better conversations
better outcomes
better conversations
better outcomes
Core helps people in business, organisations and the public sector to find quick, constructive and creative solutions to disputes and other difficult situations.
We work throughout the UK and beyond, providing a high quality, independent mediation and facilitation service, as well as specialist coaching and training.
Core's mediators, supported by the Core office, work to deliver a high quality, innovative and independent service.
Core's courses assist decision-makers, managers, professional advisers, HR professionals, civil servants, specialist negotiators and others to communicate effectively, manage differences and resolve disputes.
Our consultancy and facilitation service helps leaders and decision-makers in businesses and organisations to manage difficulties at senior level - or avoid them altogether.
"Back in 2001, the delivery of more than 1,000 days of mediation would have seemed like a pipe dream, even if we had thought about it. Back then, the target for our small start-up business was simply to introduce mediation to commercial and civil disputes in Scotland."
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John Sturrock reflects on his time as an advocate at the Scottish Bar and asks: could at least some of these cases have been mediated, had mediation been available?
Originally published in The Scotsman on 15 April 2019.
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Early Bird Registration for Core's Residential Summer School is now open, other special events for the diary and recent news and articles.
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“The ability to negotiate well, to find ways to cooperate which recognise and promote the broad public interest, is essential to our future. We will not survive without being able to see beyond narrow and partisan positions. Our future depends on being competent negotiators. There is no more important set of skills to teach the next generation.”
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“If you had not held us back that evening, the deal would not have been done.”
“Thank you and I wish you well.”
In this post, I return to a familiar theme for mediators and for lawyers acting for clients in mediation: perseverance.
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"One of the privileges of my role is that I am invited to do things which give me an insight into aspects of life of which I might not otherwise be aware. Recently, I have been working with the Scottish Leaders Forum Strategic Leadership Group as it seeks to help the public sector and other leaders meet the challenges of Brexit and other events."
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Training opportunities, forthcoming events, mediation articles and blogs and other pieces for your interest.
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"My last blog reflected on an excellent mediation conference in Frankfurt on the Oder where the strength which comes from working together was clear. I started this present blog on the day that the EU agreed the terms of the UK’s departure from the organisation that has..."
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This is an example of one way a mediator might encourage parties in mediation to engage with each other at an early stage. Filmed in Athens, September 2018.
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This article in the November edition of Insider, in which John Sturrock was interviewed, discusses the impact of Brexit on dispute resolution in Scotland.
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What effect can negotiating over a cuppa have during a mediation?
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"At a recent excellent conference hosted by Professor Ulla Glaesser at Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder), one of the workshop sessions focussed on the extent to which mediators can or should disclose or express their views when engaged in politically-related mediation work – or more generally."
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"Not long ago, I read a review of Yuval Noah Harari’s new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. The message contained in it was so stark that I found myself temporarily paralysed with fear about the future."
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"I don't understand how you British could give up so easily. We've been trying for years to get into the EU. People lost their lives. You call it a prison. You have no understanding of what it is like for us. We know about prisons. Your Brexit vote was demoralising and played into the hands of anti-Europeans in my country."
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"In a period of a little over 72 hours, everything I have learned in the past twenty years and all the roles I have aspired to play converged in a remarkable series of events..."
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Training opportunities, forthcoming events, mediation articles and blogs and other pieces for your interest.
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"'The last great act of a courageous leader is to let go', I suggested to the CEO as he pondered whether this was in fact a good time to step down.... He was holding on for his own reasons, unsure what the future would hold for him, uncertain about what he would do and where he could turn. He needed a prompt, permission, to accept responsibility.."
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Earlier this year, John Sturrock commented on the first of Lord Hope’s Diaries. He now reflects on the latest volume, which covers Lord Hope’s time as Lord President and is a fascinating account of a rapidly changing era.
Originally published in The Scotsman on 3 September 2018.
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“Some ideas take seed... so, here is another seed. What might we do to reassert our sense of identity as part of the whole? How might might we express our need for, and dependence on, each other, as an antidote to isolation, silos and alienation?”
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The appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary for Justice is a good opportunity to ask some questions: What kind of dispute resolution system do we wish to encourage in contemporary Scotland? How should public money and resources be deployed to achieve the best results?...
Originally published as an article in The Scotsman on 6 August 2018.
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I'm still of the view that the Core course has been the most worthwhile training I've done since qualifying.
I am a big fan of mediation as a form of dispute resolution and we probably don't use it enough. Please be assured that we will be coming back to you, however, in the future.
You did a superb job to get two sides with very entrenched views to come to an agreement. You produced a calm environment that enabled all the detail to be debated in a constructive way.
Many thanks. I found that exhilarating, exhausting, uncomfortable and necessary all in equal measure. You were brilliant.
The group absolutely loved the workshop. It was presented in the right tone, assertive yet respectfully and calmly nurturing. The conversations that I have had with them truly reflect an 11 out of 10 type of feedback.
Thank you for the energy, intellect and enthusiasm you shared with us this week. Rarely do you get to be on a course with a facilitator who has such a broad range....
I have found the course to be a positive and inspiring experience, which has challenged my professional practices and caused me to consider what is important. It should be compulsory!
With the excellent record I've had with Core and mediation as a process, I will continue to consider this form of ADR in all the claims I handle!
I thought the course was superb - one of the most fulfilling (albeit difficult) experiences I have ever had….it has made me think very differently about what I have been doing for the last 20...
Thank you enormously for your contribution - it has saved vast expense, energy and doubtless nervous exhaustion for all. A great advert for mediation in general, and Core in particular.
In 20 years of attending educational and skills training courses, I am happy to say that this was the most informative, useful and enjoyable I have yet been to.
My colleagues both work on very high profile projects which require them to deal with a good deal of conflict and I consider your course to be the best there is in helping anyone to...
Presented by: Tim Hicks, leading Oregon mediator and author
Date and time: Monday 10 June 2019, 08:30-10:30
Location: The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George St
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