The story behind RedWizard

We started out as a specialist PMO consultancy, helping organisations get better returns from their investment in change. One of those projects was building the internal PMO for a global recruitment business – our first insight into how external recruitment at scale works in practice.

Later, we built a first-to-market PMO for a global pharma to support their $1billion external labour programme.  This solution brought supplier and technology partners to the table to help drive client strategy for the first time.

The model included a lean data solution which we built for less money than hiring an analyst, and the client had meaningful insight for the first time.

Over the years, we’ve gone on to tackle a diverse range of problems that arise when you try to bring different functions and entitles together, each seeing things only from their lens.  We bridge gaps, join dots and help to keep everything connected.

Contact Our Team

Meet our team

Team Member Photo

Jools Barrow-Read

Founder

I’m an art school graduate who ended up running a record label in Lisbon before finding my way into PMO. Not the most obvious path — but looking back, the thread is obvious. I’ve always been drawn to complex, moving-parts problems, and I’ve always wanted to work differently.

That second part matters. Extended workforce is about people choosing how they work. I found my way to this space because I wanted that freedom myself — and now I’m here to help make it work better for everyone in the ecosystem.

I founded RedWizard in 2014 when I realised how fragmented extended workforce management actually is — and the impact that has on both individual and collective effectiveness. Coming from a PMO background, I saw that fragmentation differently to most. Where others accepted it, I saw a missed opportunity. My early work focused on proving that — building a cross-functional Centre of Excellence on a global programme that brought client teams and strategic partners together around the same table. When people with different perspectives start sharing stories and challenges openly, the opportunity becomes obvious.

I’m at my best working with mid-sized organisations where I can genuinely feel the difference we make.

Connect on LinkedIn
Team Member Photo

Laura Handley

Strategic Operations Director

I joined my twin sister Jools at RedWizard in 2017 — and if you know Jools, you’ll understand why someone with a head for detail and an eye for the practical was probably needed.

I came to RedWizard from teaching, where I spent years watching people navigate change with very little support. Academy restructures, new leadership, shifting priorities — and almost no thought given to how the people in the middle of it all were supposed to feel, adapt, or succeed. That experience stayed with me. It’s probably why I instinctively look at any workforce transformation through the eyes of the person it’s happening to, not just the organisation driving it.

That human lens shapes everything I do at RedWizard. I lead on operations and service development, making sure that what we promise actually works in practice — and that clients build real capability, not just compliance. I’m also passionate about education as a tool for change. When people understand why something matters and how to navigate it, everything shifts. That’s the thinking behind Educate 2 Enable, our growing library of training content and resources for workforce professionals.

People growing into their potential — whether that’s a manager learning to lead a blended team or an organisation finding its feet with extended workforce governance — that’s what gets me up in the morning.

Connect on LinkedIn
Team Member Photo

Lucy James

Change Experience Consultant

I’ve been in change management long enough to know that the smartest programme in the world fails if the people it’s designed for don’t want to use it. That’s not a people problem. That’s a design problem.

I joined RedWizard three years ago because this is where change management gets interesting. Extended workforce programmes touch so many different people — managers, workers, procurement teams, HR — and every one of them experiences it differently. Getting that right matters.

My approach starts with the end user, every time. Before anything gets designed or built, I want to know what people actually need, what’s getting in their way, and what would make the compliant path feel like the obvious one. I’m currently leading a training programme implementation at a global pharma, and the first thing we did was bring a group of high-volume managers into the room — not to tell them what was coming, but to understand what they already had and what they actually needed. Those same managers are now our change champion network. That’s not a coincidence.

I specialise in making complex programmes feel intuitive. When people naturally choose the right path, compliance follows. So does adoption. So does value.

As a mum of two young children, I know exactly what it feels like to be time-poor, overstretched, and handed yet another process to follow. That perspective keeps me honest about what “user-friendly” actually means in practice.

Connect on LinkedIn
Team Member Photo

Andrea Reynolds

PMO Consultant

I’ve spent 20 years in PMO watching the discipline evolve. In the most forward-thinking organisations, PMO has earned its place at the right hand of the C-suite — driving investment decisions and organisational adaptability. But that’s not everywhere. Plenty of PMO functions are still producing reports nobody reads, without ever asking the critical question: what are you actually trying to achieve? I’ve seen both. And that contrast is what drives me to do it differently.

I see the same journey happening in extended workforce management right now. The organisations getting ahead are the ones treating their extended workforce as something that needs proper structure, clear ownership, and governance that actually works in practice — not just on paper.

That’s where I come in. I joined RedWizard two years ago bringing 20 years of large-scale transformation experience into a space that genuinely needs it. I build governance frameworks that make people’s jobs easier, not harder. The kind that teams reach for rather than work around.

If you need someone to hold the moving parts together while everything else evolves around them — that’s me. I’m the person with their arms around the complexity so you don’t have to be.

Outside of work I’m a football and F1 fan — which probably tells you something about how I think. Both sports look chaotic from the outside. But underneath? It’s all structure. Get the foundations right and the exciting stuff can happen on top.

Connect on LinkedIn

RedWizard is an accredited diverse business

Our Values

Column Image

Visionary

We anticipate future workforce trends, helping our clients stay ahead of the curve.

Column Image

Bold

We ask the tough questions and challenge conventions to drive innovation for our clients.

Column Image

Collaborative

We foster partnerships that bring out the best in our clients’ teams and ours.

Column Image

Flexible

Our adaptability enables agile solutions that evolve with our clients’ changing needs.

Column Image

Passionate

We’re committed to helping our clients achieve transformative results, even in challenging times.