The Leaders Council Podcast

Elizabeth Wrigley is an urban designer and owner of Core Connections, a design practice which bringa together consultation, urban design and master-planning to help owners, developers and communities realise their visions and strategies. As an urban designer, she has also had experience working with Kent County Council advising the local authority’s property group. Between 2001 and 2004, Elizabeth...

Liz Dearden is director and co-owner at Easement Solutions Ltd, a specialist in the negotiation of easements, wayleaves, transfers and leases on behalf of companies in the utility sector. Liz has co-owned Easement Solutions Ltd since 2003 and helped oversee its activities and establish it as one of the earliest businesses to focus specifically on the negotiation of Land Rights.

Dr Maria McGee is the CEO at Marble Hill Soaps Ltd, a provider of natural skincare products that are free from chemical additives, based in Derry/Londonderry. In her running of Marble Hill Soaps, Dr Maria has sought to push the boundaries of natural skincare. The company’s products use water from its own pure spring and organic oils to achieve exceptional results in terms of skin conditioning, moi...

Michael Angus is the director of Barons Court Project, an independent charity working with people who are homeless or living with mental health problems. Michael has headed up the Barons Court Project charity since 2014. Having started his career working for a high street bank after leaving school aged 16, Michael has accumulated a wealth of experience in the charity sector, having served as CEO o...

Aldred Drummond is the owner of the Cadland Estate, situated in the New Forest National Park and the Solent in Hampshire. He is also chief executive Fawley Waterside Ltd, the controlling entity for the Fawley Power Station also in Hampshire, and director of Long Harbour. The Cadland Estate which Aldred owns once controlled the land where the Fawley Power Station is constructed. Aldred has prioriti...

Salim Lohiya is the managing director at Pioneer Computers Ltd, an IT specialist providing server and network infrastructure support and maintenance, and cloud solutions. Salim has since spent over 35 years in the IT industry, working for almost 17 years as an IT operator for Lloyds Banking Group before launching his own business, Pioneer Computers, in 2000.

Andrew de Bray is the managing director of Factum, a client-centric consulting and advisory firm serving Europe and North America from bases in London and Houston. Having been exposed to multiple sectors, including Defence, Software Development and the Financial, Energy and Commodity Markets internationally, Andrew has a proven track record in systems consulting and delivery management.

Nigel Attwood is currently headteacher at Bellfield Junior School, a community-based school in Northfield, Birmingham. Matthew Jessop, Headteacher at Crosthwaite Primary School in Cumbria, Helena Marsh, headteacher at Linton Village College in Cambridge.

Andy Young is the chief executive of East Kilbride Housing Association, a small charitable housing association based in central Scotland. As of 2022, Andy has been working in the social housing industry for 40 years and headed up East Kilbride Housing Association for the previous seven years. Some of his previous roles in the industry have seen him work for Blackburn Borough Council, Wishaw and Di...

Ben Chambers runs the Flying Start Day Nurseries, a pair of private family nurseries in Ashtead, Surrey. In his running of Flying Start, Ben has been instrumental in helping the childcare provider navigate the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and other sector issues such as compliance with EYFS ratios regarding Level 3 early years practitioners.

Grace Graham is founder and director of Keep It Simple Training Company [KISTC], a provider of bespoke training services that help create anti-racist work environments and delivers CPD certified online courses. Grace is a member of the apprenticeships and business development team at New City College and is a guest panellist at university events concerning issues of diversity, inclusion and busine...

Simon Thomas is an accountancy and tax specialist who is managing director and owner of both accountancy firm Ridgefield Consulting and business advisory service Kench & Co Ltd. After cutting his teeth in the finance services industry at Midcounties Co-Operative, Simon went on to work for Ernst & Young LLP and Crowe Clark Whitehill. After his time working for both, he founded Ridgefield Co...

Richard Smith is the joint owner and managing director of Opus Land Ltd, a leading UK property development and investment company with offices in the West Midlands and London. Richard helped found Opus Land Ltd in 1999 and has jointly headed up the firm since. Part owned and funded by Fiera Real Estate, Opus Land enjoys access to substantial in-house capital and has developed an established track...

Malcolm Davidson is a mortgage broker and managing director at UK Moneyman Ltd, a mortgage advisor and broker. Malcolm established UK Moneyman in the year 2009 and has led the business ever since, starting as a sole trader and then growing the business over the years. He has an established background in financial services, having been managing director of Direct Financial Services for the nine yea...

Bryan Adams is the CEO and founder of PH Creative, a leading employer brand agency. In 2004, Bryan launched his own venture: PH Creative. He has grown the business into one of the leading employer brand agencies in the world, specialising in employer branding, EVP development, talent attraction, recruitment marketing and film production and creative thinking.

John Baguley is the executive chair and owner of the International Fundraising Consultancy [IFC], a management consultancy specialising in fundraising for the third sector including charities, NGOs, non-profits and social enterprises. John is a published author, having written several books on fundraising. His most recent work, ‘Fundraising and Zombies’ was published in 2018. He is also an experie...

Tim Button is a Doctor of Chiropractic and founded Cleve Chiropractic in Bristol in 2003. He has established the clinic as one of the best of its kind in the country. In 2013, as one of Britain’s youngest ever chiropractors, Tim was awarded chiropractic’s highest honour, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Chiropractors’ sports faculty. He has also been elected as a Vice President for the Br...

Martin Tregonning is a chartered accountant running his own independent accountancy firm, Tregonning and Co. Martin first qualified as a chartered accountant in New Zealand in 1993 and worked in a handful of related roles. After relocating to the UK in 1995, he became a fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants [ACCA] and holds a Public Practice Certificate. He also remains a me...

Mike Morris has been the chairman of GQA Qualifications Ltd. for the last 20 years. It is a national awarding body, based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire that works across many sectors including: glass, construction, printing, polymer, engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical, science, meteorology and nuclear. Mike has an engineering and further/higher education background. He now works with regulatory...

Gwennan Harrison-Jones is the headteacher at Cams Hill School, a mixed state comprehensive secondary school in Fareham. In 2008, Gwennan took up the deputy headship at Warblington School in Havant, where she remained for seven-and-a-half years (until 2015). It was in that year that she made the move to Cams Hill School, where she remains headteacher to date

Billy Hutchinson is a director at Lesters Packaging, a family-run business established since 1983 which is specialised in the design and production of heavy-duty corrugated cardboard packaging solutions. Billy has been a director at Lesters since 2009. Under his leadership, the business has grown by being capable and responsive, investing in facilities, technology and people to create a robust tea...

Steph Dickinson is a freelance songwriter, vocalist and workshop leader, and is currently the managing director of Pie Factory Music, a charity set up to provide free accessible music and related arts workshops for young people across East Kent. Steph has worked as a freelance vocalist and songwriter since 2001. In 2011, she first began working for the Pie Factory Music charity in Ramsgate, Kent,...

Courtenay Probert is the CEO of Learna¦Diploma MSc, an e-learning provider which offers internationally recognised and highly clinically relevant postgraduate qualifications for all health professionals. In 2009, Courtenay founded iPassExam.com, which rapidly became the leading preparation resource for exam candidates looking to sit the Google Partners exam. Under Courtenay’s leadership, the compa...

Simon Franc is the founder and CEO of Forensic Equity Limited, Quatervois Group and Anatomap Limited. Anatomap is a technology start-up focused on the development of technology for law enforcement. Their first App, “Injury Capture”, is designed to allow users to quickly and accurately record the injuries suffered by a victim of crime. In using the application, users are helping to provide valuable...

Jonathan Craig Wright is a director at Clearwell Mine Management Ltd, the entity which controls the Clearwell Caves tourist attraction in the Forest of Dean. Clearwell Caves was first opened to the public in 1968 by Jonathan’s father, Ray Wright, who remained involved with the business until he passed away in 2015. Jonathan had worked with his father to develop the business over many years, becomi...