The Social Mobility Podcast

Marco Amitrano, PwC’s Senior Partner for the UK and Middle East, shares his journey from a modest background to leading a major firm, emphasising that social mobility is about expanding access to opportunity and unlocking talent for the benefit of both individuals and business.  He highlights PwC’s own journey, noting that organisations must adapt systems to support diverse talent, while individua...

Rob Hornby is Co-CEO of financial advisory and global consulting firm, AlixPartners, and has held senior leadership positions in a number of top companies.  In this episode, Rob reflects on the pivotal role his father’s belief in him and a grant-funded university place played in shaping his career. He discusses education as a powerful gateway to social mobility and explores the responsibility busi...

Segun Osuntokun is the Global Senior Partner at international law firm, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP). He is also the head of the firm's civil fraud litigation practice. In this episode, Segun takes us right back to his childhood growing up in the second biggest city in Nigeria, home to the country’s first university. And he explains what first gripped him about the idea of going into th...

Malcolm Gomersall is Chief Executive Officer at Grant Thornton UK, where he has held a number of senior leadership positions - including Head of London Audit and Tax, and Head of People and Client Experience. He became Chief Operating Officer in 2019 before being elected CEO by the firm’s partners in 2024. In this episode, Malcolm reflects on how his own upbringing shaped his career, sharing candi...

Kerry Dryburgh is bp’s EVP for People, Culture & Communications and the company’s chief human resources and communications officer.  In this episode, Kerry shares her personal social mobility journey. From leaving school at sixteen, to becoming an architect of the employee experience at bp – influencing strategy, performance, culture, and transformation.  Hear how her decision to take on an ap...

Peter Scott is the Global Co-Managing Partner, and Managing Partner EMEA of law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Peter joined the firm as a trainee solicitor in 1997, and became a partner 10 years later.  He was a member of the City of London Socio-economic diversity taskforce, a group of 30 cross-sector leaders aiming to enhance socio-economic diversity at senior levels across the UK's financial...

Paul Lewis is the Firmwide Managing Partner of one of the biggest law firms in the UK, Linklaters. He’s been at the firm since he joined as a trainee solicitor in 1998 and was one of their youngest Partners ever. With his Oxford Law degree and his success at Linklaters, you’d be forgiven for thinking Paul grew up in that world, but how he actually comes from a small Welsh village and went to compr...

Matthew Crummack is the current CEO of Domestic & General, a firm you might have never heard of before, but that is present in all our homes. D&G is the UK's leading specialist warranty provider for kitchen appliances, TVs, and more. Matthew has over 25 years of experience working at companies including GoCompare, lastminute.com, Expedia, and Nestlé. In this episode, Matthew tells us...

Shirine Khoury-Haq is CEO of The Co-operative Group – the first woman to hold the position in the history of the business. Shirine is a powerhouse and has held significant leadership roles in both the US and the UK.   In this episode, Shirine tells us about climbing up the corporate ladder as a woman and her choice to be outspoken about her perceived difference in a world full of men. How she and...

Lee Elliot Major OBE is the UK’s first Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter. He has spent a lifetime researching how to uplift who he calls children from under-resourced backgrounds. Lee previously served as the Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust and played a key role as a founding trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation. His most recent book, "Equity in Education&q...

Danuta Gray is the Chair of Direct Line Group and a Non-Executive Director of the fashion brand, Burberry. She started her career in the tech sector before holding a series of board roles.  In this episode, Danuta explains how, despite her working-class background, she’s been given a number of opportunities which she credits for her success in business, and explains how she’s now working to pay th...

Jon Lewis is CEO at consulting, transformation and digital services business Capita. Previously he was the CEO of Amec Foster Wheeler, and before that he had a 20-year career at Halliburton where he held a number of senior roles. In this episode, Jon explains why he’s always been passionate about meritocracy - why we in the UK need to start focussing more on potential instead of formal qualificati...

Brian Duffy is the CEO of Watches of Switzerland. Previously, he served on several boards across the fashion, retail and sports sectors including several subsidiaries of Ralph Lauren. Brian is an ICAS Chartered Accountant and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University. Brian tells us about his childhood growing up on a council estate on the outskirts of Glasgow. He grew up with...

Dominic Carter is EVP, Publisher of The Sun, a role he’s only recently taken on, following his time as Chief Commercial Officer at parent company News UK. He’s also a Trustee of the charity NABS, the support organisation for the advertising and media industry.  Born to a Nigerian mother and British father, Dominic comes from a working class background, and spent his early education in Nigeria befo...

Tracy Garrad is the CEO at AXA Health. Tracy joined AXA from HSBC where she held a range of senior management roles. Prior to that she was at Abbey National and Santander.   Tracy grew up on a council estate in the North of England and after the death of her mother, she says she was forced to leave education to care for her younger siblings. In this episode, Tracy tells us how a chance encounter w...

John Boumphrey is the Country Manager for Amazon's business across the UK and Ireland. John has been at Amazon since 2011 and worked across several roles including three years in Seattle as Vice President for the company’s Consumables Programs.   John grew up in the North West of England and says he had a “great childhood” with a huge emphasis on education. After studying foreign languages at...

Ed Couchman is Regional General Manager, DACH, Netherlands, Nordics and UK at social media company Snap Inc. Ed previously spent 6 years at Facebook and before that, he worked in senior tech roles, including at Channel 4. Ed tells us about his working class background growing up in a town on the outskirts of Birmingham and reflects on a recent visit to his old high school. He also shares some of t...

Nick Mackenzie is the CEO of the UK’s leading pub retailer and brewer Greene King. Prior to joining Greene King in 2019, Nick ran businesses across the world including spending 17 years with Merlin Entertainment. One of Nick’s top priorities when he joined the business was making it a more diverse and inclusive workplace, from the pub floor, through to top tier management. Nick explains how he’s m...

Steve Murrells is the CEO of the Co-op Group. He joined the organisation as the lead on food in 2012 and now heads every facet of the organisation’s business. Steve has a long history in retail, starting with an A Level Entry Scheme with Sainsbury’s when he was a teenager. Since then he’s climbed the ranks, working in various retail roles. In this episode Steve talks about his vision of an inclusi...

Alderman Vincent Keaveny is Senior Alderman of the City of London Corporation and a partner at the international law firm, DLA Piper. Vincent has held the office of Alderman for the Ward of Farringdon Within since October 2013 - then in 2018/19 he became Sheriff of the City of London. From November, he will take up a new position as Lord Mayor of London. As a lawyer, Vincent specialises in banking...

Charlotte Duerden is the UK Country Manager for American Express. Charlotte has worked for Amex since 1999, holding various roles in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. She has a keen interest in pushing equality within the workplace, with initiatives like The Women’s Charter and has a strong sense of community and service to others. Charlotte featured on a list of top 100 role models and while she...

Christine Hodgson CBE is Chair of Severn Trent Plc, and before that spent more than 20 years as Chair of Capgemini UK. She has a portfolio of non-executive roles in the private, charity and education sectors. She’s a senior independent director at Standard Chartered Bank, Chair of the Careers and Enterprise Company, Chair of the Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership, and works with the Prince of Wa...

Nick Owen is Chair of Deloitte UK, a trustee of Teach First and Macmillan, and a council member of Heart of the City. Nick’s interest in the importance and value of education began at school. He sees it as a massive contributor to social mobility, and backs this up with stark figures and statistics, and explains how the pandemic has eroded much of the progress we’ve made over the past 10 years. In...

Chris Stylianou is Chief Operating Officer, UK and Ireland, at Sky. He was awarded an OBE for services to diversity and the economy - though he’s keen to point out that it’s been teamwork, not the work of one individual, that has helped shape Sky’s progressive policies. Chris’ interest in advancing gender equality stems from what he saw during his early days at university - a passion that has stre...

Clare Parsons is Chair and co-founder of strategic reputation management consultancy Lansons. Clare is also a board member for PROI Worldwide, a trustee of arts charity High Tide, and serves on a wide range of industry and not-for-profit committees. Clare’s father died when she was young and she was raised by her mother. She says it was her mother’s fortitude and belief that women can achieve anyt...