Board Mentors
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Gillian Wilmot Founder & CEO Gillian is the Founder & CEO of Board Mentoring which works with CEO's and Directors of leading UK and International companies. Mentors are all senior business leaders with many years diverse boardroom experience and a belief in the power of improving personal and business performance through coaching and mentoring. Winner of the 2014 NED Awards Unquoted/Private Equity category (Peel Hunt/Sunday Times) www.nedawards.co.uk and listed in the Cranfield 100 Women to Watch in the 2014 Female FTSE Report. In 2013 she was appointed as NED and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at Nisa Retail, a £1.6bn grocery convenience group and at ELEXON, a company involved in the successful operation of Great Britain’s electricity trading arrangement under the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC). In 2012 she was appointed to the Industrial Development Advisory Board (IDAB) which advises UK Government on large commercial investment projects and gives robust independent business advice to Ministers. In 2015, she was appointed NED for Senet Group, an independent body set up to promote responsible gambling standards. Her most recent appointment in December 2015 was Chair for SportscoachUK, the UK's technical agency for coaching. |
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John Allwood John’s approach to mentoring is to be insightful into the needs of the mentee. He is pragmatic and supportive and his style is to discuss matters in a clear, candid, straightforward and constructive way. John works to ensure the achievement of their full potential, to the benefit of both the individual and the organisation, in their current and future roles. John is a highly experienced CEO and NED. His experience around the Board table in transforming both industries and organisations gives him a depth of experience on which to draw, including MD of Telegraph Media, CEO of Orange UK, CEO of Mirror Group plc and NED and Audit Chair of TalkTalk plc and Carphone Warehouse plc. |
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Sharon Baylay Sharon runs a plural career and is Non-Executive Chairman of EHS 4D, one of the leading UK Customer Relationship Marketing agencies, and part of Havas Media. She also runs her own business - Indigo Blu Investments Ltd - delivering Senior Leadership Coaching and Mentoring services for a number of technology and online companies. Sharon is an Advanced Coach, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a Member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). She is part of 5 senior women delivering an external mentoring program on behalf of the House of Commons Parliagender Committee for female staff across both Houses. This programme has been designed to help achieve greater gender equality across Parliament, striving to ensure that men and women have equal access to career development, training and promotional opportunities within Parliament. Sharon’s executive career encompasses 15 years at Microsoft Corporation where in her role as European Marketing Director she re-launched the MSN Brand and took the No.1 online portal position throughout Europe. Aged 35, Sharon won the coveted Bill Gates Chairman’s Award for creating a sustainable online business model and opened new MSN businesses throughout Asia, Latin America and Europe. Subsequently as Managing Director of the UK Online and Advertising business Sharon initiated the acquisition of the online search business - Multimap UK. |
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David Bennett David is an experienced Finance Director, CEO and Director in FTSE companies who has developed a Non-Executive career as a Chairman. David is Chairman of Audit & Risk Committees and an NED of both listed and unlisted international companies. David’s international experience covers USA, Asia and Australasia. His approach to mentoring is to understand the issues and the context and then work closely with the client to implement pragmatic solutions to meet the agreed strategic goals. |
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Pat Billingham Pat Billingham has over 30 years experience in the financial services sector, both in public and private strategic business leadership roles, as well as serving on a public/private Board as a Board member and as Chair of the Audit & Finance Committee. She has a strong and enduring interest in the development of teams and has been an active and sought-after mentor and coach. |
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Cheryl Black Cheryl Black has spent her career in customer focussed roles and is a passionate advocate of great customer service as a route to business success. Over the past 20 years she has gained a reputation for delivering this strategy through outstanding people engagement. Cheryl joined the board of Telefonica O2 UK in 2006 and, as Customer Service Director, was influential in achieving number one industry status for customer satisfaction for O2 UK throughout her tenure. In May 2011 Cheryl left O2 to pursue a non executive career and current roles include Non Executive Director of Southern Water Services Ltd, Director of Telefonica UK Pension Trustee Ltd, Non Executive Director at Skipton Building Society and board advisor at EDF Energy (Nuclear Generation Ltd). |
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Richard Brooman Richard, a former CFO of listed companies, is now a plural independent NED and Chairman with multi-sector board level experience and retains a keen sense of fun in all that he does from chairing the audit committee to singing opera on stage. His management responsibilities have been many and varied, especially in fmcg. At Mars, Richard spent several years outside finance in charge of physical distribution and management development. At SmithKline Beecham, he was CFO of the £2+ billion global consumer healthcare business. Richard’s approach to mentoring is to play the listening game and to help you take charge of what you want to do with your life. There might be a burgeoning regulatory requirement getting in the way of doing business but the only real limits are those that we impose on ourselves. Are your values and the organisation’s broadly congruent? If not, you could well be on the wrong bus. |
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Marie-Louise Clayton Marie-Louise completed a 30 year career in industry in 2008 to work as a professional non-executive across a variety of sectors. She holds/has held non-executive Board roles in Forth Ports plc. Zotefoams plc., Diploma plc, Ocean Rig ASA and Geoffrey Osborne Ltd. Her background is in Law and then Finance and she has worked in a number of sectors, including telecommunications, engineering, manufacturing, power and oil and gas. Marie-Louise is an experienced Mentor having worked with teenagers through to senior executives. It is something that she believes can make the difference between moving forward and staying still. She finds it an enormously rewarding part of her current activities. |
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David Clayton-Smith David’s career has encompassed product brands, retailing, consultancy, healthcare and the charity sector. He currently Chairs of both NHS Surrey and NHS Sussex and The Fairtrade Foundation. He has worked across many teams spanning listed businesses through to emerging social enterprises. With 30 years working in wide and varied range of consumer markets he has direct experience of Board level responsibility for sales, marketing and buying functions in blue-chip organisations such as Courage, Boots and Halfords. The common thread throughout David’s career has been focussing on customer needs to shape organisations and drive individuals and team performance. |
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Ian Francis Ian built his career as a partner at Ernst & Young, working with a broad cross section of Board level executives in a number of industry sectors. His clients included Asda plc, Royal Mail Group plc, Intel Corporation, Exel plc, EMI plc and Urenco. Ian’s approach to Mentoring is to focus on unlocking the untapped potential that resides in all of us. He is passionate about helping people to overcome the invisible hurdles that hold them back and to achieve success. |
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Jane Hanson Jane is a highly respected Internal Audit, Risk Management, Corporate Governance, and Conduct Risk professional, and passionate Customer Advocate with over 20 years experience of working at Board level in FTSE and regulated organisations in Executive Director and Non Executive Director roles. A Chartered Accountant, Jane’s experience combines many years at KPMG in the Financial Services sector, latterly at Director level leading the practice responsible for Corporate Governance, Internal Control and Risk Management services in the North of England, with hands on and proven experience and achievements in Head of Audit and Risk Director Executive roles and more recently in Non Executive Director roles. Jane combines these roles with her own risk and governance consulting business and her role as a magistrate. |
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Dame Denise Holt Dame Denise Holt is a former Ambassador to Spain and to Mexico with many years' experience of mentoring staff as they make the critical transition to senior management. A career diplomat, she spent 5 years at the helm of Human Resources for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a global organisation employing some 12,000 UK based and local employees. In this role she had personal responsibility for all senior appointments and for supporting individuals at or approaching Board level. |
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Stephen Page Stephen Page is a non-executive director and business adviser; and a leading expert in the issues facing boards in the digital age. He has shaped and led some of the world’s most complex, mission-critical IT and the businesses which rely on it—as board member, change leader, adviser and responsible executive. Stephen's mentoring work includes building CEO/CIO relationships and trust; helping board members find a common language to address technology issues; developing leadership to ensure successful delivery of complex change; and helping leaders develop capacity to manage risk in innovation-focused businesses. He is a recognised speaker on leadership in the digital age; and on the boardroom view of cyber security and other digital business risks. |
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Jane E Tozer MBE OBE Jane's career started with IBM, after which she was CEO of an innovative software house taking it from start-up to trade sale. Jane has since held a portfolio of non-executive directorships with large and small companies, ranging from the John Lewis Partnership to technology start-ups. She has also held non-executive roles in the Department for Work & Pensions and the Ministry of Justice, and has acted as advisor to various public sector bodies and investment banks. |
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Dr Barbara Wilding Barbara Wilding, is the former Chief Constable of South Wales Police, the first woman to hold the post. Barbara began her career as a cadet in 1967 and became a constable in 1970. The following year she transferred to the Metropolitan Police where she served as an operational detective in London, and at New Scotland Yard. She became an Assistant Chief Constable in Kent Constabulary in 1994. |
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