Thora is a Business Psychologist and Chartered Manager, holding a BA in Psychology from the University of Iceland and a PhD in Business Organisation from the Edinburgh Business School (examiner from Templeton College, Oxford University). The thesis, entitled “The Human Element in Business Acquisitions: A Process View of Success” involved extensive research and in-depth case studies. Based on this research, Thora was invited to contribute a chapter to International Business Partnerships (published by Palgrave) and several business publications such as Acquisitions Monthly.

Thora founded her business in order to offer services around her fullsome personal, professional and academic experience of change. With over 20 years of experience—and armed with extensive diagnostic and assessment experience in a variety of contexts, good interpersonal, analytical and business skills in dealing with colleagues and clients at all levels— Thora’s mission is to help individuals and companies increase satisfaction and improve work adjustment. She has grown a team of specialists to offer a comprehensive M+A Optimisation Service. Please visit the
What We Bring page for further details.

Thora has extensive experience in the research sector, conducting research for consultancies, public sector organisations, as well as for a boutique post-merger integration consultancy, Beyond the Deal LLP in London, alongside Thomson Reuters. She has also accrued extensive experience with a range of commercial organisations, such as Bank of America, and several leading market research firms, in Europe and North America, and has worked in recruitment and trained as an ICCS^® consultant.

Thora has helped niche boutique and specialist HR/OD consultancies develop diagnostic tools and services to assess various aspects of employee engagement and satisfaction. She has also worked for management schools, conducting research into organisational behaviour, including the University of Surrey Management School. Across several years’ experience leading major accounts in the market research and software sector, most recently for SPSS – MR (now IBM Analytics), Thora equipped herself with exceptional client facing and management skills, and strong relationships with major European clients.

These experiences position Thora, uniquely and powerfully, to offer highly specialised services around diagnostic interviewing and assessments on sensitive matters, and transition facilitation for individuals, aspiring and small business owners and established companies.

Says Professor Michael Arthur, MD and Developer of the ICCS^® system, Boston, US: “On all counts, I am deeply impressed by Thora’s professionalism, and I have learned to trust her as an important and dependable ally. Moreover, I am confident that Thora is demonstrating the same high level of professionalism in all of her business relationships.” Thora was asked by Imperial College to conduct a webinar for their alumni, describing the framework she uses for services in Joint Venture & Partnerships facilitation and in Career Coaching & Diagnostics.

Born in Norway and also of Icelandic origin, Thora was raised on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition, she has worked in several European countries. She is settled in the greater London area of the UK, where she has lived for over 25 years, having previously studied in Edinburgh. In her free time, she enjoys socialising with family and friends, travel and volunteer work. She appreciates the outdoors, stays fit, and belongs to a gym and boat club. As well as the country-side, she also takes in all that London has to offer.