Nicholas was head of system leadership at the NHS Leadership Academy and has specialised in whole systems working and leadership development for several decades. He was on the faculty of NHS Top Leaders since its inception in 2010, and was a Senior Fellow of the King’s Fund from 2002 – 2013 where he directed a range of programmes for doctors, managers, clinicians and community leaders including the Top Manager Programme and Leadership for Senior Managers. 

Nicholas has been commissioned for bespoke work with the South London and Maudsley NHS FT, Lancashire Care NHS FT, NHS Health Education Yorkshire and the Humber, Wincanton Health Centre, The Clapham & Larkhall Schools Collaborative, Exeter Leadership Consultancy, The Gibraltar Health Authority, Coastal West Sussex CCG, Willan Hospice and Salford Royal NHS FT. In 2013/4 he co-directed a major systems programme over the best part of a year, a leadership programme in its own right and to enable better care pathways for elderly people with frailty across Southampton and West Hampshire.

He has long and wide experience in the design and delivery of development interventions for hospitals such as The Royal Free, UCLH, Great Ormond Street, Oxford University Hospitals NHS FT, Salford Royal NHS FT, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and health care organisations such as the Irish HSE, South Central SHA, Macmillan, and the Naomi Children’s Hospice. He has MA degrees from Oxford and Birmingham and a Cardiff PhD. He is a trained executive coach and mentor and facilitates teams and conferences. He has studied in London, Paris, Geneva and New York and taught at Southampton and Bristol Universities.

Nicholas has made over 130 BBC broadcasts and written a book about the plight of Britain’s inner cities and, recently published, a book to bring an untranslated French philosopher to the attention of English speaking theologians.