Dr. Graham Abbey
Graham Abbey is a Professor in Practice at the University of Bristol Business School and Director of Executive Education and Lifelong Learning, where he teaches leadership and organizational change.
Graham is the Founder and Chief Executive of Farleigh Performance. Formed in 2020 as a joint venture with leading professional sports organization, Bath Rugby, Farleigh Performance works with diverse organisations – sporting to commercial; large to small; local to global; public, private and charitable – to bring purposeful performance to life.
Graham’s desire to understand how things work has stuck with him ever since his Engineering studies forty years ago. This has drawn him into exploring human-systems, specifically how to create high performing, purposeful businesses. He has worked internationally as a Management Consultant, Human Resources Director (easyJet), Charity Trustee (Refugee Council) and Business Academic (University of Bath), and was one of the world’s first Chief Purpose Officers for Tate & Lyle Plc.
Along with his first-class Engineering degree from the University of Bristol, Graham has added a Psychology degree and an MBA to his qualifications. His PhD research examined storytelling during organisational change, and he believes now is the time to be rewriting the role of all organisations in society as we grapple with increasing challenges and opportunities.