Judging Panel
The Judging Panel for these prestigious awards is made up of leading figures from business, charity, politics and the public sector. We are pleased to announce that once again the Chair of the Judging Panel will be Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE.
We will be updating this page as more judges are approved, please check it from time to time to see who else will be joining our esteemed panel.
Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE
Chair of Restoration Partners
Chair of Judging Panel
Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE
Chair of Restoration Partners
Chair of the Judging Panel
He was elected as a Fellow of the British Computer Society in 2006. He has considerable public company Board-level experience on both sides of the Atlantic. He is currently a director of Thomson Reuter. He is also on the board of The Institute of Directors as a Non-Executive Director. Ken is a Freeman of the City of London; Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists; a Director of the Thomson Reuters Foundation; Chairman of Thames Reach (for which he received an OBE in 2010); Chairman of Shaw Trust, was an original member of IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standard Authority) and Founder and Chairman of the Powerlist Foundation. In 2009, he was named the Sunday Times Not for Profit Non-Executive Director of the year.
Ken was voted number one in the Powerlist’s Top 10 most influential British black people in 2016. In 2015 Her Majesty the Queen, appointed him as her Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London. Ken was knighted for services to Business and Philanthropy in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List.
Nic Budden
Chief Executive Officer
Foxtons
Nic Budden
Chief Executive Officer
Foxtons
Andy Long
Chief Executive Officer
Pentland Brands
Andy Long
Chief Executive Officer
Pentland Brands
A Chartered Management Accountant, Andy has been with the company since 2005 and previously worked at Procter and Gamble and Boots Group. In 2016 Andy was appointed to the Board of Sport England, the arm’s length body of the UK Government charged with increasing the number of people enjoying the benefits of sport and activity in England – no matter what their background, ability or age.
Laura Hinton
Chief People Officer
PwC
Laura Hinton
Chief People Officer
PwC
Alison Gurd
Global Head of Proposal Management
Alison Gurd
Global Head of Proposal Management
BNP Paribas Securities Services
Nick Hedley
Partner
Nick Hedley
Partner
Hedley May
Sarah David
Founder & Managing Director
Sarah David
Founder & Managing Director
Thrive Consulting Collaborative
A key player in business acquisitions, Sarah has unusually strong experience in change situations, particularly engaging teams in major change, restructuring international teams and leading change programmes vital to growth and retrenchment strategies. She has been able to apply her tactics and strategies in organisations ranging from £2bn to $1m turnover, particularly in professional services, search, regulatory and education sectors, and in all ownership models, private, listed, public and private equity backed.
Her MBA, executive Harvard Business School programme, executive coaching training and investment in professional development are components of her success. She was the first person in her family to go to university.
Sarah’s not for profit experience includes board roles at The Children’s Society, inspire* and as CEO of Firefly, an autism school and outreach centre in Colorado, USA. She coaches and mentors CEOs in the charity space and has led CSR programmes for businesses in an executive capacity. Thrive is a social business, supporting social justice and mobility causes and charities.
Returning from the US after being suddenly widowed, Sarah took her experiences into consultancy and founded Thrive with her belief that business leaders do have time to make changes that will make them and their businesses prosper.
Sara Brennan
Positive Business Director
Sara Brennan
Positive Business Director
Pentland Brands
Her work caused her to grow more conscious of existing sustainability issues and opportunities and the role of businesses in addressing those issues. Sara is also interested in organisational change, especially in relation to developing beyond conventional leadership and discovering new ways of contributing to the wider environment in which organisations operate.