Red Ochre consists of core team and a group of associate consultants bringing specific expertise to each of our projects.
Uday Thakkar | Managing Director
Areas of Expertise: Strategic development, change management skills development, finance and funding, marketing, governance, collaborative working, legal structures, business planning, organisational development, enterprise start up and development, training and facilitation.
Background: Uday is a Chartered Accountant by training. He has worked in management consultancy for over 20 years across the UK and in Africa. He is also a social entrepreneur having started and successfully managed a number of commercial businesses, a charity and two social enterprises. Uday has won the Social Enterprise Mentor of the Year Award and is a regular and popular speaker at conferences and seminars on enterprise, leadership, governance and finance. Uday delivers more than 30 workshops a year on a variety of subjects annually and regularly draws large audiences to them. Uday is a regular contributor to the print and electronic media and is a well known exponent of sustainability and social enterprise. Uday is a trustee of a number charities that work with health, the arts and governance.
His clients like: His ability to think creatively, his vision and practical and solution-focused approach; his passion; commitment and energy; the time he gives to listen; his insight and perception; the gentle but needle-sharp challenging; his extensive networks and connections. Most alarmingly he is well known, not only for his ability to make figures and finance understandable, but fun!
His colleagues like: His passion to improve society; the whacky Christmas card designs; his ability to draw out the best in a person; his positive encouragement of individual interests; the dinners discussing world issues.
He likes: Music of all sorts but particularly jazz, good books, even better food, cinema, theatre, travel, taking on new challenges, dreaming.
His motto: Vision, passion and focussed action can change the world – but it’s best done with a smile!
Read Uday’s blog here.
Listen to Uday here.
See Uday in action here, here and here.
Robert Foster | Co-Founder, Trainer and Senior Consultant
Areas of Expertise: Strategic planning; social enterprise and trading options; impact and evaluation; marketing and marketing communications; tendering, commissioning and procurement; project management
Background: Robert spent several years in the commercial sector working for big and small companies, local outfits and multi-nationals. He set up and ran his own commercial organisation and then decided there must be more to life and business than “this”.
Now Robert enjoys being nosey and opinionated in the social sector. Being able to get to know people, organisations and problems and then helping to sort things out keeps him young.
He advises and consults with local authorities, infrastructure bodies, and third sector and social enterprises to help them achieve their aims.
His clients like: His ability to understand, simplify and solve their problems.
His colleagues like: That he’s in touch with his inner child.
He likes: Living life as best he can.
His motto: “Strive for perfection, settle for excellence” Someone clever.
Read about Robert in the press: social enterprise and investment in China, social innovation in Estonia and social impact and enterprise in the RSA Journal. Read a review of Robert speaking at the 2015 SE Conference on London here, and Robert’s work in Indonesia 2019-2020 here.
Read Robert’s Blog here, and also he’s written articles for other organisations:
- Read a brief Introduction to Social Impact Robert wrote for the Benefact Group, 2023
- Innovation for the City Business Library, here
- Is a social enterprise better than a charity? (Part 1)
- Is a social enterprise better than a charity? (Part 2)
- On crowdfunding
Listen to Robert here.
Watch Robert speaking here, here and here.
Martin Cooper | Associate
Areas of Expertise: European projects; international social enterprise; social impact measurement.
Martin set up and manages our Erasmus Plus programmes. He helped 60 young people experience the green economy through Skills for Green Jobs before winning funding and running the current programme, Teach Seville.
He loves hosting international groups of people wanting to experience social enterprise in London and the UK through visit programmes and tours.
Background: Before moving to an Associate role, Martin spent several years as a Senior Consultant at Red Ochre, leading a number of evaluations from technical undertakings to holistic personal support to help individuals and organisations understand their impact and the work that they do. He ran (and still runs) social enterprise and civil society visit programmes for international groups.
He likes: Tai chi; chai tea and hot drinks; tooting along in a band (saxophone), shamanism; 5 rhythms; Sardinia; travelling; London; a pint in an old pub.
His motto: I don’t have one. But i remind myself of this:
“There’s much more in any given moment than we usually perceive, and we ourselves are much more than we usually perceive. When you know that, part of you can stand outside the drama of your life.” Ram Dass
Say hello on Linkedin
Twitter: @coopsmartin
Email: Martin Cooper.
