Our People
We understand local government - and the people who make it work.
Our team combines deep experience across public and private sectors with genuine passion for helping organisations and communities thrive.
We care about people as much as outcomes - working alongside our clients to create change that’s practical, collaborative, and meaningful. Our consultants bring extensive experience in local government transformation, public sector strategy, and organisational development.
Meet Some of Our Team:
Beth Stewart
Assistant Director, Strategy & Innovation
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Beth has spent over ten years working in and alongside local government, helping organisations design thoughtful strategies and deliver programmes that genuinely make life better for people and communities. At Newtrality, she works closely with clients to understand the challeneges they’re facing and supports them to shape practical, sustainable solutions that create real impact.
Her experience includes organisational design and change, strategy development, and transformation design and delivery. Beth is known for her calm, collaborative style and her ability to bring people together around shared purpose. She takes a grounded, human-centred approach to her work, ensuring that solutions are not only strategic but also compassionate and realistic.
Deeply committed to the role of local government, Beth is passionate about helping teams build services and systems that support places to thrive. Outside of work, she enjoys volunteering, cold-water swimming, and practising yoga.
Zabrina Boulton-Lear
Business Manager
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Zabrina brings experience from both hospitality and local government, combining strong organisational skills with people-focused approach to her role as Business Manager at Newtrality. She oversees day-to-day operational and financial management, supports the leadership team, and plays an active role in initiatives that drive meaningful change across the organisation. She is also closely involved in the Different Programme - a piece of work she is deeply passionate about, created to address the lack of diversity in public sector leadership.
Her expertise includes operational and financial management, organisational and people coordination, leadership team support, and event organising. Zabrina is known for creating supportive, well-run environments where teams can do their best work and where people feel valued and able to thrive.
Zabrina cares deeply about the people she works with and the culture she helps shape. Outside of work, she loves cooking and hosting, squeezing in a good HIIT workout, and trying her best not to let her toddler boss her around.
Pip Peel
Partner
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Pip is Managing Director at Newtrality, having spent his career starting and scaling two global management consulting companies. He is also a hands-on practitioner in Programme and Project Management, having delivered some of the world’s most high-profile and complex business and technology change programmes. He is regularly called upon to advise clients on assuring the delivery of their business-critical initiatives.
His experience includes building and leading consulting teams, delivering complex business and technology change, and coaching, mentoring, and advising clients through major transformation programmes.
Dedicated husband and father to five boys, Pip describes himself as a below-average cyclist - and once saved a man’s life in the Nepal Himalayas.
Nic Fell
Partner
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Nic has over 20 years’ experience working in and around local government. As well as working directly for local authorities, he has also partnered with major suppliers to the sector, bringing valuable commercial insight and a practical understanding of what it takes to deliver improvements that make a real difference to public services and communities.
He has led a wide range of major change and transformation programmes, navigating complex stakeholder relationships to deliver efficiencies, redesign service delivery models and improve outcomes for residents. Most recently, Nic has been supporting Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness Councils with the post-vesting day challenges associated with Local Government Reorganisation (LGR).
Outside of work, Nic enjoys helping out in his local community, running, cycling and taking walks on the beach with his wife and three boys.
Mike Dearing
Partner
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Mike is an experienced programme director and management consultant with a strong track record of leading large-scale change across local and central government. He brings a structured, thoughtful approach to complex reform, helping councils deliver challenging programmes with clarity, pace and collaboration. His work focuses on shaping practical solutions, building aligned teams and supporting organisations to achieve sustainable, measurable improvement. He also draws on deep experience in financial and service analysis to identify savings opportunities and design approaches that are both realistic and effective.
Outside of work, Mike is often balancing family life with an ever-growing list of side projects — some with wheels, some without — usually juggling one more than is entirely sensible at any given time.
Rae Corby
People & Resources Manager
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Rae brings a strong background in recruitment, resourcing, and people services, and is currently leading the development of Newtrality’s internal People & Resources function. She focuses on culture, employee experience, and workforce strategy, working closely with senior leadership to ensure Newtrality continues to attract, retain, and develop the best talent.
Rae also leads our engagement with the associate network, broadening and strengthening relationships with trusted partners and sector colleagues. Her work connects people and purpose - ensuring the right individuals are matched to the right projects and that our culture remains authentic, collaborative, and people-centred.
Dedicated runner and occasional dog wrangler, Rae is often found training for her next race or being taken to the park by her English bull terrier, Knuckles.
Liz Musker
PMO Manager
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Liz brings more than 25 years’ experience across Financial Services and Local Government, delivering large-scale and complex change. She has a strong track record of taking on challenging programmes and guiding them through to successful delivery, drawing on deep hands-on experience across both agile and waterfall environments.
As Newtrality’s PMO Manager, Liz leads the Programme Management Office and ensures the right structures, controls and insights are in place to support our teams and clients. She is known for her pragmatic approach, calm leadership and commitment to helping programmes run smoothly and effectively.
Outside of work, Liz’s world is kept busy by her three sporty children. She’s an active supporter of her sons’ local rugby club and can usually be found on the sidelines of a rugby or football pitch at the weekend.
Lorren Walker
Financial Administrator
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Lorren brings over ten years of experience in financial administration, having worked across both accountancy firms and in-house business finance teams. This breadth of experience gives her a clear, practical understanding of how good financial systems support healthy organisations and the people within them. At Newtrality, Lorren helps ensure that our operations run smoothly, providing thoughtful, reliable support across all aspects of financial management.
Her expertise includes streamlining processes, identifying opportunities for improvement, problem-solving, and carrying out careful data analysis to inform better decisions. Lorren takes pride in creating clarity and making day-to-day work easier for colleagues and clients alike.
Outside of work, she’s always looking for opportunities to help and make a difference - in small, everyday ways that support people around her.
Lucy Coulson
Strategy & Projects Analyst
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Lucy is a Strategy and Projects Analyst at Newtrality, supporting a wide range of client-facing and internal work. She contributes across the full project lifecycle, helping to shape set-up, coordination and delivery. With a background in economics, she brings strong analytical skills to qualitative and quantitative research, developing insights and evidence-led recommendations that support practical decision making. She also plays a key role in producing high-quality deliverables, supporting the evolution of Newtrality’s propositions, and contributing to our social value and impact activity. Recent clients include councils in Devon, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Lucy joined Newtrality after graduating from the University of Glasgow with a degree in Economics. Outside of work, she plays football for Morpeth Town Women and splits her time between Northumberland and Glasgow. She can often be found in the cinema or at a comedy club.
Our consultants and associates bring deep experience from across local government, public sector services, and partner organisations. Together, they combine practical insight, strategic thinking, and hands-on delivery - helping clients design and deliver change that lasts.
We bring expertise in:
Local Government Re-organisation and Devolution
Supporting councils through business case development, transition planning, and delivery for complex change programmes.
Organisational Transformation
Leading council-wide improvement initiatives, developing new operating models, and embedding sustainable ways of working.
Major Programme Delivery
Building capability and assurance for major or complex programmes - from ERP systems to cross-organisation transformation.
Strategic, Service and Readiness Reviews
Providing diagnostic assessments, business analysis, and service improvement across a range of local government functions.
Corporate Functions
Strengthening strategy, governance, and performance - including programme management, communications, and change management.
Leadership and Cultural Development Programmes
Designing and facilitating programmes that support leadership growth, team effectiveness, and cultural change.
Collaborating for Better Outcomes
Every member of the Newtrality team shares a commitment to partnership, purpose, and progress. We don’t just advise - we work alongside clients to deliver solutions that make lasting difference for their people, their services, and their communities.