About Us

We’re a partnership of highly qualified and experienced consultants with varied and relevant backgrounds that include training and development, coaching, assessment and the use of psychometric testing and creative thinking. Our experience is garnered from the public, commercial and charity sectors and brings a breadth of skills and experience that allows us to help you successfully understand your business’ capabilities, needs and requirements and to develop these accordingly.

In particular, much of our heritage is gained in the public sector. So, if you’re looking to do business in this £60 billion sector, or are already doing business and would like help to navigate it further, or are perhaps in the public sector yourself and would like support in your internal training and development requirements, we have a solid and enviable reputation gained over a decade in this sector.

AVE (Partners) Limited was founded in 2005 and is now managed by founder, Hilda Stearn, and senior consultant, Heather Roberts.

Hilda Stearn: Founder and Managing Director

Hilda is a committed and passionate local businesswoman, seasoned in the nuances of the Public Sector. Underpinning this, she is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and sits on the South Bucks branch committee of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). As former chair of her local CIPD branch, she led the Small Business Consultancy group facilitating networking and support opportunities for local SMEs. She continues this drive to raise the voice of small business at local, regional and national level through her current FSB position.

Heather Roberts: Senior consultant

Heather has worked as an associate with AVE Partners since 2004.  Her commercial skills and knowledge have proved invaluable throughout high profile AVE programmes including the Trade Local and Access to Contracts for the London Borough of Waltham Forest; one to one and group mentoring and assessment. They’ve also proved invaluable for action planning with SME clients for tender viability, through to delivery of powerful European procurement guideline workshops for London Borough of Hackney.

Heather is an accredited user of the popular psychometric assessment tool FACET5, and also a MOUS Specialist (Microsoft Office User Specialist).

Memberships, affiliations and partnerships

At AVE (Partners), we believe it’s important for us to keep our skills up-to-date. This, in turn, helps us to provide you with the most appropriate and current advice. As such, AVE is a member of:

• SME Guild (www.smeguild.com)
• Social Enterprise London (www.sel.org.uk)
• National Council for Voluntary Organisations (www.ncvo-vol.org.uk) Public Service Delivery Network
• Federation of Small Business (www.fsb.org.uk)

Our consultants are members of the appropriate professional organisations including Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) as well as well as being accredited by the British Psychological Society.

We have also signed up to the Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code, 2006 and are an accredited Investor in People (IiP) supplier.

We hold supplier framework agreements with:

• London Development Agency (specialist consultants panel)
• London Development Agency (Organisational Development & Learning)
• Greater London Authority (Organisational Development & Learning)
• Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) for consultancy support

And we work in partnership with many organisations including:

• Selby Trust
• Enterprising Minds
• PERA/Supply London
• Haringey Association of Voluntary and Community Organisations (HAVCO)
• Milton Keynes Council
• Business Link

Our Partnership Code of Conduct

Our code of conduct defines our way of working pervasive to all our activities. It’s acknowledged by organisations including the London Development Agency (LDA) and other existing clients and ensures that we maintain a level of operations that meets, and exceeds, client expectations. All members and partners of AVE Partners are committed to meeting these standards.