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

Nic Budden

Chief Executive Officer

Foxtons

Laura Hinton

Chief People Officer

PwC

Frank Roden

Head of Asset & Fund Services

BNP Paribas Securities Services

Adrian Burns

Air Commodore

Royal Air Force

Nick Hedley

Partner

Hedley May

Andy Long

Chief Executive Officer

Pentland Brands

Sarah David

Founder & Managing Director

Thrive Consulting Collaborative

Steven Cooper

Chief Executive Officer

C. Hoare & Co

Katja Hall

Corporate Affairs Director

Capita

Laura Battley

Company Secretary & G C

New Look

Adam Lisle

Head of Recruitment & Brand

Lidl

Jacky Kelly

Co-head of the Global Structured Finance

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Headline Sponsor

Gold Partner

Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE

Chair of Restoration Partners

Chair of the Judging Panel

Ken is Founder and Chairman of Restoration Partners, the boutique technology merchant bank and architects of the Virtual Technology Cluster model Ken’s technology career spans over 30 years commencing with IBM from whom he won a scholarship while at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University. In 1992, after a twelve years as a senior executive at Wang Labs in the US and Europe, Ken founded Interregnum, the technology merchant bank.

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

Prior to joining Foxtons in 2005, Nic had an international career in business development, operations, marketing, strategy and finance, having held positions at BT Group plc (1990 to 1997), Cable & Wireless Group (1997 to 2002) and Severn Trent Group (2003 to 2005). Nic holds a degree in economics from the University of Essex.

Laura Hinton

Chief People Officer

PwC

Laura graduated from King’s College, London with a Business Management degree. She trained in audit prior to moving into HR Consulting. Laura joined PwC in 2005 and became a Partner in 2006. Before joining the Executive Board, she held a number of Leadership roles including Head of People for the Tax Practice, and UK HR Consulting Leader. Laura continues to work with global clients to support them with people transformation programmes and culture change.

Frank Roden

Head of Asset & Fund Services UK

BNP Paribas Securities Services

Frank Roden has worked for BNP Paribas Securities Services for 15 years in UK and international fund markets. In July 2016 Frank was appointed head of the firm’s UK asset and fund servicing business, and in addition, acts as the senior business sponsor for CSR in the UK.

Prior to 2016, Frank has been in a number of roles focused primarily on the strategic development of BNP Paribas Securities Services businesses in international markets, servicing institutional asset managers across a range of mutual and alternative funds structures.

Frank holds a degree in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Leeds and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Adrian Burns

Air Commodore

Royal Air Force

Air Commodore Adrian Burns joined the Royal Air Force in 1990 as an Administration officer. He has undertaken a range of support roles at the RAF’s frontline bases and has a variety of operational experience in the Middle East, South Atlantic, Africa and Afghanistan. In staff appointments he has held a range of strategic roles and has held senior positions in the MOD’s Financial and Military Capability Team and Headquarters Air’s Manning Authority.

He has most recently completed Command of Royal Air Force Halton and a one year course at the Royal College of Defence Studies. He is married and has two grown-up children. He is a passionate believer in Social Mobility and the associated responsibilities that institutions and employers should discharge freely and gladly, using Role Models, Ambassadors and Advocates.

Nick Hedley

Partner

Hedley May

Nick is a recognised leader in the appointment of C-suite functional leaders, with a specialist focus on General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officers and Chief Risk Officers. He has worked across industry sectors and geographies on behalf of a diverse range of clients, helping them recruit talented individuals who are able to transform the impact a corporate function has on the business. Nick is a qualified lawyer who began his career in law before moving into search in 1995. He has an LLB from London University.

Andy Long

Chief Executive Officer

Pentland Brands

Andy Long is Chief Executive Officer of Pentland Brands, a UK based private, family owned brand management company operating in sports, outdoor and fashion.

Pentland owns a number of well-known brands including: Speedo, Berghaus, Canterbury, Mitre, and Ellesse. Pentland is also the global licensee for Lacoste and Ted Baker footwear and sells its products in over 190 countries worldwide.

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.

Sarah David

Founder & Managing Director

Thrive Consulting Collaborative

Thrive founder and managing director Sarah David has built her consulting career having previously held senior executive level roles in a range of businesses going through significant growth and change. Her early career was spent as a lawyer with Slaughter and May, before moving into sales and management as a director of QD Legal, a highly successful recruitment business.

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.

Steven Cooper

Chief Executive Officer

C. Hoare & Co

Within his 32 years in the banking industry, Steven was most recently CEO of Barclaycard Business Solutions, managing the payments division for Barclaycard including Merchant Acquiring, Commercial Payments and Sales Finance. Prior to this, he was CEO of Personal Banking at Barclays for both UK and Europe, where he gained a wealth of experience in the rapidly changing landscape of consumer banking with digital technology and data. He has also led UK Business Banking and businesses for Barclays in Africa, India and Offshore locations.

Steven sits on a number of advisory boards, including being a commissioner for the social mobility commission. Steven is a NED at Robert Walters PLC and the FSCS and is an Alumni of Harvard Business Schools

Katja Hall

Corporate Affairs Director

Capita

Katja Hall Corporate Affairs Director Katja is responsible for both Capita’s internal and external communications, including employee engagement and public affairs, she was Group Head of External Affairs at HSBC where she was responsible for external communications, public affairs and sustainability. Prior to joining HSBC, Katja was Deputy Director-General at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and led CBI’s policy development and advocacy work in the UK and internationally. She led campaigns on skills and education, public service reform, trust in business and diversity.

Laura Battley

Company Secretary & General Counsel

New Look

Laura Battley is Group Company Secretary and General Counsel at New Look. Having spent over 6 years at Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May, Laura spent time at Addleshaw Goddard and then KPMG, where she joined New Look initially on secondment and then later returned in a permanent role. She now has responsibility for the legal and secretariat teams as well as the wider group compliance functions across the business (including data protection, internal audit, operational audit, corporate governance, profit protection, insurance, incident management, business continuity and health and safety).

Laura is also a lay trustee, appointed to the board of King’s College London Students’ Union and acts as Chair of their Governance and Policy Committee.

Adam Lisle

Head of Recruitment & Employer Brand

Lidl

Having joined Lidl GB in 2005 on one of their Times Top 100 recognised graduate programmes, Adam’s career with Lidl has been a genuine example of the opportunities and diversity a career in retail can offer. After studying a BSc in European Business and Management at Swansea University, working for one of the largest food retailers in Europe was the perfect fit.

Adam began at Lidl in Store Operations learning about the core of a food retail business and went on to undertake an 18 month secondment in Germany as part of the company’s international job rotation programme, before returning to the UK in 2011 in the HR function at Head Office. He initially led the Learning and Development team, before more recently transitioning into the role of Head of Recruitment and Employer Brand, where it is his job to attract, select and onboard the best talent in the market, so that Lidl can continue its impressive growth story.

Jacky Kelly

Co-head of the Global Structured Finance & Derivatives practice

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Jacky Kelly is a partner and head of the London Structured Finance & Derivatives practice and is co-head of the Global Structured Finance & Derivatives practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

Jacky has been practising in the London finance market since the mid-eighties and has represented financial institutions, hedge funds and private equity houses on a variety of finance transactions including leveraged finance, asset backed lending, real estate lending, securitisation, derivatives and restructuring. Jacky is recognised as a Market Leader for Structured Finance and Securitisation in IFLR1000 UK and a Leading Individual for Securitisation in Legal 500 UK. She is listed as a Leading Individual for Securitisation and Structured Finance & Derivatives in Chambers UK and Chambers Global with clients noting “[she is] very commercial, incredibly smart, and represents our interests with other counsel, bringing them round to our point of view in a non-confrontational way.” She is also recognised in Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides series, including “Women in Business Law”, “Best of the Best” and “Structured Finance and Securitisation”.

As someone who attended a state school in South London, Jacky is hugely passionate about Inclusion and social mobility. Jacky is Co-Chair of the Weil Inclusion Committee in London and heads up Social Mobility@Weil.

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) is the professional association for 20,000 Chartered Legal Executive lawyers, paralegals and other legal practitioners in England and Wales. For more than 50 years, we have been offering unparalleled access to a flexible career in law. CILEx believes in progress through knowledge. We work closely with Government and the Ministry of Justice and are recognised in England and Wales as one of the three core approved regulators of the legal profession alongside barristers and solicitors.