We are delighted to announce the appointment of John Douglas as Regional Director, responsible for leading IDG operations in the Middle East.

After a successful military career in the British Army, John has spent a number of years in the Middle East.  He has successfully developed effective partnerships between private and public sectors and with social enterprises in order to deliver leadership development programmes and initiatives at scale across the region.  Most notable of his successes was in developing an innovative, award winning interactive leadership programme for over 6,000 first line supervisors on a major oil and gas construction project at Ras Laffan, Qatar, followed by the delivery of a key education project in the Republic of Yemen.

Building on the experience gained on these projects, John is keen to build upon the reputation already gained by the Middle East team to create a company of first choice for major organisations keen to develop their leaders and to create high performing teams.  Additionally John will continue to develop a unique safety leadership programme specifically designed the construction and oil and gas sectors.

Stephen Bennett, IDG’s Chief Executive, said of John’s appointment, “ Continuing to build on the success of our Middle East division is a core strategy for IDG  as is the development of our work on the behavioural aspects of Health and Safety, particularly in the energy sector. John’s experience and proven expertise in both these areas will be invaluable to us and I am delighted to welcome him into the Company.”

IDG is pleased to announce that Ian Stewart will be joining us as Head of Academic Studies.

Ian’s academic and professional background is in strategic and personal communication alongside research-led training and development. He joins us from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst where he was responsible for establishing and leading a new Department of Communication and Applied Behavioural Science. In addition to this, Ian worked for the Ministry of Defence developing a range of media training packages, and acted as a consultant for several commercial and public service organisations.  He has written numerous publications, covering topics such as psychology of leadership and teamwork, and corporate reputation.

Stephen Bennett, IDG’s Chief Executive, said of Ian’s appointment, “This is a very significant appointment for us. Ian’s background and deep understanding of individual and team behaviour will help ensure that we continue to deliver innovation and rigour to our delegates and our clients. Gained through his years on the academic staff at Sandhurst , Ian is well used to the challenges of balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of leadership development and he will be working on some very exciting new developments which we shall announce in the coming months.”