-of-a-kind endurance race, allowing us once again to apply our extensive experience of working with corporate teams to the needs of these high performing sailing teams. We immensely enjoy working with the team at Clipper, whose family-like culture and enthusiasm to push boundaries very much matches our own, making for an easy and cohesive partnership.

Click here to view a video of the Clipper Skippers and AQPs training with us for the latest 2023-24 edition.

Belbin UK

belbinlogos

GRA has worked in partnership with Belbin since its early inception in 1988, with our Managing Director Grahame Robb, going on to co-founder sister company Belbin France in 1994.

Belbin are world-renowned team behaviour specialists and have become the gold-standard method for identifying behavioural contributions in the workplace. Belbin put into practice the Team Role theory originally developed by Dr Meredith Belbin, which has been studied on management courses around the world and is used every day in tens of thousands of organisations.

Belbin Team Role theory is very much intertwined in GRA’s team and personal development training and really speaks to our ethos of how organisations can create collaborative teams and increase team performance and productivity. We like to take any opportunity to work alongside the fantastic and long-serving team at Belbin and to look for new and exciting ways to tap into team development and behaviour change theory.

Click here to view a recent webinar we did in partnership with Belbin.

Blanchard

silver-authorized-partner

GRA has had a long-standing relationship with Blanchard (formerly The Ken Blanchard Companies) since 2004 and has been a part of its trusted Channel Partner network delivering programmes since 2005. Blanchard is a ground-breaking business consultant and leadership training specialist whose courses have influenced a generation of managers, entrepreneurs, and high-level business leaders in companies around the world.

Partnering with Blanchard has allowed GRA to extend the leadership and management development products we offer our clients, as we are accredited to deliver SLII – Powering Inspired Leaders, Self-Leadership, Coaching Essentials and more. We are proud to be one of Blanchard’s longest-serving partners and always enjoy collaborating with their fantastic team.

Great People Inside UK

GREAT-PEOPLE-INSIDE-logo

GRA partnered with Great People Inside UK (GPI) in 2017, becoming its first UK Channel Partner. GPI provides tailored performance assessments that help organisations recruit in new and improved ways. Their leadership and management development assessments and 360° reports also enable businesses to get a deeper insight into existing employees, allowing for customised training pathways to elevate others in their organisation to the level of their best-performing people and to provide tailored feedback and coaching to help individuals and leaders improve their performance.

Partnering with GPI has allowed GRA to offer an additional customised self-reflection and behavioural insights tool to our clients. It’s a pleasure for us to work closely alongside GPI UK’s CEO Martin Goodwill and to continue to extend the reach of GPI globally through our training.

Becoming a Partner

If you’re interested in partnering with GRA, please call us on 01962 779911 or email enquiries@gra.uk.com.

Latest From The Blog

30th Aug
A group of employees undergoing leadership and management training.

How To Overcome Common Leadership Training Challenges

If leadership training or a development programme fails to deliver the expected outcomes it can cause a lot of acrimony between those undergoing the training and their senior colleagues or managers. Employees may feel let down if they receive the 'wrong training,' and businesses...
Read More
1st Jul
Two colleagues having a difficult conversation effectively as they listen to each other with open minds and understanding.

5 Steps for Managing Difficult Conversations

The critical difference between an average organisation and a great one, lies in how its people handle difficult conversations. When we choose to say nothing rather than speak up, it causes all manner of issues, from a lack of employee engagement and dropping staff retention...
Read More

Our Accreditations