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About Us

Total Reward Projects was established January 2011, growing out of a larger consultancy to concentrate on providing remuneration advice to the public and not-for-profit sectors, informed by private sector practice.  The company was set up by Mark Fry and John Kirkwood and has offices in London and Essex.

The company’s aim is to provide advice to customers that improves their pay management and properly rewards employees, produces outcomes of which we as a company can be proud and significantly undercuts in price competitors with similar experience and expertise.
We have a string of well known customers ranging in size from 10,000 employees to 56. Some customers we support on an annual basis and for others we have undertaken one-off consultancy projects.  Much of our business comes from referrals and we expect to beat larger rivals two out of three times in  tender competitions, our customers citing quality and price as the reasons.

Our consultants are amongst the most experienced in the country.  Unlike some other consultancies, those that make the pitch are the ones who will actually carry out the work.

Besides John and Mark, who provide the bulk of the consultancy, we have an associate consultant specialising in total reward and research, an office manager and a marketing associate.

Consultant Biographies

John Kirkwood OBE.  Co-founder of Total Reward Projects, John moved to consultancy from The Ministry of Defence in 2005 where for the previous 5 years he was Director of Job Evaluation responsible for evaluating every job type and level in the Armed Forces and for providing advice on organisational structures and senior posts.  He brings to job evaluation first hand experience of running medium sized, multi-functional organisations, managing major projects and advising Government Ministers in the UK and abroad.  Since moving to consultancy he has worked mainly with charities, NDPBs and local authorities.  He has led pay and grading reviews, equality audits, and skills and capabilities audits, and has advised on business strategy, organisational structures and on the development of job evaluation schemes.  Besides his very extensive experience of all natures and levels of jobs, and how they interact, John understands what makes organisations tick, is a persuasive advocate for change and an accomplished project manager. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies.

Mark Fry. Co-founder of Total Reward Projects, Mark spent 23 years in central government departments where his last post was Head of Personnel and Training at the Charity Commission. Working with a wide variety of customers since becoming a remuneration consultant in 1998, Mark has acquired extensive experience of managing large-scale assignments in relation to conducting pay and grading reviews leading to the development and implementation of new pay and grading systems. This typically involves leading on major projects from inception through to delivery, working closely with and training in-house teams and recognised trades unions, and making presentations to all employees to gain the appropriate ‘buy-in’. Mark uses a range of job evaluation methodologies and provides training for in-house analysts of customers that want to carry out their own job evaluations. He also undertakes annual remuneration reviews for many customers, the findings and recommendations of which they rely upon in order to agree their annual pay settlements. Mark’s experience and knowledge of handling industrial relations issues is an important strength.