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.
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.
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.
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.
Lee Danson
Ad Programme Manager
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Lee Danson is a senior programme management leader specialising in local government transformation, improvement and recovery. With more than 20 years’ experience across the sector, she has worked in Children’s Services, Adult Social Care, Corporate Services and Environment Services. Most recently, she supported Woking Borough Council in the design and delivery of its Improvement and Recovery Plan, working closely with government‑appointed commissioners, senior leadership teams and partners to strengthen governance, improve organisational grip and deliver service efficiencies.
Lee has led and assured complex, high‑risk programmes spanning organisational change, commercial and asset strategies and digital transformation. She brings extensive experience in managing senior stakeholder relationships and aligning priorities across political, officer and partner landscapes to achieve delivery in challenging and high‑pressure environments. Having spent much of her career working within councils, her approach is pragmatic, outcome‑focused and rooted in building sustainable change and long‑term internal capability.
Outside of work, Lee enjoys exercise and getting out into the countryside with her family.
Amber Adams
Programme Manager
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Amber is a Programme Manager at Newtrality, with five years’ experience in local government working across a wide range of services and departments. She is passionate about delivering meaningful, sustainable change that creates tangible impact for residents, partners, and organisations. An Impact (formerly NGDP) alumna and qualified MSP Practitioner, she brings a human-centred approach to her work, combining design thinking with strategic insight and the practical realities of delivery to drive results.
Her experience includes programme management, organisational and service design, and the design and delivery of transformation initiatives, collaborating closely with stakeholders to turn strategy into action.
Outside of work, Amber enjoys trips to the theatre, reading her way through an ever-growing bookshelf, and spending time with friends and family.
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.
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.