About Us
Huddle is powered by Peaceful Solutions, the UK’s most successful heart based conflict resolution service.
In 2006, Maria Arpa MBE, founded the Centre for Peaceful Solutions, a charitable organisation that provides conflict resolution services to industries and governments worldwide.
Realising the growing need for conflict resolution for personality and ethical clashes in the workplace, Maria developed Huddle, a bespoke subscription service to give employers access to this unique and powerful mediation and resolution service.
Maria Arpa MBE Founder
Described by the Civil Mediation Council as one of the UK’s top mediators, Maria is a sought-after facilitator, and world renowned speaker & trainer.
Maria created Dialogue Road Map (DRM) the communications tool which is recognised by industry experts worldwide. Dialogue Road Map addresses the root causes of conflict in a unique way to create a culture of cooperation.
Mediating since 1999, Maria has completed in excess of 500 cases including complex civil and commercial negotiations, gang rivalries and threat to life, family break ups and reconciliations, neighbour, workplace, prison and school conflicts involving multiple parties, as well as governance disagreements between directors, trustees and management committees.
In her work, Maria helps individuals and groups to regain emotional intelligence and process the issues to resolution with the least amount of suffering possible between the people involved.
In 2006 she founded the Centre for Peaceful Solutions, a charity which offers conflict resolution, mediation, restorative justice and non-violent communications training in disadvantaged and marginalised communities.
Her book, The Heart of Mindful Relationships, was published in June 2012 and her second book Mindfulness at Work was released in March 2013.
David Ellis Director
Formally Managing Director of a highly successful publishing business. David is a Master trainer and practitioner with over 300 cases brought to resolution.
With an astute business mind, David is adept at resolving stuck or entrenched positions in the workplace.
An experienced accredited Family Mediator and Family Professional Practice Consultant (PPC) David has a proven track record of successful mediated outcomes negotiated in the most hostile and stressful situations. He is particularly adept at modelling compassion and empathy when situations are emotionally charged.
David is also Director of Peaceful Solutions charity shops utilising his commercial, and leadership skills in the running and growth of the business.
Tom Ford Senior Mediator
Mediator and facilitator with over 500 hours experience in resolving both employee and personal disputes.
A qualified practitioner and Dialogue Road Map Facilitator, Tom’s background in business enables him to facilitate and resolve complex, highly charged workplace conflict cases quickly and efficiently.
He is sought after by both clients and participants and has supported people from all walks of life to resolve the conflicts they face.
Tom is also part of the faculty on our annual DRM Practitioner Course training.
Louisa Burnand Senior Mediator
Mediator and relationship coach with a background in IT, accountancy, and small business consultancy.
Louisa is one of our lead mediators and has extensive experience in emotionally conflicting situations. She is especially adept at building trust and empathy when relationships have become acrimonious.
Highly experienced in workplace disputes, she has a proven track record of resolving complex entrenched positions between employees and colleagues.
Louisa is a key member of the team for projects in prisons and runs the accreditation and trainee support for all our DRM courses.
Cornelia Staeubli Mediator
Coming from the mountains of Switzerland Cornelia is an influential figure in London’s hospitality industry.
Cornelia helped build Ottolenghi, the celebrated restaurant and deli company from one small deli in Notting Hill into a business which now has multiple outlets and some of London’s best restaurants.
Having previously worked for Swatch and Reuters in sales and marketing, and more than twenty years in leadership at Ottolenghi, her leadership style is both tough and tender, inspiring people to greater achievement.
Cornelia’s philosophy is that the best results come through clear communication, empowering staff to take responsibility, and crucially, listening, making her approach to conflict resolution unique, captivating, and extremely effective.
A trained and experienced Dialogue Road Map Facilitator Cornelia remains a director and board member of Ottolenghi.
Hervé De Trogoff Mediator
A founding partner of Accuracy UK and leading their dispute resolution services globally.
A trained civil engineer, Hervé specialises in advisory and dispute resolution services to the
construction and manufacturing industries. He provides mediation and expert advice to owners, developers, contractors, and other project actors.
A trained and experienced Dialogue Road Map Facilitator, Hervé speaks English, French, and Spanish and has a basic understanding of the Finnish language, enabling him to use these skills internationally in both the commercial field as well as volunteering on prison projects.
Ruth Allington Mediator
An engineering geologist and expert witness in mining related contractual disputes, Ruth has been a qualified mediator since 1997 and practised as a civil, commercial and community mediator on a part time basis alongside her work as a consultant in the minerals industry.
Following her retirement from full-time consultancy Ruth completed the Dialogue Road Map Facilitator training programme and is now an experienced and trained practitioner.
Ruth facilitates collaborative conversations to allow everyone involved to be heard and find change through choice rather than enforcement, working with individuals and groups negotiating change or conflict in both workplaces, communities and families.
With her experience as a business leader Ruth understands technical and financial language that can present barriers to collaborative dialogue between mediation parties.
Jenny Cummin Mediator
As a former practising barrister and solicitor specialising in medical malpractice, Jenny has over 30 years’ experience working with people locked in conflict.
Jenny is an expert at facilitating resolution in the most distressing and devastating conflicts involving loss of life and loss of health.
Her ability to navigate complexity and listen to participants brings understanding from which negotiations can begin. Enabling her to resolve highly charged and emotional conflicts, such as breakdowns in personal and family relationships, neighbour and community disputes, and issues in the workplace environment.
As a Dialogue Road Map Facilitator, Jenny brings diligence and delicacy to her projects.
Martin Johnson Head of Development
Martin has managerial and leadership experience in many corporate workplaces and cultures and believes wholly in the power of dialogue to resolve and avert conflict. He attended one of Maria’s training programmes over 15 years ago and made a transformational change in his own attitude to conflict. On his way up the corporate ladder, Martin realised how creating work cultures that lend themselves to positive communication and peaceful solutions is something that could be taught and nurtured within an organisation.
Martin speaks fluent English, French, Italian and conversational Spanish. Outside of work he is social impact driven and supports businesses and organisations to build employment pathways for those who struggle to gain employment and who might otherwise be overlooked. In his spare time his favourite activity is long distance hiking with his family.