JUDGES

Alison is an Executive Director of Russell Reynolds Associates a global executive search and leadership advisory firm. Based out of the London office, she is a senior member of the Board and CEO practice. She is specialises in Chair, Non-Executive Director and CEO appointments and works with clients across industries and geographies, with a particular focus on the consumer multisite sector.

Alison has over 25 years’ experience in executive search. Prior to rejoining Russell Reynolds in 2021, Alison worked with Lygon Group and with the Zygos Partnership, a UK based Board and CEO advisory firm. Prior to that she spent eight years with Spencer Stuart in London and in Sydney in the consumer and retail practice.

Alison has a particular interest in identifying next generation non-executive directors, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups. She serves as Russell Reynold’s primary contact for its work as a foundation sponsor of the EPoC (Empowering People of Colour) organisation. Alison graduated from the University of Manchester with a BA(Hons) in English Literature and Linguistics.

Ann is a highly experienced NED and Board Advisor in the Leisure and Hospitality sector with a track record of helping BTC and BTB boards listen to the voice of the customer, respond to their needs and create profitable, award-winning businesses. With a consistent record of creating demand for brands, she has particular skills in Strategy, Insight, Marketing and Operations. Her board experience covers PLC, VC/PE backed, family and start-up businesses and she now sits on 5 boards in the sector and is an advisor to a further 3 boards. She speaks regularly at industry events, sits on the Tamweel advisory panel, was a co-founder of Plan B mentoring, founded the Hartwell Dinner Group, sits on the Arena board and the UKH events committee and organises the Female Leader & Entrepreneurs conference for Propel.

Arslan is the Chief Digital & Technology Officer at PizzaExpress, responsible for the brand’s digital transformation, trading, loyalty & CRM, digital marketing, commercial partnerships, data, and IT functions. Previously, he was Global Digital & Loyalty Director at Costa Coffee, leading a digital transformation across UK, China, Middle East & Europe.

Claire is Global Vice President at IHG Hotels & Resorts, based in their Global Head Office in Windsor - she partners at C suite level, and leads HR Partnering across much of IHG’s Global Corporate Organisation. With over 25 years experience, Claire has led HR teams in multiple industry sectors, and led global organisational transformations around the world. She has been a strong advocate of DE&I, since her early career and was a found member of BP’s first UK Womens network. She has been nominated for multiple awards in DE&I, and sits on IHG’s UK/ Europe DE&I Council, and leads the UK DE&I team. She mentors refugees, ethnic minority women and future female leaders internally and externally.

Dan leads Redgrave’s Consumer Practice, including the Hospitality, Travel & Leisure segment. Based in London, he is now one of the UKs most notable Board level consultants in the sector. He has delivered countless successful searches for non-executive and executive Board members, as well as for other senior leadership positions.

David has over 20 years experience in the People function, across multiple businesses, most recently as the Chief People Officer (CPO) of Newcross Healthcare. Prior to this, David spent seven years as the Group HR Director (GHRD) of the Rank Group, a multinational online and offline gaming group, which followed on from the three years he spent as the UK&I HRD for TDX and Equifax, a large US based consumer credit reporting agency. David also spent five years of his career as the Managing Director of his own consulting business specialising in the areas of Organisational Change and Development. David is a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD). David is also a recognised industry thought leader having contributed to articles in People Management, podcasts, in particular for the CIPD, and conference speaking. 

With over 30 years of experience in recruitment, growth, and innovation, Dawn boasts an impressive track record in the hospitality and retail sectors, excelling in both FTSE100 and SME environments and recognised as a leading industry recruitment advisor and expert. Dawn’s dedication and contributions to recruitment have not only driven success for the organisations she has worked with but have also elevated standards across the industry. Her extensive knowledge enables her to share best practices and insights, enhancing the effectiveness of all projects she undertakes. As a frequent guest speaker, panellist, and judge at key industry events and award ceremonies, and actively involved with several trade bodies and charities as an industry advisor and consultant, Dawn is a prominent voice in advocating for recruitment excellence.

With unrivalled experience, Dev has been called on to coach and develop senior leaders and teams representing global brands including BP, BBC, Deloitte, PayPal, eBay and BiC. He has managed and led multi-disciplinary teams in the talent, leadership, and culture space both nationally and internationally. An award-winning Chartered Organisational Psychologist and an Associate Fellow and Chartered Member of The British Psychological Society, Dev is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (BSc in Management Science) and City University (MSc in Organisational Psychology). He has written two leadership books, ‘The Inclusive Leader Scorecard’ and ‘Inclusion Unlocked. A Guide for Leaders to Act’, published by Wiley. A member of industry bodies including the Association of Business Psychology, CIPD, WiHTL & Diversity in Retail, Dev is widely recognised for numerous important contributions to his field. He is regularly featured in influential industry publications including Executive Grapevine, The Board Agenda, and People Management.

Ebony is a strategic people professional with a drive to make workplaces an environment where everyone can thrive. Ebony has extensive years working in the talent and HR space within the retail and technology industry. In 2024, Ebony was appointed onto the Diversity in Retail Board, giving a chance to use her voice to aid DiR’s strategy. In addition, Ebony was recently appointed onto the Lancashire Cricket Club Foundation Inclusion board, giving her an even wider opportunity to help their strategy to make cricket more inclusive, accessible, and equitable.

Elliott is the managing partner at The MBS Group. He specialises in NED, CEO, MD and senior functional roles across private and public companies – with a focus on Retail, Travel, Leisure, Hospitality and Consumer Goods businesses. He is passionate about making sure that MBS always exceeds clients’ expectations, and that it is the search consultancy of choice for consumer executive searches. Over the last 3 years, he has completed assignments in over 20 countries around the world – and is proud to lead MBS’s work on diversity across all our practices. Having started his career with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Elliott later became CEO of a luxury cosmetics brand and CEO of a respected fashion label. He holds a first-class degree with honours in Geography from Brasenose College, Oxford, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Elliott is also a NED at Time Products (the owner of the Sekonda and Accurist watch brands), and is a founding member of the Advisory Board’s of WiHTL and of Pennies, the UK’s leading fintech charity.

Emma’s executive career started as a marketer developing international brands. After a solid grounding at Unilever (17 years on both food and wellness brands), Emma led and grew major leisure and hospitality businesses Pizza Express, Merlin Entertainments and, latterly, Wagamama, where she was CEO. Emma is now an experienced plural Non-Exec Board Director and business leader, working across a diverse portfolio of businesses. Emma is a committed champion of D+I and creating cultures where entrepreneurship can thrive.

Estelle achieves excellence by focusing on what matters most to deliver company results and delight people and customers. As Chief People Officer at Virgin Atlantic, Estelle created a bold and inclusive people strategy, ensuring every person could thrive and achieve the highest levels of performance. Estelle has worked internationally across five different industries. She gained an MBA from Aston Business School, is a member of the CIPD and speaks French and Spanish fluently.

Garry is a People / HR leader with 15 years + experience leading teams across multiple disciplines including Talent Acquisition, Employee Engagement, Internal Communications and HR Central Operations however now fully focussed on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and has created his own independent consultancy - Think Inclusion Consulting. Garry strives to make a difference to peoples working lives and loves to see how working towards achieving true belonging in the workplace can support businesses and people achieve their goals and drive sustainable change.

Jas is the Financial Accounts and Tax Manager at Elior. Jas’ amazing journey with WiHTL & DiR includes graduating from the award-winning Ethnic Senior Leaders Programme and recently becoming a WiHTL Advisory Board member.

Jen is a business change leader and coach with extensive experience in organization strategy and design, leadership development, and end-to-end change program design and delivery. Together with her colleagues at Q5, they are known for supporting business leaders to make their change agendas come to life.

Jie Zheng is the Technology Team Lead for Machine Learning Lab at TUI, designated to deliver AI innovation and is a member of the WiHTL Advisory Board. She began her career in Hospitality, advancing to General Manager at Nando’s before transitioning to technology. Jie champions diversity and inclusion in the Hospitality and Travel industry and in data and technology.

Following a three decade career at PwC, which included leading the UK’s inclusion consulting practice, Jon now supports firms to drive positive change so that everyone is treated with respect and is able to fulfill their potential. This includes being an Advisory Board Member of WiHTL, a member of Diversity Project’s board and advisor to LGBT Great’s board.

Kate is a senior member of the Russell Reynolds Associates's Consumer Sector. Russell Reynolds Associates is a leading executive search and leadership advisory firm that helps global CEOs and boards shape what’s next right now.

She understands the unique challenges consumer brands are facing today and recognizes the leadership qualities needed to lead a thriving and innovative multisite organization in the digital age.

Her clients span the gamut of the L&H sector: from the world’s largest hotel and cruise companies to international restaurant brands, as well as national pub and coffee businesses. In retail, she works closely with national and international grocers and an exciting portfolio of specialist, lifestyle, and apparel brands. She is experienced working with both listed companies and those backed by private capital.

Outside of the UK, Kate works closely with colleagues in Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America on search, succession, assessment, and referencing projects that require a global perspective as well as an extensive and trusted network.

Prior to joining the firm, Kate spent three years in executive search. She started her career in journalism where she spent five years with The Sunday Times as a Retail and Luxury Goods Correspondent. Kate holds a BA degree in English and Classics from University College Dublin. She also has a post-graduate certificate in Journalism from the London College of Printing.

Kelly Kuhn is a global advisor and Independent Non-Executive Director at ISS A/S and SSP Group Plc. She is a Strategic Advisor for WNS, Senior Advisor for McChrystal Group, and Special Advisor at CWT. Kelly also serves on the Strategic Advisory Board for WINiT by GBTA.

Patrice is the CEO of Eminere, a bespoke consultancy that is in the business of building better humans so that they can, in turn, run better businesses. Having held senior positions in Finance and Commercial across some of the UK’s most loved brands including Virgin Atlantic, Royal Mail and British Airways, she has contributed to WiHTL for over 5 years and formally served as the co-chair for the Race and Ethnicity committee.

Paul has been a public company CFO for over 10 years and is an experienced Non Executive Director. He was most recently Flutter Entertainment's Chief Financial Officer, leading their move to a NYSE primary listing. Previously he was CFO and Group Head of Strategy at InterContinental Hotels Group plc for 10 years. Before that he worked in Investment Banking after qualifying as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse. He has worked as a Non Executive Director with Schroders Plc and Thomas Cook Plc.

In her current role with Hilton, Pauline has direct responsibility for over 50 managed hotels in the group’s focused service portfolio. She has more than 25 years experience in the travel industry, and, prior to beginning her Hilton journey in 2021, Pauline was at Virgin Atlantic Holidays, as Vice President Product & Operations. Before this she was at TUI and Thomson Holidays. Pauline was named among ‘100 Women to Watch Index 2020’ by WiHTL & DiR – and is regularly involved with this organisation as part of the team that helps drive greater inclusion across the industry.

After an early career leading Coca-Cola GB&I Penny has followed a plural career. Her work as a NED, and more recently as Chair has spanned many sectors - Retail, Leisure, Media, Banking, Property, and always through the lens of celebrating diversity within a healthy culture.

Robert has over 25 years of retail and financial management experience, which has proved invaluable in his role as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. He has a deep understanding of the Group’s businesses and strategy and has a strong track record of creating shareholder value. He is a Chartered Accountant and joined WH Smith in 2004 as Retail Finance Director. He is a non-executive director and Chair of the Audit Committee of The Watches of Switzerland Group PLC. He is the Executive sponsor of the WH Smith Gender Network.

Sanjeeva is the IT Director at David Lloyd Clubs, responsible for the technology landscape across 130+ premium health, fitness and wellness clubs in UK and Europe. He has over 25 years of extensive experience and is a member of the WiHTL Advisory Board.

Simon has extensive experience in the UK hospitality industry, having worked for over 35 years in various sales, marketing, commercial and operational roles. Until 2020, Simon was CEO of Ei Group PLC, the FTSE-listed owner and operator of over 4,000 pubs across the UK. Simon has been a member of the Advisory Board of WiHTL since 2019 and is currently chair of Wadworth & Co Ltd, a non executive director of Côte Restaurants, Adnams PLC and JW Lees & Co Ltd and a Senior Advisor to Teneo.

Stephen Cahill is a partner with Farient Advisors. He has 30 years' experience advising companies on compensation and equity incentive strategies with a strong track record in turnaround and growth situations. Stephen is a leading Board-level strategic remuneration advisor experienced in influencing the FTSE 100 Boards and C-suite executives in the UK, Europe, Africa, Asia and America. He has provided advice to half of the current FTSE 100 within the last ten years and has advised some of the fastest-growing FTSE 250, small-cap/AIM clients, and private companies. Stephen also has been a regular contact for regulators for executive remuneration regulation in the UK. Prior to joining Farient, Stephen was the Vice Chair and a Partner at Deloitte in London. He was Global Executive Remuneration Business Leader, led Deloitte’s Chair relationship programme and was Head of the Financial Services Tax Practice from 2014 to 2020. Previously, Stephen was a Worldwide Partner at Mercer in London (where he and Simon were colleagues). He was a Member of Mercer’s UK Executive Board, their Human Capital Leader for Western Europe, and the Human Capital Leader for the Mid-West U.S. Stephen qualified as an actuary in 1996. He has undertaken the Sustainable Finance qualification at the University of Cambridge as well as Inclusive Leadership through Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics.

Suzanne is a seasoned commercial senior HR leader with a wealth of experience internationally. She has worked across many different sectors and specialisms during her career, in a variety of people and operational leadership roles, and for great brands such as Airbus, Diageo, and Merlin Entertainments. Outside of work Suzanne loves to be active whether that be long walks, swimming, cycling, tennis, skiing or visiting the gym.