About the authors

Steve Flinders is a director of York Associates, which delivers professional language, communication skills, intercultural and management training to private and public sector organisations worldwide. He specialises in designing and delivering courses in management communication and team development for British and non-British managers, and courses for non-UK people working internationally in the fields of HR, employee relations, politics and public administration. He also coaches managers working internationally.

He has lived and worked in Pakistan, Sweden, Ireland and France as well as the UK and is the author or co-author of a number of titles for learners of professional English.

Bob Dignen studied English at Leicester University, obtaining a BA and MA.

In 1990 he entered teaching and spent one year in Eastern Germany teaching Business English within a government re-development programme for this region. For the last 10 years he has been teaching Business English within the UK. In 1994 he began working for York Associates as a freelancer. His responsibilities took him to France, Switzerland, Portugal, Russia and the Ukraine, providing tailored language training to a wide range of professional and technical personnel. In September 2000 he joined York Associates as a partner. He currently specialises in delivering intercultural and international team training programmes.

When not teaching, he enjoys writing materials for Business English, including English language training materials.

Simon Sweeney is a Senior Lecturer at York St John University. In 2006 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy.

Simon formerly taught EFL in Italy and Spain before returning to the UK and specialising in Business English and communication skills. He has also worked as a teacher of Italian and Spanish, a translator and a teacher trainer.

He has published numerous books on Business English, management and communication skills.

In recent years Simon has taught mainly management and international studies, including International Relations. He is currently Head of Programme for MA International Studies at York St John where he also contributes to the MA in English Language Teaching. He also teaches Education and Development at the University of York. He has a degree in politics and an MA in Linguistics & ELT from the University of York.

In his spare time he likes playing football and listening to the music of Miles Davis, Frank Zappa and Radiohead.