• First board of its kind to be chaired by Mayor of London
• Group will tap into London's business expertise
Leading entrepreneurs and top business figures in London – the majority of whom are women - will form Mayor Sadiq Khan’s new Business Advisory Board.
Sadiq Khan vowed to be London’s most pro-business Mayor ever and today fulfils a manifesto pledge to set up the board, the first if its kind to be chaired by the Mayor, which will tap into the capital’s business expertise as he works to help London’s economy grow.
The Mayor hailed the 'high-quality' line-up which he said would help the capital 'seize new opportunities'.
Membership comprises business leaders and entrepreneurs who want to contribute their ideas and experience to helping to boost London in the wake of the Brexit.
The board includes Nicola Mendelsohn, Vice President of Facebook, Inga Beale, Chief Executive of Lloyds of London, Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive Officer of the London Stock Exchange and Debbie Wosskow - founder and CEO of Love Home Swap.
The Mayor is determined to challenge the underrepresentation of women in senior roles and, in line with his commitment to gender equality, 10 of the 16 Board members are female. Five members are from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background.
Announcing the Business Advisory Board at the Bloomberg’s UK Investment Summit today, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, will say:
“I promised to be the most pro-business Mayor London has ever seen – and now I’m delivering on that promise. Having helped to run and grow a business, I know at first hand the challenges that our business community faces. However, London is home to an unrivalled pool of business talent, and of business leaders who want to use their knowledge and experience to the benefit of our city.
"My high-quality Business Advisory Board will bring great insight, innovation and creativity to bear on developing ideas that increase our competitiveness and prosperity, and spread the opportunity that brings to all Londoners.
“London business is still coming to terms with the recent vote to leave the European Union and I am looking forward to working with the Business Advisory Board to strengthen London’s shield against the expected blows from Brexit and to seize the opportunities to show how London is open to jobs, growth and investment.”
Nikhil Rathi, CEO, London Stock Exchange plc, said: "Being at the heart of London's financial community, London Stock Exchange Group is committed to supporting access to funding for British and international entrepreneurs and businesses. I look forward to being part of the Mayor's Business Advisory Board, as it champions London’s vibrant business and entrepreneurial community, supporting London’s status as a world leading global financial centre and a dynamic place to do business.”
Debbie Wosskow - founder and CEO of Love Home Swap, said: “London is one of the most forward-thinking capitals in the world. It is the home of the sharing economy, has fostered an environment for many entrepreneurs to setup and grow businesses, and with the help of the Mayor, it is now on a mission to be a fairer capital by supporting initiatives that make the UK the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur.
"In this period of change, it is important to have initiatives and boards like this to advise and guide businesses as well as shape policy to ensure London retains this positive position and continues to be a progressive capital that is fair and full of opportunity for all."
The board will advise the Mayor on the how policy can deliver positive outcomes for London’s businesses, growth and job creation, and on how policy proposals from the Mayor’s office or elsewhere might affect these.
It will meet at least four times a year and will also provide insight on the impact of economic conditions, and policy decisions taken elsewhere, on business in London.
The Mayor will chair meetings of the Board and the Deputy Mayor for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, will also attend. In addition, the Mayor or Deputy Mayor for Business may call upon members of the Board, individually or in small groups, to provide advice on specific matters.
Notes to editors
Members of the Board are not paid for their roles.
Members of the Mayor’s Business Advisory Board
Omid Ashtari, General Manager, Citymapper
Omid Ashtari is General Manager at London startup Citymapper. Before joining Citymapper, Omid SET up Foursquare Europe as its Managing Director and was focused on growing the international user base and revenues. Before that he spent SEVEn years with Google in Dublin, London and San Francisco. During his Google tenure he held multiple positions in strategic partnerships and business development.
Inga Beale, CEO, Lloyd’s of London
Inga BEALE joined Lloyd’s as the Chief Executive Officer in January 2014.
Prior to Lloyd’s, Inga was the Group Chief Executive Officer at Canopius, a prominent Lloyd’s managing agent, from 2012 – 2013. Inga joined Zurich Insurance Group in 2008 as a member of the Group Management Board in Zurich with responsibility for Mergers & Acquisitions, Organisational Transformation and Internal Consulting, before becoming Global Chief Underwriting Officer in 2009.
Constantin Cotzias, Director, Bloomberg Europe
Constantin Cotzias is a Director of Bloomberg Europe and Chairs the Bloomberg London office. He heads government relations, business development and strategy globally and is a board Director of Bloomberg’s regulated trading platforms – Bloomberg Multilateral Trading Facility, Bloomberg Tradebook. From 2004 to 2010 Cotzias was Global Head of Bloomberg Law - Bloomberg’s legal and compliance news and research business.
Kym Denny, CEO hVIVO
Kym Denny has been CEO of hVIVO (formerly Retroscreen Virology), a specialty biopharma company, since 2010. Kym led the Company’s highly successful IPO on AIM in 2012, and has since led several successful fundraising drives totalling almost £100m.
Kym has extensive drug development leadership experience in multiple therapeutic areas. She was awarded the 2016 UK EY Entrepreneur of the Year Healthcare Category.
Lloyd Dorfman CBE, Founder and President, Travelex Group
Lloyd DoRFMAN is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder and president of Travelex Group, the world’s largest retailer of foreign exchange, which started from one shop in London. He is Chairman and majority shareholder of both The Office Group (the flexible office company) and Doddle (a parcel collection and delivery business).
In the charity sector, he is Chairman of both The Prince’s Trust and Prince’s Trust International.
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO, Virgin Money
Jayne-Anne GADHIA has significant finance and banking experience, built up over a period of almost 30 years. Jayne-Anne is a Non-Executive Director of Business in the Community, and has roles on a number of advisory groups including the Financial Services Advisory Board, Scottish Financial Services Europe Group and the FCA Practitioner Panel Advisory Group. Jayne-Anne led a review into the representation of women in senior managerial roles in the financial services industry and published her report in March 2016.
Vivian Hunt, Managing Partner , McKinsey & Company
Vivian Hunt is the Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company in the United Kingdom and Ireland. She provides strategic advice to leading British organisations in the private, public and social sectors on a broad range of topics, with a particular focus on performance transformation and organisational development. She previously led the firm’s Pharmaceutical & Medical Products practice in EMEA. Vivian chairs the CBI's London Council and Business in the Community's 'Seeing is Believing' programme. She is also on the advisory council of the Tate Modern. She was recently named by the The Financial Times as 'one of the top 30 most influential people in the City of London’.
Shalini Khemka, Founder, CEO and Board Director, E2E
Shalini KHEMKA founded The E2E Group (E2Exchange, E2E Invest and E2E Exec) in 2011.
E2E is a catalyst for entrepreneurial growth focused on facilitating high quality connectivity between scale-up company founders, angel investors, non-execs, the UK’s leading corporates and its community of 15,000 entrepreneurs. Shalini is also a Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE) and a judge for the Great British Entrepreneurship awards.
Paul May, CEO of Patisserie Holdings
Paul MAY is currently CEO at Patisserie Holdings Plc. It was acquired in 2006 with 6 outlets and Paul and his management team have grown the business over the last ten years in excess of 200 outlets and 5 brands.
He was founder and Managing Director of Cash a Cheque (now The Money Shop), which became market leader in its field with over 80 outlets when it was sold.
Nicola Mendelsohn CBE, Vice President EMEA, Facebook
Nicola Mendelsohn is currently the Vice President for Europe, Middle East, and Africa for Facebook. Nicola joined Facebook in 2013 and is responsible for Facebook’s operations across the region.
In addition, she is currently the co-chair of the Creative Industries Council alongside Secretaries of State for DCMS and BIS – a joint forum between the UK creative industries and government. In September 2014, she also became a non-executive director of Diageo. Nicola was also the first woman president of the IPA (the advertising industry trade body) and the former president of the Women in Advertising and Communications London club (WACL.). She and her husband currently are co-presidents of Norwood.
Kathryn Parsons, Co-Founder & CEO DeCoded
Kathryn Parsons is Co-Founder & CEO of Decoded, a technology education company launched in East London in 2011.
Now with offices in New York, Sydney and Amsterdam they decode the digital dark arts of code, data and cyber security for businesses, boards and governments teaching in over 65 cities worldwide in 2016.
Kathryn is a regular public speaker and campaigner for code on curriculums and gender diversity in technology.
Nikhil Rathi, CEO, London Stock Exchange Plc,
Nikhil was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of LSE plc in September 2015. He also has Group-wide responsibilities for International Development. He is a member of the LSEG Executive Committee. He joined LSEG in May 2014 as Director of International Development and Chief of Staff from the UK Treasury, where he held a number of senior positions over an eleven year period.
William Sargent, Co-founder, Framestore
William Sargent, a business studies graduate from Trinity College Dublin, co-founded Framestore in 1986. He has been part of Framestore’s successful rise from an award winning commercials house to world renowned film VFX and animation company based in London, New York, Los Angeles and Montreal. William also served as Permanent Secretary Regulatory Reform Cabinet Office, Board Director of HM Treasury; received a CBE in 2004 and was knighted by the Queen in 2008.
Laura Tenison MBE, Founder & Managing Director, Jojo Maman Bébé
As the Founder and MD of JoJo Maman Bébé, Laura Tenison MBE has grown the company organically from its start-up in 1993 with a team of two, to become the UK’s largest independent mother and baby brand with 750 employees and a forecasted gross turnover of £58m this year.
Sarah Wood, Co-founder and CEO, Unruly
As CEO of video ad tech company Unruly, Sarah works with 90% of Ad Age 100 brands to get their videos seen, shared and loved online. Unruly has 20 offices, employs 300 people and was acquired by News Corp in September 2015. Sarah has been voted Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year 2016, CEO of the Year at The TechCrunch Europas 2016, and City AM Entrepreneur of the Year 2015.
Debbie Wosskow OBE , Founder and CEO, Love Home Swap
Debbie Wosskow is an experienced innovator, business founder, investor, Board advisor and entrepreneur. Debbie founded her first business, the communications agency Mantra aged 25 and is the founder and CEO ofLove Home Swap, which she has scaled over the last five years to become the world’s largest home exchange platform.