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  5. Richard Wills

Talent Bank Expert

Richard Wills

Specialisms

I specialise in the following areas:

  • Change and Resilience Training

Academia wasn’t Rich’s strength as a child, so his career history began at the very young age 16! After forays in construction, hospitality and banking, Rich became a civil servant working for HM Treasury as a Ministerial Assistant. This incredible insight into politics and public service gave Rich a hunger to get involved in the delivery of local priorities so he joined Breckland Council in Norfolk where he stayed for 13 years.

When Rich left Breckland in 2020, he was the Managing Director of the council’s external facing L&D service Breckland Training Services.

Rich then launched his own company RWTA Ltd and has to date delivered training to approximately 90% of the countries local authorities.

Key Strengths/Areas of Expertise

  • Former local government senior manager who understands the sector inside out
  • Building personal resilience
  • Change management
  • Management and leadership
  • Political awareness
  • Organisation values creation

Testimonials/Case Studies

“Rich delivered a comprehensive Leadership Development programme for Castle Point Borough Council. As a new leadership team of Assistant Directors and Directors it was critical that we started well and invested in the development of the leadership team as a cohort throughout the first 12 months and Rich’s programme was an integral part of that success. His style of delivery is always spot on, engaging and his content is genuinely enjoyable. I’d highly recommend him! Mykela Smith – Assistant Director People and Engagement at Castle Point Borough Council

“Rich’s resilience training has had a genuinely positive impact across Maldon District Council. His workshops were extremely well received, with colleagues consistently commenting on how engaging, insightful, and practical they found the sessions. Rich brings a rare blend of expertise, clarity and relatability, making resilience feel both accessible and immediately applicable in our day‑to‑day work.

What stood out most was the way Rich tailored his approach to our organisation. The insights he shared about Maldon’s collective resilience trends were particularly valuable and have helped us understand taking individual responsibility and strengthen how we support one another especially during periods of change. His facilitation style encourages reflection, open discussion and meaningful learning, and it’s been clear to me just how much staff appreciated the opportunity to develop these skills.

Rich has made a real contribution to our ongoing commitment to wellbeing and organisational development. I would not hesitate to recommend him to any organisation looking to build capability, confidence and resilience within their teams.” Doug Wilkinson – Chief Executive at Maldon District Council

“Rich’s approach and style of delivering training have an overwhelmingly positive impact on West Suffolk Council, from those beginning their management journeys right up to our core leadership team. He has supported us for many years and continues to do so through the challenges and opportunities facing us.” Samantha Knight  – Senior L&D Business Partner @ West Suffolk Council 

Notable Achievements/Value Added

  • LGC Awards finalist (Innovation) 2019
  • Creator of the Tri Sector Challenge

Relevant Sector Knowledge

  • Civil Servant (HM Treasury) 2000 – 2007 (Ministerial)
  • Local Government Officer (Breckland Council) 2007 – 2020

Training/Coaching Programs/Workshop offers

  • Management and leadership programmes for all levels. From those thinking about management, through to senior c suite development.
  • Change navigation/Change management/Change leadership
  • Political awareness (can be tailored to suit any organisation’s current political landscape)
  • ResilienceBuilder programmes
  • Stepping into Unitary life – what to expect and how to adapt
  • All personal development topics, such as: presentations skills, building confidence at work, time management, assertiveness, strategic decision making, emotional intelligence, etc.
  • Facilitation of organisation Values creation.

LGR Experience & Expertise

  • Rich is already working with a number of local authorities to help them prepare of LGR. This includes the delivery of some of the training and workshops listed above, tailored to suit the LGR context.

Useful Links

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-wills-8845473

Website – http://www.rw-training.co.uk

https://resiliencebuilder.co.uk/

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Local Government East is the operating name of the East of England Local Government Association. We are a Regional Employers Association and confirmation of our status can be found through the Certification Office on the gov.uk website Current employers' associations - GOV.UK . Suppliers can also review our organisation through DUNS-Bradstreet. Our D.U.N.S number is 232281019.

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