The Team

Our Team & Partners

The Zest team is made up of our great people, associates and partners. We work together to bring the very best talent for our clients. This collaboration between Zest Consult and our partners allows us to pull together a multi-disciplinary team which covers everything from commercial, technical and delivery all under one organisation. For you, the client it means you only ever need to come to Zest Consult and we will do the rest.

Geoff Hoyle

Geoff is Zest Consult's founder and a director in the business.

After many years of working for others he decided that it was time to strike out on his own. He wanted to start an organisation where collaboration was at the heart of everything it did. Too often projects are not as successful as they should be due to a lack of collaboration. He has said "When I started Zest - it was vital that we put collaboration at the heart of everything we do for our clients. The combination of collaboration and diverse teams always delivers the best outcomes for everyone involved"

Geoff started out as a graduate software engineer in the telecoms industry, then moving to the transport sector he worked first in software engineering before taking on wider and more senior roles. He has worked with many large clients such as Highways England, Transport for London and Network Rail, as well as local authorities and the Met and City of London Police.

Geoff was also the chair of use-case working group of the international standards body for video surveillance (ONVIF)

Andrew Atkinson - A3A

Andrew has extensive experience in business with a background in engineering and management, He is an experienced project delivery professional and has a current SC security clearance. He is great at creating things to meet a purpose and enjoys the challenge of problem solving.

Over his career so far, he has been involved in a wide variety of projects, worked with many different people and has learned by experience about what works and what doesn't. Generally, there is no magic answer so it takes a bit of time and patience to listen and understand the nature of the situation before putting things into place. Andrew's approach is to break problems down into manageable parts before re-assembling them with the people involved. Often what appears to be complex can be presented quite simply and therefore more clearly understood.

Andrew offers the following services:

▪ Project / programme management incl frameworks

▪ Project or business initiation and start up

▪ Securing new business incl bid support

Profile

▪ An excellent leader and project/programme/portfolio delivery professional with over 30 years experience in government sectors: UK and overseas

▪ Delivery expertise of large scale and complex defence, nuclear and highways infrastructure projects with responsibility for managing investment programmes upto £500M in a regulated environment

▪ Familiar with the challenges faced working in complex organisations with multiple stakeholders: clients, programme partners and industry suppliers

▪ Key skills in establishing new teams and enterprises, dealing with front end development of projects, organizing for successful delivery and setting up appropriate governance, reporting and controls

▪ Mentor / champion for developing training and development programmes for upskilling graduates and apprentices

Mark Pellowe - Pelltec

Mark, previously Head of Operational Technology Architecture & Infrastructure for Highways England, brings a wealth of experience in the architecture of traffic systems, the infrastructure of the motorways and the system engineering and legal framework in which they operate. With extensive experience as the lead for technical assurance and strategic governance across all operational technology, he has lead and delivered many products, services and strategies and advised internal staff and consultants on integration and system engineering within the highways environment. His understanding of mission and safety critical engineering, within a real-time environment and the ability to link this with insight into business process and impact, has been successfully applied to many Highways England initiatives and projects.

Mark was also the owner of HE’s technical specification set and ensured end-to-end integration with Operational processes and road-buliding requirements (such as the DMRB or MCHW). He has driven many improvements and changes to HE’s management (and systems) to meet asset management principles ensuring ongoing maintenance, product definition and supply chain availability and overall, safety of road users and drivers. He has detailed knowledge of the legal and standards frameworks that govern the road and also advised major schemes on safety and strategy. He has a detailed level of knowledge spanning the entirety of the motorway technology stack and can equally support a sign-manufacturer on meeting technical requirements, through to supporting service procurement, or Operational enhancements.

Ian Henderson - I3D Consultancy

A proactive senior director and programme leader who focuses on outcomes; A strategic thinker and practical operator who rapidly understands critical issues and drives their resolution: as demonstrated in the fast-moving and highly political environments;

Advisor to the Cabinet Office: use of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to deliver ‘better for less’ through increased agility of the UK supply chain;

A commercially astute director who has successfully delivered a number of smart procurement programmes client-side yielding substantial cost reductions whilst showing significant performance improvement over the ensuing contract lifetime;

An experienced operations leader who delivers excellent outcomes by pragmatic management of risks and resources; and

Chartership Panel Member for the CMI.

Career Highligts:

Commercial Director: City Operations Centre and Smart Cities Hub.

The role included Executive Member / cabinet-level presentations, being a member of the Target Operational Model review board and steering group and all commercial activity

Programme Director: ITS Equipment. Local Authorities

Lead professional for the Intelligent Transport Systems strategy formation and delivery for local authorities in the South West, North and South East of the UK.

Senior Procurement Advisor: Buying Solutions, Greater London Authority

Review, control and change GLA spend across all of London’s emergency services.

Operations Lead: London Cycle Hire Scheme

Led all aspects of ‘on-street’ operations, including the Control Centre, from concept, design, implementation and operations.

Peter Crabtree

Peter, previously the Director of strategy and work winning for Costain’s Highway sector, brings an in-depth knowledge of business development and all forms of procurement and tendering.

Over the last 25 years Peter has successfully helped to grow businesses, in existing and new markets, through the development of market strategy, effective business development and delivery of an industry leading work winning strike rate.

Peter has led bids on a wide variety of procurement models including simple priced submission, design and build, frameworks, negotiated procedure to major multi billion pound frameworks, developing winning quality and commercial strategies.

Peter has been active through trade bodies, Civil Engineering Contractors Association (past Chair for Wales) and Highways Term Maintenance Association, in working with industry to shape future procurement models.

In addition Peter has also undertaken tender evaluation to DfT, on a politically sensitive procurement.