Building better boards

Dr. Aradhana Sarin is currently Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer at AstraZeneca. Prior to joining AstraZeneca in 2021, Dr. Sarin was CFO for Alexion. She joined Alexion in 2017 and was responsible for driving strategic growth, financial performance and business development.

Dr. Sarin has operational experience in biopharma, plus more than 20 years of professional experience at global financial institutions and has extensive knowledge of global healthcare systems, capital markets and strategic transactions.

Before joining Alexion, Dr. Sarin was Managing Director of Healthcare Corporate and Investment Banking at Citi Global Banking, focusing on clients in the life sciences and biopharmaceutical sectors. Previously, she served as Managing Director of Healthcare Investment Banking at UBS, and worked at JP Morgan in the M&A Advisory and Healthcare groups.

Preceding her banking career, Dr. Sarin trained as a medical doctor in India and spent two years practising in both India and Africa. She completed her medical training (M.B.B.S.) at the University of Delhi and received her MBA from Stanford Business School.

Jérôme Souied is a partner in the firm, member of our global board (January 2019), leader of the Private Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions practices in EMEA and a member of the Consumer and Retail practices. He advises investors around the world and allows them to increase the value of the assets they have under management by accompanying them throughout the life cycle (pre-acquisition, post-acquisition, exit) of their investments.

Jérôme is currently chairing both the Governance committee as well as the Strategy committee in the Board of Directors at A.T. Kearney.

As BRE Group’s Chief Executive, Gillian is responsible for the organisation’s strategy and performance. She works closely with BRE Trustees and the Group Board to define our purpose, vision and long-term goals.

Before joining BRE Group, Gillian was an Executive Director at RICS, where she held a number of roles covering assurance and enforcement of standards, global brand growth and thought leadership. She is passionate about the importance and potential of the built environment in creating sustainable, vibrant and productive life on the planet.

In her earlier career Gillian worked in the UK Civil service and with several professions and industries as a regulator and advocate. She promotes responsible leadership and one of her career highlights was being included in Women of the Future’s inaugural top 50 list of Kind Leaders in 2018.

Andrew Herbert is BRE Group’s Chief Financial Officer with over 25 years experience in change programmes and turnaround work. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young and has since held senior management positions in a wide range of organisations in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors including NatWest Group, Guide Dogs for the Blind and more recently the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

He also works as a non-executive director having held a range of positions including chairman of Octavia Housing a registered housing association based in West London and past chair of the London Society of Chartered Accountants.

In one of his previous roles Andrew was managing director of Radio Taxis Group where he championed the move to becoming the first carbon neutral transport business as part of the company’s overall CSR plan. Andrew has spoken at numerous conferences on the business benefits of going carbon neutral and practises what he preaches having embarked on a personal project to restore a late Victorian town house, in a conservation area, whilst trying to achieve as low a carbon footprint as possible.

Jorgina Busquets is currently the Managing Director of Football Education & Recreation. In this role, Jorgina oversees all of the Football Education & Recreation activities of the group globally, focussing on strategy, new product development, commercial and operations, with teams in the USA, UK, Australia, and the Middle East. She is also a Board Member of City Sofive Soccer, a JV that operates multiple small-sided soccer centres across the USA, and a Board Observer on a Sports Tech AI organisation. She joined CFG in 2018.

Previous experiences saw Jorgina working for the Boston Consulting Group advising clients in multiple industries, ranging from Industrial Goods, Consumer or Private Equity, and at Airbus Defence & Space, where she was a Satellite Project Manager.

Jorgina holds an MBA from London Business School (Honours), and Msc in Astronautics and Space Engineering, and a Bachelor in Aerospace Engineering. She is also an angel investor.

Yvonne is an expert in strategy and corporate governance with over a decade of experience serving on nineteen Boards of Directors of companies in Mexico and the US, private and publicly traded. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of companies in varied industries such as aviation, chemical distribution, agriculture real estate, cybersecurity, finance, fintech and sustainable economy. Previously, she held positions in large cap companies as CFO (retail and banking industries); IRO (banking industry); and is co-founder and CEO for a startup in the health industry. She has built six companies and worked on over fifty institutionalization and market-readiness projects with companies in eighteen different industries. She has been listed as one of Mexico’s top women in business by Forbes.

Kalvinder’s experience over the past 25 years has focused on Consumer Business and Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) clients. Kalvinder was a member of the Board of Deloitte North South Europe (NSE) and Chair of Deloitte NSE's People and Purpose Committee.

Kalvinder is the Partner responsible for global services to the one of the firm's largest Consumer goods clients. She sits on the board of Fund for global Human rights as well as City mental health alliance. Her desire for purpose and equity involved her being the Deloitte sponsor for the launch of “change the race ratio” with Lord Billmaoria at the CBI. She also leads the Deloitte relationship with “open for Business”, an LGBT think tank.

Kirsty is the UK Market Chair of Deloitte LLP and a member of Deloitte’s North & South Europe Executive, leading Deloitte Private, the market segment advising private equity, family offices & family owned businesses and emerging growth companies.

She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of England & Wales (ICAEW) and Chartered Institute of Tax (CIOT).

David joined Monitor Deloitte in 1997 and has worked with companies and governments across a wide range of sectors and geographies to define their strategy and to make and execute major strategic choices.

Over the last decade, David has focused on serving Consumer Products companies across a range of categories helping his clients to design growth strategies and transform their businesses. As the lead Partner for two of our principal Consumer Goods clients, David builds relationships with senior executives and board members, and orchestrates Deloitte’s support for his clients across our global footprint.

David is a Vice Chairman of Deloitte and a Governor of Clifton College.

Neil is a Vice Chairman and leads the firm's relationship with key clients as well as being the new leader of Deloitte's Executive Board Programme. Previous to this, Neil was the COO of Deloitte's North South Europe Consulting practice. Neil is a Chartered Accountant and specializes in technology enabled finance transformation projects that embrace organizational, process and people related change.

Outside of Deloitte, Neil is a University Governor and a School Governor.

Richard Thomas is the Head of EFG International’s UK Region and member of the Global Business Committee since 02 January 2019. In addition, he is CEO of EFG Private Bank Ltd, London, EFG International’s wholly owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom.

Prior to joining EFG, Richard Thomas worked at Barclays UK, where he last held the role of Chief Operating Officer, Savings, Wealth and Investments. He joined Barclays in 2008 and served as Chief Operating Officer UK Private Bank from 2015 to 2017 and Business Head London Region and Specialist Proposition UK from 2012 to 2015. Before that, he was a Managing Director and Team Leader UK. Prior to his career at Barclays, he held senior posts in the UK’s Ministry of Defence and held the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy.

Richard Thomas is a British citizen and was born in 1967. He holds a Sloan Fellowship MSc in Business Strategy and Leadership from London Business School as well as a MA in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He was awarded the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen in 2000 for his service abroad.

Andy Hamilton serves as LKQ Euro Car Parts Group CEO. Prior to this, Andy Hamilton was Chief Commercial Officer of LKQ Europe, where he was responsible for several key pan-European Commercial projects related to digital strategy, revenue optimization and category management. In his dynamic role as LKQ Euro Car Parts Group CEO, Andy Hamilton oversees both strategic and tactical business leadership, business analysis and organisational design, and has helped rebuild, support and lead a high performing and successful team through hands-on leadership, effective communication and empowerment.

Prior to LKQ Euro Car Parts, Andy held a variety of management roles for Halfords Group, the UK’s leading automotive and leisure retailer with over 500 locations, working up to Divisional Director for the South before bringing his extensive automotive industry knowledge to LKQ Euro Car Parts in 2010.

Over the years, Andy Hamilton has championed LKQ Europe’s significant and extensive organization transformation in business strategy, structure, consolidation of businesses, personnel, and business process improvements.

He is deeply involved with supporting the UK automotive industry and all aspects of the aftermarket, extending his expertise by sitting on the Executive Boards for both the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF).

Annick was appointed Chief Financial Officer of LKQ Euro Car Parts in 2018, transferring from the LKQ corporation where she was the Canada Region Controller from 2014 and bringing with her, an intimate knowledge of the North American car parts industry. With an international background working in North America, Europe and the Middle East for various multinational companies, Annick ensures the value of a solid financial organisation to the business is paramount. Annick holds an M.B.A. and is a Chartered Accountant.

Edward Chandler is a Founding Partner at Fremman Capital. Prior to Fremman, Edward was at PAI Partners for 12 years, latterly as a Partner, where he led investments in the Healthcare and the Hospitality sectors. Before this Edward was in Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch and, prior to that, held various operating roles at Unilever.

Edward graduated from University College London with a BSc in Mathematics and from London Business School with an MBA. He is fluent in English and French.

Having consistently played leading roles in the field of investments, asset management, & building businesses over two decades in the GCC Region, Pankaj’s main responsibilities encompasses people, leadership, strategy& business development. His unique grasp of industry nuances, relationships and innovative eye for detail have been pivotal in the company’s increasing success.

Detailing the journey that led Pankaj to co-found GII is to reveal a masterclass in relationship management. He has developed a very strong understanding of investment world specially for the investors of the region and has contributed significantly in enhancing the portfolios of the investors.

2000 to 2004: was managing multi-assets investment portfolio running into billions of USD for National Bank of Abu Dhabi Clients

2004 -2012: was instrumental in starting the Union National Financial Consultancy build & manage investment portfolios (USD 2.5 billion). In parallel set up Allied Investment Partner in 2007 and was instrumental in running USD 5 billion Debt Advisory & syndication for TDIC (Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi)

2012 – 2014: set up PE platform called SOUQ with AIP, IL&FS of India & Emirates NBD Capital.

2014: Co-founded GII & currently managing alternative assets portfolio of USD 3 billion+.

A firm believer in the power of entrepreneurship, encouraging new ideas and supporting education business ventures, Pankaj has been involved in numerous projects, company start-ups, regulated entities & Trust in the Advisory, Board Member, Trustee and Chairperson capacity. He also believes, support & actively practice multiple ESG initiatives.

Pankaj has over 23 years of experience in conceptualizing, launching, and building successful investment businesses.

Before co-founding ICE in 2014, a green fuels developer with up to 200GW portfolio of upstream wind and solar and downstream green hydrogen and ammonia projects in coastal deserts; Alicia led investment and strategy in global markets for 20 years, managing private equity funds, market entry and finance for multinational companies and institutional investors across Australasia including the Middle East. She has focused on infrastructure, renewable energy, specialty chemicals/pharma, technology, and telecom. She was a founding partner of multiple growth private equity funds and a project finance advisor in the Persian Gulf.

Alicia led international strategy and acquisitions at Elan Biopharmaceuticals and was Vice President of Prudential Asia Infrastructure Mezzanine Capital Fund. She was a founding principal at NetFuel Ventures (acquired by a University of Chicago affiliate) and has held international strategy and investment positions at Gemini, Lend Lease, and AirTouch International (Vodafone). Alicia holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Alicia currently sits on multiple industry and charity boards, steering committees, advisory boards, and councils and is a frequent speaker at clean hydrogen, ammonia, and sustainability events.

Sacha has over two decades of global investing experience across industries; including transportation, energy (conventional and alternative), infrastructure, automotive, real estate, industrial, consumer, and technology. He was a co-founding partner of a multi billion dollar investment firm managing public and private equity assets globally for a range of endowments, pension funds, family offices and other large institutions. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong investing the bank´s own capital across Asia. He began his career in the risk arbitrage group at Goldman Sachs in New York and Tokyo. Sacha holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Bas van Buijtenen is a Business Executive and Non-Executive Board Member (IDP-C) who has devoted his career to growing businesses in drug delivery, health & nutrition, pharma packaging and (specialty) materials.

In 2020, he joined LTS Lohmann Therapie Systeme, as CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, to drive the development and execution of its corporate strategy, building on an impressive track record as a leader in transdermal and transmucosal drug delivery.

Previously, he was President of the Injectables Division of Aptar Pharma, driving the groups’ global activities in devices and components for parenteral drug delivery.

Earlier in his career he held a number of global and regional leadership positions in Human Nutrition at Royal DSM, the leader in health ingredients for pharma, nutraceuticals, infant and F&B markets.

He started his career at that same company, fulfilling commercial roles in various parts of their polymers business.

Bas van Buijtenen’s focus is on driving growth for the business, enabling the success of customers as well as the personal development of his team. He is passionate about Employee Safety and Diversity: ‘Only when every voice is heard equally will we reach our full potential, as individuals and as organisation’.

He serves as Non-Executive Board member and Advisor for several young companies in the fields of aseptic drug delivery and nutraceuticals. He holds an executive certificate in corporate governance and board effectiveness (IDP-C, Insead).

Bas has worked and lived in various countries in Europe, as well as in Singapore and in the USA. He is a national of the Netherlands, and is fluent in English, German, French and Dutch. He holds a M.Sc. degree in Business Studies from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), complemented with Executive Education at Insead, Harvard Business School, IMD and Wharton. He is married with two children.

Tom advises on all aspects of corporate transactions, specialising in complex cross-border M&A.

Tom’s practice encompasses public and private acquisitions and disposals, carve-outs, private equity transactions, equity capital markets situations and advisory mandates, with a particular focus on multi-jurisdictional M&A.

Tom is recognised in Chambers & Partners and in The Legal 500 for UK premium public and private M&A. He is the author of a number of practitioner publications on UK corporate law, and is the current contributing editor of the Legal 500 corporate governance guide.

Matt joined NNL in June 2018 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in April 2019. He joined the business from BAE Systems where he had spent the previous 16 years in a wide variety of roles, most latterly as Finance Director for the Dreadnought Submarine Programme.

Matt worked across multiple businesses within BAE Systems where he developed a deep understanding of Financial Management, Corporate Governance and Information Management and Technology.

Matt is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and sits as a member of the CIMA Benevolent Fund. Outside work, he is a qualified Rugby League Coach with Chorley Panthers.

An experienced Executive leader and Board member bringing a wealth of experience in Operational, Commercial, Governance and Strategic leadership to the organisations I work for. In my role at National Nuclear Laboratory I have full accountability for end-to-end delivery; partnering with stakeholders to understand how NNL can use our unique capabilities to develop innovative solutions that deliver real value. My role includes the safe and secure operation of an estate of complex nuclear facilities, across multiple sites, with a replacement value in excess of £1bn. Through the implementation of an extensive change programme across the business I have provided the leadership, governance and control to deliver 15% pa growth across the last two years and established a solid forward sales pipeline for the next decade. I firmly believe that investing time and energy in building relationships creates real teamwork, this, alongside championing high quality communications internally and externally empowers teams to deliver outstanding results. As a Board member I am a key contributor to both the Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee and Environment, Health, Safety & Security Committee.

My experience includes the leadership of major projects / programmes across a number of sectors including nuclear, infrastructure, energy (generation and transmission) and defence, and includes projects both in the UK and internationally. I have a proven track record of leading the successful delivery of challenging projects, the recovery of projects "in difficulty" and turning around the performance of teams through cultural and organisational change.

Fiona Rayment is a passionate, enthusiastic and strategic leader who enjoys creating innovative solutions. She is an active listener, excellent communicator and has an ability to engage with a broad range of stakeholders. Her clarity of thought is often commented upon as a unique contributor to executive and board discussions. As the Chief Science and Technology Officer at the UK National Nuclear Laboratory she leads on the science, engineering and innovation agenda for Nuclear. Through her previous role as Executive Director of NIRO, a division of the UK National Nuclear Laboratory, she provided strategic nuclear advice to Her Majesty's Government. Her career spans mostly innovation, strategy and operations and more recently she has been appointed to several senior national and international advisory and non-executive director roles. Rayment is a chartered chemist and engineer with a PhD in chemistry and an MBA. She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry and of the UK Nuclear Institute. Fiona was awarded an OBE for her services to UK Nuclear innovation and research and the Legion of Honour for her contribution to strengthening the Franco–British nuclear relationship.

Throughout her career she has actively engaged in the development of technical and business strategies and led on effective stakeholder engagement with government and commercial entities. She has experience in the creation and management of risk strategies enabling business success and has actively participated on several audit committees and reviews.

With a proven track record in chairing and participating on a variety of boards, Rayment is currently a member of the UK Space Agency Steering Board, Chair of NI Enterprises Ltd., Vice-Chair of OECD NEA steering committee, and President of CEA Energy Division Scientific Council. Until recently she served on the board of the American Nuclear Society, was a trustee of the UK Nuclear Institute and chaired the UK’s Nuclear Skills Strategy Group.

Clare Barlow is the Chief People Officer and Board Member at the National Nuclear Laboratory. In this role as well as her board responsibilities, Clare is passionate about driving the people agenda across the business with an inclusive and sustainable approach.

Clare joined NNL in 2018 from BAE Systems, where she spent the previous ten years as HR Director for the UK and International Combat Air division. Prior to BAE Systems, Clare was Head of HR at Royal Mail, British Airways and a number of manufacturing organisations.

Clare has a wealth of experience spanning both HR and business roles, specialising in strategy development, organisational development, change management and employee relations.

In addition to her NNL role, Clare is a Trustee of Age UK Lancashire and a qualified Executive and team Coach and lives in Lancashire with her husband Warren and daughter Hannah.

Mark was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2016. The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) sets industry standards, the industry safety, health and wellbeing strategy and the Sustainable Rail Strategy. It has a research capability to evidence its core work and provides additional technical consultancy services to the industry. He is a member of the Transport for London Board and chairs the Audit and Assurance Committee. Mark is a member of the Department for Transport’s Research and Innovation Board.

Mark graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in Economics from the University of York and has held a number of senior roles in Britain’s rail industry before joining (RSSB) and was deputy chair of the British Transport Police Authority for four years.

Jason Clark is the Chief Financial Officer at Smart DCC. Before joining Smart DCC, Jason spent two years as the Chief Financial Officer at Bristol Airport, where he had Board level responsibility for Finance, Risk Management, Procurement and IT. Prior to this, Jason spent the majority of his career in the energy industry with RWE, working across upstream and downstream businesses in the UK and Europe, with his last position being the UK Finance Director for RWE npower.

Dimitra Manis is Executive Vice President, Chief Purpose Officer and serves on S&P Global’s Executive Committee. In her role, she leads the People, Marketing, Communications, Corporate Responsibility, and DEI functions. With an emphasis on creating sustainable impact, Dimitra and her team focus on creating lasting positive change for customers, employees, and communities around the globe.

Before joining S&P Global, Dimitra held senior executive positions in large global companies across various industries, including consumer goods, financial services, data information, and technology. She has served as a trusted advisor to CEOs and boards of directors on a wide range of corporate issues, including M&A, crisis management, compensation, culture and organizational change, diversity, and talent development and succession.

She is a board member of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a joint venture between S&P Global and CME Group; the S&P Global Foundation (endowment of 200M USD); and British American Business, where she serves on the Nominating and Compensation Committee.

Dimitra has lived and worked in Asia, Europe, and North America. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Monash University and a postgraduate degree from Deakin University, both of which are located in her native Australia. She has taught as an Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Cornell University, Mountbatten Institute/St Mary’s College, and Monash University. Dimitra is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Strategic Marketing and Communications at Fordham University.

Jean-Philippe is the Managing Director at Tilda Ltd in the U.K. and has an extensive background in food, FMCG, and international business development. Most recently Jean-Philippe was Managing Director at Ebro India for 8 years based in New Delhi until 2019. He set up Ebro foods footprint and grew the business from scratch to a $100 million Company in 6 years. Previously he has held senior positions within Panzani and Mitsui OSK Lines in France. He holds a Master of Science in International trade and logistics from KEDGE Business school and he’s alumni of Harvard Business School after graduating from the Senior Executive Leadership Program in 2019.

Shortlisted for ‘Leader of the Year’ at the UK BA ’22 awards, CEO of Wharton Business Consulting Natalie Wharton is a change and transformation specialist with over 20 years’ experience in solving organisations’ most complex people problems. She is proud of her company’s track record in delivering lasting and sustainable change for her clients.

Following a prolific career, including heading up UK FSI Culture and Digital programmes at Deloitte, Natalie founded Wharton Business Consulting as a company that delivers a fresh take on consultancy where talent and flexibility go hand in hand. This visionary approach is redefining how consultancy is delivered by giving incredible people from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to shine.

Natalie is a talented and experienced event host and panellist. She speaks fluently in a public setting on many specialised areas such as transformation, culture, leadership, organisational design and regulatory programmes. Her experience as a leader in the Financial Services Industry delivering culture change has led her to host panels such as CityWeek’s ‘Transforming the Culture of Financial Services’ (2019) as well as acting as an event chair, and panel member, at the Culture & Conduct Forum (2021).