Inspire series:
Mental health in the workplace

Alan is Chief Commercial Officer at Punter Southall Aspire, where he was previously MD of the Employee Benefits division. He has been in the financial services industry since 1987.

As well as his managerial responsibilities, Alan is a client relationship person at heart, often working from the initial contact stage through to the successful implementation of a scheme and beyond.

Ruth has worked in senior HR roles for more than twenty-five years predominantly in road haulage, trade association and civil engineering. Ruth joined BAM Nuttall as HR Director in 2011. She has worked as Global Director for Mental Health and Well Being for the Royal BAM Group and is currently Head of Workplace Wellbeing for BAM UK & IRL. Ruth has a keen professional and personal interest in all matters mental health, particularly men’s health and child and adolescent mental health.

Ruth was awarded her Masters in Workplace Health and Wellbeing in 2021. Also in 2021, she awarded “Most Inspiring Mental Health Leader” by This Can Happen.

She also has a master degree in Law and is a Fellow of the CIPD.

Jenny trained as an accountant with Legal & General in the mid-eighties before discovering the world of private equity with Legal & General Ventures in 1987, the very early days of the asset class.

In 1991 she joined a small boutique private equity firm in Oxford and then, in 1998 co-founded Altius Associates, a private markets advisory and separate account management firm.

By 2016, when they sold the company, Jenny was co-CEO and it had grown from a staff of three in 1998 to a staff of 45, based in the UK, US and Singapore, with close to $30 billion under advice and management. It was one of the top firms in the business and very respected for its expertise and integrity. Jenny subsequently worked for the acquiring company, Pavilion Financial Corporation in the Corporate team and was a key member of the team which helped with the sale, and subsequent integration, of Pavilion to Mercer in 2018.

In 2020 Jenny completed a Diploma in Professional coach-mentoring and runs a coaching and advisory business with her husband. She is delighted to have taken on the role of Member Relationship Manager with The Diversity Project as it sets itself ambitious new targets for the next five years.