The speakers, panellists and contributors appearing at the Festival of Global People
Find out about our panel of experts who will share their insights and expertise with delegates at the two-day unique event, Festival of Global People.
17 April 2019
Tuesday 14 May & Wednesday 15 May 2019 | 9am – 5pmSt Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, NW1 2ARWelcome to the second Festival of Global People, a unique event offering those working in global organisations the chance to connect, support and inspire individuals working in globally mobile teams in a wide range of industries. The two-day event will feature a programme of presentations by our keynote speakers, all respected authorities in their respective fields of expertise, designed to inspire, advise, offer insights and stimulate debate among the professionals attending the event.Watch highlights from the 2019 Festival:
COLIN BELL – PanelCEO, COBIS
Colin originally joined COBIS in 2010. He works with and supports talented students, support staff, teachers, leaders and governors from British International schools of global quality, spanning over 80 countries worldwide.Prior to COBIS, Colin taught in the UK, Far East and Europe and has led educational projects in the UK and internationally, working with the DFE, Government Office for London, Eteach.com and the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames where, for six years, he was a member of the school improvement Inspectorate, with responsibility for school workforce recruitment, development, extended schools and leadership succession planning.Colin is a founding member of the International Task Force on Child Protection and a Governor of Geneva English School and a Trustee of the British School in Tokyo.
TERESA BOUGHEY – PanelCEO, Jungle HR
Teresa, MA FCIPD, is CEO of award-winning Jungle HR and works with Executive Boards and Leadership Teams during times of change and business transformations. She is passionate about enabling organisations to create inclusive workplace cultures. Throughout her career Teresa has gained vast Strategic HR experience and has worked at a Senior level within a variety of industries and sectors including FTSE 100 and 250 companies, Financial Services, the Travel Industry, Private and Public Sectors and a Sunday Times Top 100 Company that grew 20% year on year. Teresa is a UK Female Entrepreneur Ambassador and a member of the Women and Enterprise and Women and Work APPG. Her revolutionary new book Closing the Gap – 5 steps to creating an Inclusive Culture is perfect for any business professional at any stage of their inclusivity journey. Learn more at www.junglediversity.com
ELEONORA BORTOLATO – SpeakerDirector of Residential, Four Seasons Residences
Eleonora Bortolato has been working within the luxury hotel market for more than15 years, and has been working for the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts for seven years.
Eleonora started her career working at the Four Seasons Residences in Florence, located at Palazzo Tornabuoni, as the Assistant Manager Residential Services. She then joined the Four Seasons Hotel, Ten Trinity as the Director of Residences, to launch the new Four Seasons Residences project.
HOLLY CREED – PanelGlobal Mobility Manager at DXC Technology and founder of NextGen GM
Holly is a global mobility professional with a proven track record of centralising and structuring worldwide global mobility teams through implementing innovative, streamlined and dynamic operating models, processes, policies and technology. She is able to build worldwide internal and external relationships to enhance a global mobility team’s reputation. She also presents and writes as a global mobility subject matter expert internationally, alongside co-founding her own global mobility forum.The focus of Holly’s forum Next Gen GM is to support the next generation of global mobility professionals with less than 15 years' experience, both corporate and vendor, to enable them to come together and enhance their global mobility development and network.
MARIANNE CURPHEY – Interviewer
Marianne is an award-winning freelance financial writer, blogger and columnist. Former editor of Guardian Money online, city news editor of The Guardian, insurance correspondent of The Times and deputy personal finance editor at The Times.Marianne’s book, E-cash, is a guide to managing your money online and her areas of expertise include:s personal finance, business, savings, pensions, insurance and investments.
ALESSANDRA GNUDI– SpeakerExecutive Director at FOCUS
Alessandra Gnudi is the Executive Director at FOCUS and has been with the organisation for nearly 18 years. In her role Alessandra provides leadership and management to the organisation whose mission is to ensure a positive and successful experience for international professionals and their families relocating to the UK. A natural networker, Alessandra enjoys establishing and maintaining long term relationships with a wide range of companies and organisations.Alessandra has won 3 industry awards and has been shortlisted for five. She has written several articles and is invited regularly to present on employee and family support and dual career issues. Originally from Italy, she holds a Master of Arts in Marketing Communication from Emerson College in Boston, USA, and a Law degree from Bologna University, Italy.
THERESA HAFNER – SpeakerHead of Business Solutions at InterNations Business Solutions
Theresa leads the Business Solutions Division, which provides personalized solutions to global mobility and HR professionals to ensure successful foreign assignments and improved international talent retention. She has nine years’ experience in the expat field and working with international teams.Theresa has played a vital role in building community management at InterNations Business Solutions, as well as other key areas since joining the company in 2010. Having lived abroad for long periods of her career, she knows the challenges of relocation first-hand and is an expert in the field of global talent mobility. She holds a degree in international cultural and business studies from the University of Passau.
DR LINDA HOLBECHE – SpeakerConsultant, developer, researcher and author
Dr Linda Holbeche is a consultant, developer, researcher and author in the fields of HR, leadership, strategy and change. Previously in director roles at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the Work Foundation and Roffey Park, she is Visiting Professor at five UK universities, a member of several advisory boards, and a Fellow of the Institute for Employment Studies and of Roffey Park.Linda edits Croner’s Strategic Briefings series. Her latest book is Influencing Organizational Effectiveness: A Critical Take on the HRM Contribution (Routledge, 2017).Other recent books include: The Agile Organization: How to Build an Innovative, Sustainable and Resilient Business (Kogan Page, 2015, 2nd Edition July 2018); Organization Development: A Practitioner’s Guide for OD and HR, 2nd Edition (Kogan Page, 2015).
ALEXANDRA HOLDEN TERHALLE – PanelLife, business, career, relocation and executive coach
Alexandra is a life, business, career, relocation and executive coach. Prior to receiving her coaching degree at the University of Cambridge, Alexandra worked in PR, media, higher education and start-ups. She has experience coaching executives, CEOs, academics, business owners, mothers and entrepreneurs from over a dozen countries.She has lived throughout the USA, Spain, England and Germany and is now based in southeast England. She is a member of the Association for Coaching and International Coach Federation.
SIMON JOHNSTON – Speaker
CEO Icon Relocation
Simon Johnston, CEO of ICON Relocation, has been involved in relocation for over 30 years, starting with Black Horse Relocation in 1988.
In 1993, Nestlé invited Simon to become their ‘in-house’ Mobility Manager with overall accountability for bringing ten divisions, and a multitude of locations within the group, together under a common relocation policy.
Simon launched ICON Relocation in September 2001 and quickly built a solid client base across a wide range of industries, for both UK and International destination services.
ICON is now one of the fastest growing relocation companies in the UK with a multi-million-pound turnover, exceptional client retention and a reputation for service excellence, alongside award winning service and the latest digital and on-line solutions.
Services range from: fully accompanied home search, self-managed solutions, corporate housing for our client’s transitional staff, to multi-quote move management solutions.
Simon is the current Chair of ARP and on the TIRA Advisory Board.
ROHIT KUMAR – PanelJoint Managing Director, IKAN Relocation services India (IKAN)
Rohit Kumar is the founder, co-owner and joint managing director of IKAN. He is based at IKAN’s New Delhi office and is at the forefront of the mobility and relocation industry in India, having been involved in the business for the past 20 years. Prior to starting the IKAN business, he gained experience working in diverse industries ranging from FMCG, automotive and the service sector. Rohit holds a Masters degree in Management from SIBM Pune and is a certified cross-cultural trainer.His first venture in the mobility space in 1999 was also known as IKAN, which was subsequently sold to the Santa Fe Group in 2008. After a sabbatical of nearly three years, Rohit started a new business, partnering his childhood friend and co- founder, Diwakar Gupta. The current venture – known as the ‘NEW IKAN’ – has offices across India and is positioned as an integrated mobility solutions provider.
ANDY LAWSON – SpeakerTechnical Manager, Lyceum Theatre
Andy has worked in technical theatre for 20 years. His journey began at school and he has followed his unwavering ambition of working in West End theatre through to the present day. Now with over 12 years’ experience working in the bright lights of the West End, Andy has worked on some of the biggest shows in the world including Matilda, Lion King, Guys and Dolls, Chicago & Bend It Like Beckham.Now working as technical manager at the Lyceum Theatre, home of the Lion King, Andy has spent the last 10 years in the Phoenix Theatre where he has dedicated his time as a carpenter and technician to building, producing and maintaining productions at the epicentre of world theatre. With the benefit of working in live entertainment, Andy has now mastered the ‘show must go on’ philosophy and has encountered many kinds of challenging scenarios that he has solved with innovative and creative solutions.
BRENDA E LEVIS – SpeakerPresident, NYC Navigator
Citing a void in the New York Tri-State market for reasonably priced, high quality, destination services providers, Brenda was inspired to start up her own company, NYC Navigator, which provides companies and individuals with relocation solutions to make the transition to New York and the Tri-State area as smooth and cost effective as possible.Prior to this she served as the Global Relocation Manager for Lehman Brothers in New York City, where she managed the firm’s domestic and international relocation departments as well as its corporate housing program. Brenda has 25 years of international work/study experience, and 15 years experience working in the expatriate services industry. Having lived in Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, she has first hand knowledge of the challenges of an international move.Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Brenda served as an International Relocation Consultant on site at Goldman Sachs. This was preceded by tenure with an international moving and relocation company in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Brenda has been a featured speaker at numerous relocation events, and served on the International Assignment Committee for the Employee Relocation Council.
LINDSAY LYDON – SpeakerSenior Business Solutions Consultant at InterNations Business Solutions
With more than 11 years of management experience, Lindsay partners with global mobility teams in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States of America (USA) to provide social integration solutions for expats and relocating partners.Lindsay is an expat herself, having relocated to Munich, Germany, from the USA for this position at InterNations Business Solutions. Prior to her current role, she held various leadership positions in the retail and real estate industries. Lindsay is originally from Portland, Oregon and holds an MBA from Northeastern University.
ANGELA MIDDLETON MBE – SpeakerFounder of MiddletonMurray and author
Angela Middleton MBE is Founder and Chair of the Limitless brand, which consists of the following companies: MiddletonMurray Ltd, 1st Job Series, IWant2BA… and Your Body Means Business.Angela grew up in southeast London and began her career as a graduate trainee in IT and sales, and went on to hold senior management positions at BP and Barclays. Her desire to help young people led to her founding MiddletonMurray in 2002, since then it has expanded nationwide. In June 2018 Angela launched her Limitless manifesto in the House of Commons and was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list in January 2019 for services to business, youth employment and apprenticeships.Angela is the author of the 1st Job Series, which includes books called How To Get Your First Job… And Build The Career You Want, a guide for 16-24 year olds on how to choose the right career for them and Bridge That Gap, a resource aimed at schools, offering advice on how they can help students get their first job and build the career they want. Recently, she launched the first free careers podcast series called IWant2BA… providing inspiration to a worldwide audience and offering readily available, tangible careers advice.Angela has twice judged on Richard Branson’s VOOM Panel – advising Richard on the best SMEs to invest in and has appeared on Sky News, BBC The Apprentice: You’re Fired!, BBC Documentary Inside Out promoting MiddletonMurray, BBC Radio, Channel 5 News and many more. She is also a regular contributor to public policy, appearing on a number of Parliamentary Committees.The most recent project – Your Body Means Business is bringing together all the elements of mind, body and business to achieve business success for female entrepreneurs.
FIONA MURCHIE
Managing Editor, Relocate Global
Fiona has over 25 years’ experience in management and HR publishing and global mobility.
From this unique perspective, she combines understanding of the HR and global mobility market with knowledge of business drivers and an appreciation of management thinking and the wider influences on company and regional growth brought about by changing global markets, demographics, economics and geo-political factors.
She is passionate about making connections, building networks, creating opportunities for business, and enabling the successful relocation of employees and their families, to ensure that companies flourish in a globally mobile world.Building on her knowledge of relocation, she launched Relocate magazine in 2004, to promote creativity and best practice in mobility, explore new topics, and stimulate debate on relocation-related subjects. It has become the leading multimedia publication for HR, global mobility and relocation professionals, with a growing international reputation for thought leadership, innovation and people support.
PETER MOOLAN-FEROZE – SpeakerArtist and creativity consultant
Peter trained as an artist at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, the Slade School (1979-1983), London University and then as a post-graduate at the Royal Academy Schools (1984-1987). He specialized in working from the life model, which he continued at post-graduate level.While at the Royal Academy of Arts, Peter created the RA Outreach programme, taking creativity workshops with the artist’s life model into schools nationwide. He ran this programme for 20 years, staged three exhibitions of young people’s work at the Academy and, as a result, was asked to contribute to executive programmes at the London Business School. There he helps leaders and managers to understand more about the nature of creativity and the connection between art and business. For the last 15 years, Peter has been an external consultant at the LBS. He has designed creative learning programmes for companies including Deutsche Bank, A.T. Kearney, Givaudan, M&S, McLaren Automotive, Unilever, Estée Lauder and Jo Malone.Peter believes in Renaissance thinking and in the power of cross fertilization between subjects, encouraging managers to realize that solutions can occur by employing subjects outside your own skill base.
MORAG PATERSON – Panel Consultant, coach and guide
With over 30 years’ international life experience, Morag has enjoyed guiding individuals towards increased self-awareness to recognise their unique insights, value and contribution to the world. Morag integrates experience spanning all sectors, levels and labels, including teaching (throughout education to MBA and leadership programmes), facilitating workshops/webinars internationally, innovative multi-discipline and cross-cultural project development, co-creating and growing creative micro and social enterprises, holistic therapeutic practice and evolution coaching, and partnering with other colleagues and organisations. She is ‘certified’ in a wide range of tools and techniques, with MSc in Entrepreneurship and of MCIPD. After 32 moves, visiting 23 countries and living in five, home is now simply on the riverbank by the sea in northern Scotland. From here, through the magic of the internet and more, she is loving a ‘portfolio career’, being with individuals and organisations to assist in finding ‘ease’ in times of transition or challenge, as freelance coach, consultant and writer. She loves working ‘virtually’, travels as invited and is a French speaker.
BEN RENSHAW – SpeakerLeadership Coach and author
Ben builds purposeful partnerships with leading organisations to develop leadership capability, high performing teams and transform organisational cultures. He believes that discovering and leading with purpose is the greatest opportunity in life. Speaker, coach, consultant and author of eight books including Purpose, Lead and SuperCoaching, Ben’s innovative work with companies such as BT, Heathrow, Heinz, IHG, Sainsbury’s and Unilever has brought him international recognition. As a speaker and coach Ben inspires people to go beyond what they think is possible. As a consultant he is renowned for getting to the heart of situations and creating the conditions for new solutions to emerge and as an author he blends his depth of insight with practical calls to action.
JITIN SETHI – SpeakerPartner, Global Education Practice, L.E.K. Consulting
Jitin Sethi is a partner at L.E.K. Consulting’s Global Education Practice. Based in Singapore he has delivered education cases across the globe and has extensive experience across all education segments, including K-12, Higher Education, Transnational Education, English Language Training, Education Technology and Corporate Training. Jitin works closely with private equity clients, tertiary institutions and school companies on investment opportunities, business plan development and go-to-market strategy. He has also been invited to speak at industry-leading conferences such as IPSEF and the EdTech Review Summit.L.E.K. Consulting is a global management consultancy firm that uses industry expertise and rigorous analysis to help business leaders achieve practical results with real impact. L.E.K.’s Global Education practice serves public, private, non-profit and private for-profit educational institutions and also works with investors and foundations that are involved with the education industry.
DR SUSAN SHORTLAND – Inclusion and Diversity Panel ChairProfessor Emerita, London Metropolitan University
Sue is Professor Emerita at Guildhall Business & Law at London Metropolitan University and a Senior Lecturer in HRM at the University of Westminster. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD). She holds masters’ degrees in Geography and Higher Education from Cambridge and Westminster Universities respectively. In addition to enjoying a successful academic career, Sue is the author of five books on human resource management (HRM). Before moving to higher education, she worked in international HRM at KPMG, managed the CBI’s Employee Relocation Council and did HR research writing for Incomes Data Services and Industrial Relations Services.
BELINDA SMITH – PanelFounder Grace Coaching
Belinda started her career in a wide range of HR roles with BAA in London and Total in Aberdeen. She re-trained as a coach 20 years ago and led the coaching practice at Waverley Learning before establishing Grace Coaching.Transitions require (re)finding a sense of belonging, something Belinda finds very important, especially as a ‘trailing spouse’. Eventually settled in Winchester she founded Grace Coaching to provide a place and space for individuals, leaders, teams and businesses to pause, reflect and discover the next steps.Her key hope is that we all learn to listen better to one another, and make good choices in what we say and do. Her coaching focus is often on helping others transition well: to a new appointment, organisation, or location. If the whole team is in transition she works with other coaches offering a systemic team coaching approach.
EVA STOCK – SpeakerDirector of Business Engagement at FOCUS
Eva is currently the Director of Business Engagement at FOCUS, where she held previous roles in marketing and on the magazine team. In her current role, Eva develops new relationships with multinational companies who are moving employees into the UK, as well as handling relationship management with existing clients.Before entering the relocation industry, Eva worked in new product development and marketing within various financial services companies. She received a BA in Economics and French, as well as an MSc in International Management, both from Boston University. American by birth, Italian by marriage and a long time resident of the United Kingdom, Eva enjoys daily interaction with people from all over the world.
PAUL WILLIAMSON – SpeakerHead of Talent Development, The Ambassador Theatre Group
Paul heads up learning and development at The Ambassadors Theatre Group (ATG), a global live entertainment business. ATG owns and operates close to 50 venues worldwide, is an internationally recognised and award-winning producer, and operates a market leading theatre ticketing business.He has worked in the theatre industry for over 20 years, enjoying leadership roles in sales and ticketing prior to moving into Human Resources.Paul has developed a number of in-house development programmes for ATG, including ‘Leading Lights’ – a residential leadership development programme for senior leaders, and ‘Rising Stars’ – a two-year development programme for emerging leaders. He is also an internal coach and has worked closely with The Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC), developing in-house coaching capability within the organisation to support the various programmes ATG run. Paul is a chartered member of the CIPD, an AoEC qualified executive coach and a Hogan personality assessor.
Meet our panel of experts below:
COLIN BELL // TERESA BOUGHEY //ELEONORA BORTOLATO //HOLLY CREED // MARIANNE CURPHEY // ALESSANDRA GNUDI// THERESA HAFNER//DR LINDA HOLBECHE // ALEXANDRA HOLDEN TERHALLE // SIMON JOHNSTON// ROHIT KUMAR // ANDY LAWSON // BRENDA E LEVIS // LINDSAY LYDON // ANGELA MIDDLETON // PETER MOOLAN-FEROZE // FIONA MURCHIE // MORAG PATERSON // BEN RENSHAW // JITIN SETHI // DR SUSAN SHORTLAND // BELINDA SMITH // EVA STOCK // PAUL WILLIAMSONColin originally joined COBIS in 2010. He works with and supports talented students, support staff, teachers, leaders and governors from British International schools of global quality, spanning over 80 countries worldwide.Prior to COBIS, Colin taught in the UK, Far East and Europe and has led educational projects in the UK and internationally, working with the DFE, Government Office for London, Eteach.com and the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames where, for six years, he was a member of the school improvement Inspectorate, with responsibility for school workforce recruitment, development, extended schools and leadership succession planning.Colin is a founding member of the International Task Force on Child Protection and a Governor of Geneva English School and a Trustee of the British School in Tokyo.
Teresa, MA FCIPD, is CEO of award-winning Jungle HR and works with Executive Boards and Leadership Teams during times of change and business transformations. She is passionate about enabling organisations to create inclusive workplace cultures. Throughout her career Teresa has gained vast Strategic HR experience and has worked at a Senior level within a variety of industries and sectors including FTSE 100 and 250 companies, Financial Services, the Travel Industry, Private and Public Sectors and a Sunday Times Top 100 Company that grew 20% year on year. Teresa is a UK Female Entrepreneur Ambassador and a member of the Women and Enterprise and Women and Work APPG. Her revolutionary new book Closing the Gap – 5 steps to creating an Inclusive Culture is perfect for any business professional at any stage of their inclusivity journey. Learn more at www.junglediversity.com
Eleonora Bortolato has been working within the luxury hotel market for more than15 years, and has been working for the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts for seven years.
Eleonora started her career working at the Four Seasons Residences in Florence, located at Palazzo Tornabuoni, as the Assistant Manager Residential Services. She then joined the Four Seasons Hotel, Ten Trinity as the Director of Residences, to launch the new Four Seasons Residences project.
Holly is a global mobility professional with a proven track record of centralising and structuring worldwide global mobility teams through implementing innovative, streamlined and dynamic operating models, processes, policies and technology. She is able to build worldwide internal and external relationships to enhance a global mobility team’s reputation. She also presents and writes as a global mobility subject matter expert internationally, alongside co-founding her own global mobility forum.The focus of Holly’s forum Next Gen GM is to support the next generation of global mobility professionals with less than 15 years' experience, both corporate and vendor, to enable them to come together and enhance their global mobility development and network.
Marianne is an award-winning freelance financial writer, blogger and columnist. Former editor of Guardian Money online, city news editor of The Guardian, insurance correspondent of The Times and deputy personal finance editor at The Times.Marianne’s book, E-cash, is a guide to managing your money online and her areas of expertise include:s personal finance, business, savings, pensions, insurance and investments.
Alessandra Gnudi is the Executive Director at FOCUS and has been with the organisation for nearly 18 years. In her role Alessandra provides leadership and management to the organisation whose mission is to ensure a positive and successful experience for international professionals and their families relocating to the UK. A natural networker, Alessandra enjoys establishing and maintaining long term relationships with a wide range of companies and organisations.Alessandra has won 3 industry awards and has been shortlisted for five. She has written several articles and is invited regularly to present on employee and family support and dual career issues. Originally from Italy, she holds a Master of Arts in Marketing Communication from Emerson College in Boston, USA, and a Law degree from Bologna University, Italy.
Theresa leads the Business Solutions Division, which provides personalized solutions to global mobility and HR professionals to ensure successful foreign assignments and improved international talent retention. She has nine years’ experience in the expat field and working with international teams.Theresa has played a vital role in building community management at InterNations Business Solutions, as well as other key areas since joining the company in 2010. Having lived abroad for long periods of her career, she knows the challenges of relocation first-hand and is an expert in the field of global talent mobility. She holds a degree in international cultural and business studies from the University of Passau.
Dr Linda Holbeche is a consultant, developer, researcher and author in the fields of HR, leadership, strategy and change. Previously in director roles at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the Work Foundation and Roffey Park, she is Visiting Professor at five UK universities, a member of several advisory boards, and a Fellow of the Institute for Employment Studies and of Roffey Park.Linda edits Croner’s Strategic Briefings series. Her latest book is Influencing Organizational Effectiveness: A Critical Take on the HRM Contribution (Routledge, 2017).Other recent books include: The Agile Organization: How to Build an Innovative, Sustainable and Resilient Business (Kogan Page, 2015, 2nd Edition July 2018); Organization Development: A Practitioner’s Guide for OD and HR, 2nd Edition (Kogan Page, 2015).
Alexandra is a life, business, career, relocation and executive coach. Prior to receiving her coaching degree at the University of Cambridge, Alexandra worked in PR, media, higher education and start-ups. She has experience coaching executives, CEOs, academics, business owners, mothers and entrepreneurs from over a dozen countries.She has lived throughout the USA, Spain, England and Germany and is now based in southeast England. She is a member of the Association for Coaching and International Coach Federation.
CEO Icon Relocation
Simon Johnston, CEO of ICON Relocation, has been involved in relocation for over 30 years, starting with Black Horse Relocation in 1988.
In 1993, Nestlé invited Simon to become their ‘in-house’ Mobility Manager with overall accountability for bringing ten divisions, and a multitude of locations within the group, together under a common relocation policy.
Simon launched ICON Relocation in September 2001 and quickly built a solid client base across a wide range of industries, for both UK and International destination services.
ICON is now one of the fastest growing relocation companies in the UK with a multi-million-pound turnover, exceptional client retention and a reputation for service excellence, alongside award winning service and the latest digital and on-line solutions.
Services range from: fully accompanied home search, self-managed solutions, corporate housing for our client’s transitional staff, to multi-quote move management solutions.
Simon is the current Chair of ARP and on the TIRA Advisory Board.
Rohit Kumar is the founder, co-owner and joint managing director of IKAN. He is based at IKAN’s New Delhi office and is at the forefront of the mobility and relocation industry in India, having been involved in the business for the past 20 years. Prior to starting the IKAN business, he gained experience working in diverse industries ranging from FMCG, automotive and the service sector. Rohit holds a Masters degree in Management from SIBM Pune and is a certified cross-cultural trainer.His first venture in the mobility space in 1999 was also known as IKAN, which was subsequently sold to the Santa Fe Group in 2008. After a sabbatical of nearly three years, Rohit started a new business, partnering his childhood friend and co- founder, Diwakar Gupta. The current venture – known as the ‘NEW IKAN’ – has offices across India and is positioned as an integrated mobility solutions provider.
Andy has worked in technical theatre for 20 years. His journey began at school and he has followed his unwavering ambition of working in West End theatre through to the present day. Now with over 12 years’ experience working in the bright lights of the West End, Andy has worked on some of the biggest shows in the world including Matilda, Lion King, Guys and Dolls, Chicago & Bend It Like Beckham.Now working as technical manager at the Lyceum Theatre, home of the Lion King, Andy has spent the last 10 years in the Phoenix Theatre where he has dedicated his time as a carpenter and technician to building, producing and maintaining productions at the epicentre of world theatre. With the benefit of working in live entertainment, Andy has now mastered the ‘show must go on’ philosophy and has encountered many kinds of challenging scenarios that he has solved with innovative and creative solutions.
Citing a void in the New York Tri-State market for reasonably priced, high quality, destination services providers, Brenda was inspired to start up her own company, NYC Navigator, which provides companies and individuals with relocation solutions to make the transition to New York and the Tri-State area as smooth and cost effective as possible.Prior to this she served as the Global Relocation Manager for Lehman Brothers in New York City, where she managed the firm’s domestic and international relocation departments as well as its corporate housing program. Brenda has 25 years of international work/study experience, and 15 years experience working in the expatriate services industry. Having lived in Switzerland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, she has first hand knowledge of the challenges of an international move.Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Brenda served as an International Relocation Consultant on site at Goldman Sachs. This was preceded by tenure with an international moving and relocation company in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Brenda has been a featured speaker at numerous relocation events, and served on the International Assignment Committee for the Employee Relocation Council.
With more than 11 years of management experience, Lindsay partners with global mobility teams in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States of America (USA) to provide social integration solutions for expats and relocating partners.Lindsay is an expat herself, having relocated to Munich, Germany, from the USA for this position at InterNations Business Solutions. Prior to her current role, she held various leadership positions in the retail and real estate industries. Lindsay is originally from Portland, Oregon and holds an MBA from Northeastern University.
Angela Middleton MBE is Founder and Chair of the Limitless brand, which consists of the following companies: MiddletonMurray Ltd, 1st Job Series, IWant2BA… and Your Body Means Business.Angela grew up in southeast London and began her career as a graduate trainee in IT and sales, and went on to hold senior management positions at BP and Barclays. Her desire to help young people led to her founding MiddletonMurray in 2002, since then it has expanded nationwide. In June 2018 Angela launched her Limitless manifesto in the House of Commons and was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list in January 2019 for services to business, youth employment and apprenticeships.Angela is the author of the 1st Job Series, which includes books called How To Get Your First Job… And Build The Career You Want, a guide for 16-24 year olds on how to choose the right career for them and Bridge That Gap, a resource aimed at schools, offering advice on how they can help students get their first job and build the career they want. Recently, she launched the first free careers podcast series called IWant2BA… providing inspiration to a worldwide audience and offering readily available, tangible careers advice.Angela has twice judged on Richard Branson’s VOOM Panel – advising Richard on the best SMEs to invest in and has appeared on Sky News, BBC The Apprentice: You’re Fired!, BBC Documentary Inside Out promoting MiddletonMurray, BBC Radio, Channel 5 News and many more. She is also a regular contributor to public policy, appearing on a number of Parliamentary Committees.The most recent project – Your Body Means Business is bringing together all the elements of mind, body and business to achieve business success for female entrepreneurs.
Managing Editor, Relocate Global
Fiona has over 25 years’ experience in management and HR publishing and global mobility.
From this unique perspective, she combines understanding of the HR and global mobility market with knowledge of business drivers and an appreciation of management thinking and the wider influences on company and regional growth brought about by changing global markets, demographics, economics and geo-political factors.
She is passionate about making connections, building networks, creating opportunities for business, and enabling the successful relocation of employees and their families, to ensure that companies flourish in a globally mobile world.Building on her knowledge of relocation, she launched Relocate magazine in 2004, to promote creativity and best practice in mobility, explore new topics, and stimulate debate on relocation-related subjects. It has become the leading multimedia publication for HR, global mobility and relocation professionals, with a growing international reputation for thought leadership, innovation and people support.
Peter trained as an artist at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, the Slade School (1979-1983), London University and then as a post-graduate at the Royal Academy Schools (1984-1987). He specialized in working from the life model, which he continued at post-graduate level.While at the Royal Academy of Arts, Peter created the RA Outreach programme, taking creativity workshops with the artist’s life model into schools nationwide. He ran this programme for 20 years, staged three exhibitions of young people’s work at the Academy and, as a result, was asked to contribute to executive programmes at the London Business School. There he helps leaders and managers to understand more about the nature of creativity and the connection between art and business. For the last 15 years, Peter has been an external consultant at the LBS. He has designed creative learning programmes for companies including Deutsche Bank, A.T. Kearney, Givaudan, M&S, McLaren Automotive, Unilever, Estée Lauder and Jo Malone.Peter believes in Renaissance thinking and in the power of cross fertilization between subjects, encouraging managers to realize that solutions can occur by employing subjects outside your own skill base.
With over 30 years’ international life experience, Morag has enjoyed guiding individuals towards increased self-awareness to recognise their unique insights, value and contribution to the world. Morag integrates experience spanning all sectors, levels and labels, including teaching (throughout education to MBA and leadership programmes), facilitating workshops/webinars internationally, innovative multi-discipline and cross-cultural project development, co-creating and growing creative micro and social enterprises, holistic therapeutic practice and evolution coaching, and partnering with other colleagues and organisations. She is ‘certified’ in a wide range of tools and techniques, with MSc in Entrepreneurship and of MCIPD. After 32 moves, visiting 23 countries and living in five, home is now simply on the riverbank by the sea in northern Scotland. From here, through the magic of the internet and more, she is loving a ‘portfolio career’, being with individuals and organisations to assist in finding ‘ease’ in times of transition or challenge, as freelance coach, consultant and writer. She loves working ‘virtually’, travels as invited and is a French speaker.
Ben builds purposeful partnerships with leading organisations to develop leadership capability, high performing teams and transform organisational cultures. He believes that discovering and leading with purpose is the greatest opportunity in life. Speaker, coach, consultant and author of eight books including Purpose, Lead and SuperCoaching, Ben’s innovative work with companies such as BT, Heathrow, Heinz, IHG, Sainsbury’s and Unilever has brought him international recognition. As a speaker and coach Ben inspires people to go beyond what they think is possible. As a consultant he is renowned for getting to the heart of situations and creating the conditions for new solutions to emerge and as an author he blends his depth of insight with practical calls to action.
Jitin Sethi is a partner at L.E.K. Consulting’s Global Education Practice. Based in Singapore he has delivered education cases across the globe and has extensive experience across all education segments, including K-12, Higher Education, Transnational Education, English Language Training, Education Technology and Corporate Training. Jitin works closely with private equity clients, tertiary institutions and school companies on investment opportunities, business plan development and go-to-market strategy. He has also been invited to speak at industry-leading conferences such as IPSEF and the EdTech Review Summit.L.E.K. Consulting is a global management consultancy firm that uses industry expertise and rigorous analysis to help business leaders achieve practical results with real impact. L.E.K.’s Global Education practice serves public, private, non-profit and private for-profit educational institutions and also works with investors and foundations that are involved with the education industry.
Sue is Professor Emerita at Guildhall Business & Law at London Metropolitan University and a Senior Lecturer in HRM at the University of Westminster. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD). She holds masters’ degrees in Geography and Higher Education from Cambridge and Westminster Universities respectively. In addition to enjoying a successful academic career, Sue is the author of five books on human resource management (HRM). Before moving to higher education, she worked in international HRM at KPMG, managed the CBI’s Employee Relocation Council and did HR research writing for Incomes Data Services and Industrial Relations Services.
Belinda started her career in a wide range of HR roles with BAA in London and Total in Aberdeen. She re-trained as a coach 20 years ago and led the coaching practice at Waverley Learning before establishing Grace Coaching.Transitions require (re)finding a sense of belonging, something Belinda finds very important, especially as a ‘trailing spouse’. Eventually settled in Winchester she founded Grace Coaching to provide a place and space for individuals, leaders, teams and businesses to pause, reflect and discover the next steps.Her key hope is that we all learn to listen better to one another, and make good choices in what we say and do. Her coaching focus is often on helping others transition well: to a new appointment, organisation, or location. If the whole team is in transition she works with other coaches offering a systemic team coaching approach.
Eva is currently the Director of Business Engagement at FOCUS, where she held previous roles in marketing and on the magazine team. In her current role, Eva develops new relationships with multinational companies who are moving employees into the UK, as well as handling relationship management with existing clients.Before entering the relocation industry, Eva worked in new product development and marketing within various financial services companies. She received a BA in Economics and French, as well as an MSc in International Management, both from Boston University. American by birth, Italian by marriage and a long time resident of the United Kingdom, Eva enjoys daily interaction with people from all over the world.
Paul heads up learning and development at The Ambassadors Theatre Group (ATG), a global live entertainment business. ATG owns and operates close to 50 venues worldwide, is an internationally recognised and award-winning producer, and operates a market leading theatre ticketing business.He has worked in the theatre industry for over 20 years, enjoying leadership roles in sales and ticketing prior to moving into Human Resources.Paul has developed a number of in-house development programmes for ATG, including ‘Leading Lights’ – a residential leadership development programme for senior leaders, and ‘Rising Stars’ – a two-year development programme for emerging leaders. He is also an internal coach and has worked closely with The Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC), developing in-house coaching capability within the organisation to support the various programmes ATG run. Paul is a chartered member of the CIPD, an AoEC qualified executive coach and a Hogan personality assessor.
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