Supporting diversity in the boardroom as a key member of this impactful non-executive network.

The Intellectual Property Office is the official UK government body responsible for intellectual property (IP) rights including patents, designs, trademarks and copyright. The board advises ministers on the global policies, strategies, performance and targets set out in the IPO’s corporate plan. It also provides commercial guidance on operation and development. My role as NED is to contribute to the IPO's continuous organisational improvement, excellent customer focus, accountability and effective corporate governance as we seek to encourage and reward innovation in the UK.

Covid caused for Redemption’s three London restaurants to close down. I conducted a merger with a larger restaurant company to reopen the flagship site in Seven Dials (Covent Garden) with myself staying on as Founder and NED which has also eventually closed, sadly. Despite high consumer demand and relevance of the concept, the economic conditions have not been favourable for re-opening those central London sites, but I am exploring alternative ways to bring the lifestyle brand to life - watch this space! www.redemptionbar.co.uk

I started my own company, Redemption, in 2013, to create a cool space where people could socialise healthily, tapping into the trend for more conscious consuming, ahead of its time. My aim was for my brand to be a force for good and to help make it cool to eat vegan and drink No-Lo. It was also anti-waste and anti-plastic. As Founder and CEO I also wore the hats of CMO and CFO, and grew the company from its first pop up to a team of 50 across three London restaurants with revenues of £2m p.a. attracting funding from HNWI's, funds and and crowdfunding. We also published a book and had beautiful branded products with a view to realising its potential as a purpose driven lifestyle brand. It is particularly a hit with Gen Z and Millenials, enjoying loyal following on social media.

Partners for Change Ethiopia is the UK office of the longest established, widest reaching, most effective community led development programme in Ethiopia, JeCCDO. It is closely aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and has changed the lives of the poorest 3 million people in Ethiopia. My role as trustee is to help guide the organisation on strategic and structural transformation as Ethiopia changes quickly, as we move away from a long-term aid-based relationship with Comic Relief towards a more modern and sustainable social enterprise model with projects such as microlending and community coffee, sold in Co-op UK.

Board director for Virgin Insight Ltd, which is now known as Virgin Red. Virgin Insight is Virgin's marketing data insight company, designed to identify new revenue/value opportunities from an enriched understanding of Virgin customers and consumers in general. By 2011 this had already delivered over £63m of incremental value to the Group and was the incubation for Virgin Red, the Virgin Group's loyalty programme. My role as board member is to ensure a culture of data-driven consumer insight, innnovation and complex levels of collaboration between Virgin companies.

I helped start up the Virgin Group non-profit, Virgin Unite, and I sat on the Advisory Board as we delivered some innovative projects such as The Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. To give some sense of scale, to date Virgin Unite estimates to have leveraged over $3bn of funds towards positive social change. Alongside this, I was a member of the CSR (ESG) board which endeavoured to improve the impact of Virgin companies on people and planet in a holistic way in the everyday operations.

Alongside the Virgin board seats, my ‘day job’ was to run the teams with responsibility for the Virgin brand across the Group globally, reporting into Sir Richard Branson and the board, as it grew to global revenues of £20bn, 50m customers and 50k employees. I was visionary in spearheading a strategy in which brand is developed in the most holistic way, as an approach to business which guides the company strategy across social impact, culture and customer service – as well as the traditional brand & marketing disciplines. I managed a lean central operation of 4 teams (brand, marketing, customer service, culture) to embed this across a rapidly expanding group of companies, across many industries and territories. I was described as ‘the brand guru’ by Sir Richard Branson and in the ‘Top 100 UK Marketers’ by Marketing Magazine 2010 & 2011. More effectively managed, the Virgin brand achieved 99% brand awareness in the core territories, as well as:o No.1 most respected brand in the UK and Australia o Top 10 respected brand in South Africa, the US and Canadao World class levels of customer advocacy across the Virgin Group

Board director for Virgin.com Ltd, the company under which all Virgin's central digital properties sit, including virgin.com itself, Virgin's social media activity and Sir Richard Branson's social media activity. Under my direction we saw the social media opportunity coming and grew this from scratch into a powerful strategic platform with now 30 million+ followers worldwide. My role as board director was to see this revolution coming, and role model a culture of innovation, excellence and collaboration with the Virgin companies to harness the opportunity.

Board director for the company Virgin Enterprises Ltd, alongside the Group CEO and Group General Counsel. VEL owns, protects and licenses out the Virgin trademark to all Virgin-branded entities, so this is a strategically important part of the Virgin Group as these brand royalty revenues account for approximately 10% of Virgin Group's EBITDA worlwide. On this board we set the strategic direction for the Virgin brand and make decisions on which investments and companies to prioritise as the Virgin brand grows across many industries and territories.

Definition of the Virgin Mobile brand, both externally and internally.Internal brand management leading to effective recruitment, motivation & retention projects, particularly in customer service.

Responsibility for successful launch of Virgin Mobile Australia, with a budget of A$20m.Heading up brand strategy and advertising, direct response advertising, tactical retail advertising, PR, design, channel marketing, direct marketing and events.