Jo Ouston founded the practice in 1990 because she saw a need for a better understanding of the potential of people to make a difference – a difference to their own development as effective individuals and to the organisations that they work for.

Jo Ouston originally identified the need for new approaches to personal and management development in the 1980s when Head of Advisory Services at the Institute of Management (now Chartered Management Institute).  With unfamiliar organisational landscapes emerging from the IT revolution and globalisation, individuals had to face the end of the job-for-life culture and the need for greater flexibility and self-reliance.

The original focus was on career development consultancy with related training and coaching to enable clients to increase their personal effectiveness and ensure that they were well equipped to give a good account of themselves at interviews.

Over the years, the client base has become increasingly corporate with an increasing proportion of bespoke training solutions tailored to the specific needs of companies and other organistions.  

The Jo Ouston practice is driven by the belief that this expression of individual potential is the crucial, most sustainable and most economical way to realise the potential of any enterprise. Our clients, individual and corporate, have been proving through two decades that this is true.

Our administrative and client service staff at Dolphin Square, and our trainers and consultants have this as their working principle, and apply it in practice every day.

Many people talk about ‘values’.  The difference is that we can demonstrate ours by:

Length of service Jo Ouston & Co was founded in 1990 and we have served our clients under the personal leadership of Jo Ouston, and with many of the same team, since that time.

Depth of service By working in close partnership with our clients we always operate towards an agreed outcome, often providing innovative solutions for special situations.

Client endorsement Frequently when client personnel change organisations, they commission us in their new company.

Customer loyalty - 80% of our work is with clients who have been with us for five years or more and who use us repeatedly.

Staff commitment Our trainers and consultants do not work for any other training organisation.  Our team is EXCLUSIVE TO JO OUSTON & CO.

Trainer quality All our trainers have professional training backgrounds and are business savvy.

Client feedback Our feedback record is overwhelmingly positive – more than 90% of course participants give us the highest ratings

The practice was incorporated as Jo Ouston & Company Limited in 2005 (Registered in England & Wales No 5883735) and accredited as an 'Investor in People' in 2008.