The Impact Room - Conversations That Shape Exceptional Leadership

AI is moving quickly, but many organisations are still struggling to turn experimentation into genuine business value. In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell speaks with Maggie Sarfo, who helps growth-focused organisations and leadership teams connect AI ambition to measurable commercial outcomes. Rather than starting with the technology, Maggie starts with the business problem. She e...

Sean Keane, Co-Founder of Service Economics, joins Michelle Ansell on The Impact Room to discuss why many organisations are unintentionally designing inefficient service systems, and how this is impacting cost, customer experience and operational performance. Drawing on extensive experience in regulated industries, Sean introduces the concept of service effectiveness, challenging traditional appro...

In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell speaks with Hannah Awonuga, award-winning culture, talent and inclusion expert, LinkedIn Top Voice for Gender Equality and advisor to leaders navigating organisational growth. Hannah specialises in helping scale-up businesses design and embed inclusive cultures where organisational growth strengthens both people, performance and enterprise value....

Dr Abbey Atkinson joins Michelle Ansell to unpack the structural, cultural and historic forces that shape gender inequality in the UK insurance sector. Drawing from extensive doctoral research and her own industry career, Abbey explains why progress is slowing, what organisations misunderstand about EDI, and the practical steps leaders can take to build equitable, high-performing workplaces. Topic...

In this episode, The Impact Room welcomes Thomas Moore, COO at Custom Connect, to discuss the realities of operational leadership and the evolving outsourcing landscape. Thomas shares his journey from frontline call-centre agent to COO, offering practical insight into: • The leadership lessons that shaped his career • Why the mid-management layer is under pressure — and how to strengthen it • Beha...

In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell is joined by Carole Layzell, an experienced banking, digital and customer leader who built her career from leaving school at 16 to becoming a Managing Director at Barclays before moving into NED and advisory roles. Carole shares candid reflections on her 30-year career across Barclays, Nationwide, Salesforce and Medallia, discussing how customer...

Is SEO still relevant in an AI-driven world? Ben Rees, marketing leader, Chief Marketing Officer joins Perry Fletcher in The Impact Room to explore why traditional search tactics are losing their edge and how Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) are redefining visibility and the Marketing Playbook.  Learn how to ethically influence AI-powered algorithms.  Build...

In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell speaks with Lyndon Purnell, a seasoned Chief Information Officer and fractional technology leader with more than two decades of experience across digital, cyber security, data and large-scale transformation. Together they cover: • The real role of a CIO and how it differs from a CTO • Why technology spend is often wasted and how to build value in...

Are customer surveys still fit for purpose? Adam Elliott, proven Customer Insight Director, Operational Excellence and CX Leader working with brands E.On, Aviva, National Grid joins Perry Fletcher in The Impact Room to explain why traditional survey-based metrics like NPS are becoming obsolete, how can we continue to base our customer strategies and roadmaps on so few survey results? And shares an...

In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell talks with Elke Edwards, founder of Ivy House and ElkeEdwards.com, one of the UK’s most respected leadership experts. Elke shares why leadership is facing a global reset,  and why today’s leaders must shift from learning strategies to building strength. She discusses how emotional resilience, ownership, and wisdom are the new essentials for thriv...

In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell is joined by Carolyn Blunt, Managing Director of Talent Solutions at Sedgwick, to explore the evolving world of leadership development, inclusion, and talent sustainability. Carolyn shares her journey from contact centre L&D specialist to leadership advisor and explains why closing the gender gap isn’t just about fairness, it’s about business...

In this powerful episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell sits down with the remarkable Donna Scully, Joint Owner and Director of Carpenters Group, one of the UK’s leading providers of legal and insurance services. From the tenement streets of inner-city Dublin to the top of the UK legal sector, Donna’s story is one of courage, resilience, and unapologetic ambition. Leaving school at 16 with ju...

AI is everywhere – from Spotify recommending your next playlist to hospitals diagnosing conditions faster than ever before. But what does it really mean for businesses and leaders? In this episode of The Impact Room, Perry Fletcher talks with Ahmed Khan, Co Founder of Edge vision AI an AI expert, technologist with over 20 years of experience, about separating hype from reality and finding the true...

Welcome to The Impact Room, where we speak with the leaders shaping tomorrow’s organisations. In this episode, Perry Fletcher, Operational Support Practice Lead at Douglas Jackson is joined by Chris Kenny, Digital Specialist at JDI Digital Transform Limited to discuss the crisis of trust facing regulated professions—and what good leadership looks like in today’s climate. Chris has spent over two d...

In this episode of The Impact Room, Perry Fletcher welcomes Charlie Adams, Director of Customer Success and Experience at Custom Connect, customer experience judge, running enthusiast, and author of It’s Just People: A Manager’s Toolkit. Charlie shares the story behind his unplanned journey into customer experience, why he believes most managers overcomplicate what’s actually a people-first job, a...

In this episode of The Impact Room, host Michelle Ansell, Managing Partner at Douglas Jackson, welcomes Becca Meadows — ex-Sandhurst Leadership Instructor, British Army Officer, and founder of She Thrives, a women’s health and leadership consultancy. Becca reveals why so many leaders get resilience wrong, unpacking the harsh lessons from her time as a senior officer and principal advisor for UK De...

Why Playing It Safe Is Holding Housing Innovation Back with Stewart Davison In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell is joined by Stewart Davison, Managing Director of Elehan Consulting and Founder of Proptech Peer Group, currenlty Vice Chair of Elim Housing. Stewart shares his deep insight into how the housing sector can and must evolve to meet today’s challenges. From launching his ow...

Sandra Thompson: The Power of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership and Business In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell speaks with Sandra Thompson, founder of EI Evolution, TEDx speaker, and the UK’s first certified Goleman Emotional Intelligence Coach. Sandra is the Author of the inspired Shine Bright The EQ Journal and the Emotiontional Intelligence Pawdcast which features humans an...

In this thought-provoking episode of The Impact Room, Perry Fletcher, Practice Lead Planning, AI Analytics and Insight sits down with James Bell, a technology leader with over two decades of experience in IT, AI, and data analytics. Formerly Data Enablement and Operations Director at News Corp, James has also held influential roles at Dow Jones and KPMG, shaping strategies in AI risk, governance,...

In our latest episode we were joined by John Sills, John is a Managing Partner at The Foundation, a customer led growth consultancy, who help their clients explore new perspectives and to reconnect with what customers really value, creating Impact and commercial success.  John is the Author of The Human Experience and, Board Advisor, Trustee of Young Enterprise, John spent many years with global b...

Manifesting Success with Clare White: CX Strategies, Leadership, and the Power of Goals In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell, Managing Partner at Douglas Jackson, speaks with Clare White, CEO and Founder of Connected CX. Clare is an Amazon best-selling author of You’ve Got the Power: Six Principles for Business Success and a seasoned expert in customer and people experience. With ov...

Why Insurance is Failing the Modern Customer (And What Needs to Change) In this latest episode of John Montgomery , sits down with Vicki Joshi, former Chief Customer & Brand Officer at AXA UK & Ireland and a thought leader in brand, customer experience, and employee engagement. With a strong background in insight-led strategy, Vicki has spent over two decades guiding global organisations a...

How Tech Can Close the Gap, Douglas Silverstone on STEM, Inclusion, and Future Leadership In this episode of The Impact Room , we’re joined by Douglas Silverstone, Director of Technology at Southern Housing and former Chief Data Officer at the Money and Pensions Service and Trustee for Ability Net. A passionate advocate for digital inclusion and accessible innovation, Douglas shares how tech leade...

In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell, Managing Partner at Douglas Jackson, speaks with Susan Caesar, Director of Artificial Intelligence at the International Coaching Federation and founder of Humain.org about how AI is transforming leadership, workplaces, and the world as we know it. Susan shares real-world insights on human-centred AI, digital transformation, and the role of purpo...

What if everything you knew about AI was wrong?  In this episode of The Impact Room,   Perry Fletcher is joined by Scott Kerr , the Head of Experience Management and Conversational Analytics at Eviden , to discuss why so many businesses are missing the mark when it comes to using AI and Conversational Analytics to enhance customer experience. Scott dives into the common pitfalls and misconceptions...