Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.

Muniya leads BusinessLDN’s Policy, Campaigns and Communications team, with responsibility for our impact, influencing, thought leadership work and membership. She supports our CEO John Dickie in the running of the business and has responsibility for developing the overall business strategy. She was previously Managing Director of Policy and Strategy, and before that, she ran our Corporate Affairs team. Before she joined BusinessLDN, Muniya’s previous senior roles included Managing Director of Corporate Affairs at the award-winning public and communications agency Newington Communications and at the business lobby group, the CBI, where she held the roles of Director of Corporate Communications and Head of News. Muniya began her career as a business reporter at the Liverpool Daily Post before going on to produce news bulletins for ITV News London, CNN and the BBC. Muniya is an independent governor at London Metropolitan University and sits on its finance and resources committee. She was previously a trustee at the Campaign for Better Transport.

Yael is Vice Chair and Chief Economist at KPMG in the UK. She advises clients on the global economic outlook and its impact on their strategy.

Her experience spans private sector clients across a wide range of industries and geographies, as well as public sector bodies. Her research looks at the impact major shocks, as well as new technologies, could have on the economy and on individual businesses. She has also written about productivity disparities across regions and ways to support weaker regions.

Yael is a regular commentator on economic issues in the media. She won City A.M. Analyst of the Year award in 2016 for the research she published on the outlook for interest rates, global trade and equity markets and was named one of the City’s 100 most influential women, as well as named one of Cranfield School of Management’s Women to Watch in 2022.
 

She is a Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, member of the Council of Management of SUERF and a Board member of NABE. 
 

Prior to joining KPMG in 2014, she worked at PwC for 15 years where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant and built a macroeconomics consulting business, and at two boutique consultancies. She studied Economics at UCL and LSE in London.

Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.

Gideon Skinner is Senior Director of UK Politics in Public Affairs at Ipsos where he has worked since 1997. He leads on research into cross-cutting issues that face all public services, such as public service reform, trust, and research into many political and social trends. As Head of Political Research, Gideon has also been involved in coverage and analysis of every general election since 1997 including appearing on CNN as the results of the 2024 general election were announced. Gideon contributes to many published thought leadership reports, including our Understanding Society publication, our regular Global Advisor international polling series, and is part of the Ipsos Thinks team.

He has presented data to many interested audiences and conferences both in the UK and overseas, to Cabinet Ministers, senior civil servants, business people, and students and schoolchildren, as well as appearing on TV, radio and podcasts to discuss public opinion on current affairs.

Christian May is the Editor-in-Chief of City AM. He served in the role from 2015 to 2020 and returned in 2024. He writes the daily Editor’s Letter for print and online and releases The Week in Business roundup video each Thursday. He is particularly interested in the health of London’s capital markets, economic policy, politics, regulation and business activity in the City of London. He regularly appears in the broadcast media and presents a daily Business News slot on LBC at 0730, Monday to Friday

John Dickie is the Chief Executive at BusinessLDN. Formerly the organisation’s Director of Strategy and Policy, he was responsible for the business membership organisation’s public policy development and its member management team. A former Deputy Leader of Camden Council in London, John was a member of the current Mayor of London’s London Finance Commission, the previous Mayor’s Infrastructure Delivery Board and is a member of the King’s College Commission on London. 

His previous senior roles include Head of Corporate Affairs at the BBC, Regulatory Affairs Director at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association and Managing Director of consultancy Prima Europe, later GPC London, where he provided political and policy advice to major international businesses. John started his career at Swiss Bank Corporation International and has degrees from Oxford University and the London Business School.

Helen Gordon is Chief Executive of Grainger plc the UK’s largest listed residential landlord. 

Helen was appointed Chief Executive of Grainger in January 2016 from RBS where she had been Global Head of Real Estate Asset Management since October 2011. Prior to that Helen was Director of Legal and General Property, responsible for the Main Life Fund and c.8 smaller Funds, and Group Property Director of Railtrack and Managing Director of John Laing Developments. 

Helen is Senior Independent Director on the Board of Derwent London, is a Non-Exec Director of Business LDN, Vice Chair and a Board Director of the European Public Real Estate Association and a Board member of the British Property Federation.

Helen is Past President of the British Property Federation (July 2019 to July 2020), was a member of the Government’s New Towns Taskforce and also a member of the Government’s Urban Centre Recovery Taskforce for post Covid recovery and chaired the London Growth Commission.

Fiona is Partner in Audit & Assurance with over 19 years experience specialising in financial services. In addition to her audit portfolio she leads our Controls Assurance Group. Her team specialises in leading programmes to assess and re-design processes and controls across front-to-back trading operations. As a qualified accountant and practicing auditor she has also advised on the implementation of new accounting standards, defining appropriate policies and designing processes to support their application.

Pete Gladwell, leads on public sector investments (>£5bn) for Legal & General and Productive Finance across Legal & General Group. His team drive the growth of L&G’s investments that benefit society. A former youth worker, Pete is heavily involved in local community projects in West London, an Honorary Professor at University College London, a Freeman of the City of London, a member of the government’s Social Impact Investment Advisory Group, and a Trustee of the Fairness Foundation.

Ajneet is a qualified solicitor-advocate with broad legal experience. She is a General Counsel at Lloyds Banking Group.

She is passionate and experienced in diversity and inclusion which she leads on for Legal & Secretariat teams at LBG and is founder sponsor for the Finance and Legal Ethnicity Community.

Over her career she has been closely involved in initiatives focusing on diversity and inclusion, with particular focus on race and social mobility. During her 13 years at the Bank of England she was co-chair of the Black and Ethnic Minority Network and a founder of the BAME Task Force. She also co-ordinated the Bank’s support for the Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme, helping young black men from less socially mobile backgrounds into City careers.

Ajneet is a Fellow of the Forward Institute and her hobbies include sport, gardening and travel.

CEO of ExCeL London since 2018. I believe passionately in the power of face-to-face events as a driver for positive social and economic change. ExCeL hosts 400 world class events per year and welcomes some four million guests to the venue. I am incredibly proud and privileged to lead such an amazing, hardworking, professional team. Since opening in 2000, ExCeL has firmly established itself as the home of world-leading events, as well as being dubbed one the world’s most connected venues – further aided by the recent introduction of the Elizabeth line. It is also the first and only UK venue to be awarded carbon neutral status to the internationally recognised PAS 2060 standards, all part of our wider roadmap to becoming net zero by 2030 and strengthening our community outreach. Under the ownership and close support of ADNEC, we continue to invest in the venue and its wider footprint with a 25,000sqm expansion programme set for 2024. In addition to the events and venue business we also own two hotels on campus ( Aloft Marriott and Hilton Double Tree) and are maximising property development opportunities building nearly 1,000 flats with our JV Partner Mount Anvil. 

Muniya leads BusinessLDN’s Policy, Campaigns and Communications team, with responsibility for our impact, influencing, thought leadership work and membership. She supports our CEO John Dickie in the running of the business and has responsibility for developing the overall business strategy. She was previously Managing Director of Policy and Strategy, and before that, she ran our Corporate Affairs team. Before she joined BusinessLDN, Muniya’s previous senior roles included Managing Director of Corporate Affairs at the award-winning public and communications agency Newington Communications and at the business lobby group, the CBI, where she held the roles of Director of Corporate Communications and Head of News. Muniya began her career as a business reporter at the Liverpool Daily Post before going on to produce news bulletins for ITV News London, CNN and the BBC. Muniya is an independent governor at London Metropolitan University and sits on its finance and resources committee. She was previously a trustee at the Campaign for Better Transport.

Peter is Arcadis’ UK Cities Director and City Executive for London, accountable for key activity across the UK’s leading cities and in the capital. He also leads for Arcadis on Placemaking. A Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors with 24 years’ industry experience, he has a keen understanding of how to align built and natural assets to the vision, strategy and key priorities of our clients. He has a particular interest in creating successful cities. 

Peter has been involved in some of London’ biggest infrastructure programmes of recent years including the Jubilee Line Extension, St Pancras International Station and Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

Robert is at the helm of London St. Pancras Highspeed’s journey into the future, leading efforts to grow both domestic and international rail travel and strengthen connections across the continent.

Having joined from London City Airport in 2024, his career spans legal, banking, and transport sectors, with a track record of turning transport hubs into engines of growth. Joining at a pivotal moment, Robert’s vision is helping London St. Pancras Highspeed push boundaries and create better journeys for passengers and businesses alike.

Nigel was appointed to Heathrow’s Exec team in September 2021. In his former role, he led Heathrow’s Carbon Strategy, Communications, and Sustainability & Communities Teams. Before this, Nigel served as Director of Communications at Heathrow, where he spearheaded the campaign to gain political and public support for a third runway. Nigel’s tenure at Heathrow began in 2010, following roles at Virgin Atlantic and various aviation policy positions at the Department for Transport. 

Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.

Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.

Reporting to the President, Amanda is responsible for the development and implementation of Imperial’s Strategy, Science for Humanity. Amanda has responsibility for Strategic Engagement and Communications. Amanda is also Chief of Staff to the President.

Amanda joined Imperial as Head of Public Affairs before being appointed Chief of Staff to the President and Director of Public Affairs. Prior to joining Imperial, Amanda held senior communications and external affairs roles at a Westminster think tank and the Russell Group, and she was previously a broadcast journalist producing a range of documentary, political and current affairs programming including the UK’s first General Election Debate. She started her career working in policy and adviser roles in the Australian and UK Parliaments. Amanda is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and is a member of the Mayor’s Grow London Advisory Board. 

Ben Loewenstein is Head of European Policy & Government Affairs at Waymo, the Alphabet company serving over 500,000 fully autonomous rides to members of the public across multiple US cities every week. In his role, Ben works with governments around the world to develop the policies that will bring autonomous driving to market. Ben’s background is in tech policy and consultancy. Prior to joining Waymo Ben was a Senior Director at an international business advisory firm.

Max is Founder & CEO of the LDN Collective, a network of built environment specialists fighting to improve people’s lives and the planet’s prospects. Members are experts in placemaking & urban design; social value & co-design; branding & communications. Current projects include a new ​‘eventscape’ in the Royal Docks; a garden community in Huntingdonshire and urban regeneration projects in the UK and beyond. Thought leadership includes #ParkPower — a crowdsourced vision for London’s green spaces and the Wolfson prize award-winning #FastForward.

Max’s expertise lies in urban planning & strategic communications. He is Chair of Built Environment Policy for West London Business; Chair of the Healthy City Design Congress; Immediate Past President of LAI Land Economics Society (London chapter) and a Fellow of the RSA. Max was Project Lead and Author of the Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment, commissioned by the UK Government, which made 60 recommendations many of which have been implemented. He is an adviser to Demos, Urban Design London, the Place Alliance, the Urban Room Network and the Quality of Life Foundation.

Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.

As LSBU Group Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor, Paul Kett is responsible for leading the governance of three organisations that make up the LSBU Group – London South Bank University (LSBU), South Bank Colleges (SBC) and South Bank Academies (SBA). Paul is the Vice-Chancellor for LSBU and the Accounting Officers for SBC and SBA. He works with the senior leadership teams in each of these three institutions to provide pathways that enable learners to thrive and ensure London has the skilled people needed to drive growth.

Paul oversees the wellbeing and development of our students and staff, ensuring that our people are supported to succeed. Integral to his role is forming collaborative and trusted relationships at all levels across our organisations and across boundaries with partners and stakeholders.

Tunde Olayinka is the Executive Director for Communities and Skills at the Greater London Authority (GLA), where he plays a pivotal role in shaping London’s social and economic development. A seasoned executive with a distinguished career spanning local government, the Civil Service, and the voluntary sector, Tunde is known for translating complex social policy into impactful delivery.

Earlier in his career, while working for Central London Connexions, Tunde significantly reduced youth unemployment in some of London’s most deprived communities. He achieved this by forging a powerful alliance between businesses, skills providers, and employability support services — an approach that remains influential today.

At the GLA, he leads on tackling systemic inequalities, strengthening civil society, supporting young Londoners, and ensuring that businesses can access the skilled talent they need to thrive — while helping Londoners into good work. His strategic oversight of London’s skills agenda directly supports the Mayor of London’s commitment to building an inclusive and future-ready economy.

Tunde’s track record also includes leading the UK’s largest diversity and inclusion programme across the Civil Service, and overseeing critical national and local responses — from Brexit to Grenfell recovery. 

He also serves as a trustee of London Funders and, outside of work, is a proud supporter of Tottenham Hotspur – the current Europa League Champions.

Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.

Sarah is a director and co-founder of Applied Intelligence, Linklaters LLP’s multi-disciplinary practice operating at the intersection of law, AI and data science to deliver bespoke solutions for our clients’ most significant problems and opportunities. She also serves as Director of AI Delivery for Linklaters, shaping and driving the firm’s AI transformation globally. Prior to her current role, Sarah spent over 14 years advising corporates on risk, regulation and governance and served as COO of Linklaters’ legal tech arm. She began her career as a middle school teacher in New York City. 

Appointed in 2017 as London’s first Chief Digital Officer, Theo leads on London-wide digital transformation, data and smart city initiatives at City Hall.

His role involves:

• strategic leadership on the digital transformation agenda for London’s public services, across the GLA group and the wider public sector
• convening on behalf of the Mayor, across London local government to support the take-up of innovative, technology, and data-led approaches to service delivery and public engagement
• developing and promoting partnership between the public, private and community sectors to enable and support the development of new public service-oriented technology and innovation.

Stella Pachidi is a Senior Lecturer in Technology and Work at King’s Business School.

Her research interests lie in the intersection of technology, work and organising. Her current research projects include the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies in organisations and their impact on knowledge work and the production of knowledge, managing challenges in the workplace during digital transformation, and practices of knowledge collaboration across boundaries.

Stella is keen to understand and explain the significant impact of artificial intelligence and other algorithmic technologies on work, organisations and society. She studies the use of these technologies using qualitative research methods, through the lenses of practice theory, knowing, sociomateriality, temporality, and performativity. Informed by her former background in computer science, Stella’s research takes a holistic approach: she strives to develop a deep understanding of both the work that goes into developing the technology, and how the materiality of the technology gets entwined with its implementation and use. In her research, she is particularly interested in how work practices change as emerging (and continuously evolving) digital technologies are introduced in the workplace; how the regime of knowing transforms; how expertise is redistributed; and how those transformations are managed at the organisational and occupational level.

Stella has published articles in information systems and organisation journals and books including Organization Science, Information and Organization, Organization Theory, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Academy of Management Discoveries, Journal of Management Inquiry, MIS Quarterly Executive, Computers in Human Behavior, and The Routledge Companion to Management Information Systems. She has presented her work at various major conferences in the fields of technology and organisations including the Academy of Management Meeting, the International Conference on Information Systems, the European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium, and the Process Symposium, among others.

Stella serves as a Senior Editor of Information and Organization. She is also a member of the editorial review boards of Organization Science and Information Systems Research. Currently, she is also a guest editor of the Journal of Management Studies special issue on Artificial Intelligence: Organizational Possibilities and Pitfalls.

Stella has teaching experience on all levels (undergraduate, MPhil, MBA/EMBA, executive education) on the topics of digital business, digital innovation, digital transformation, information systems, artificial intelligence in business and society, collaborating for innovation, AI/​GenAI implementation, and AI and the future of work. She has also had experience engaging with organisational leaders and policy advisors on issues related to the implementation of AI and the future of work. In 2021, Stella was listed by Poets&Quants in their list of Best 40 Under 40 Professors.

Stella is a Research Fellow of Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. She is also a member of the AI@Work Research Group at KIN Center for Digital Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, a collaborator of the Research Group on Complex Collaboration at McGill University, and associated faculty at Cambridge Digital Innovation research centre.

Before joining King’s Business School, Stella was an Assistant Professor in Information Systems at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Stella holds a PhD in Business Administration from VU University Amsterdam, an MSc in Business Informatics from Utrecht University, and an MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from National Technical University of Athens.

Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.

Jim Coleman is Head of Economics at WSP and is an expert in urban economic development with 30 years’ experience. He specialises in economic planning for cities and regions built around local and specialised industrial strengths in the United Kingdom and globally. Jim is also Professor of Professional Practice in the School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster.

Karima is a passionate and strategic leader with over 25 years’ experience across recruitment, training, apprenticeships, and learning. Her career spans aviation, construction, and utilities, with a strong focus over the past 15 years on employability, inclusive employment, and skills development.

At Thames Water, Karima leads the integrated strategy for Resourcing, Skills, Diversity & Inclusion, and Learning & Development, ensuring a seamless and inclusive employee journey from attraction through to retention. She has driven large-scale change programmes, shaped the company’s Skills Strategy, and built strategic partnerships across education, community, supply chain, and government to deliver social value and economic inclusion.

Karima is deeply committed to tackling in-work poverty, improving socio-economic diversity, and driving real change through collaborative approaches. Her experience includes working on major infrastructure projects such as Heathrow Terminal 5 and the third runway, and securing access funding through government contracts.

She currently holds several key advisory and leadership roles, including Chair of the West London Green Skills Employer Board and Co-Chair of the GLA Hiring and Skills Group. She also sits on the British Chamber of Commerce Employment and Skills Expert Panel. She has previously served on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Route Panel, been a member of the BiTC Untapped Talent and Future Skills & Good Work Taskforces, member of the Aviation Industry Skills Board, the City & Guilds Employer Board, and was a Non-Executive Advisor for Harrow, Richmond, and Uxbridge College.

Karima is a Fellow of The 5% Club, recognised for her leadership in the earn-and-learn space and her commitment to driving lasting social impact and has been shortlisted as Inspirational Leader at the Ethnicity Awards 2025. 

For the past 25 years Dianna has worked on economic development, skills, employment and cultural policy in London local government. She currently supports London boroughs to collaborate and develops policy to support inclusive economic growth. Recent projects include the co-design of the London Growth Plan and the Inclusive Talent Strategy with the GLA.

Andy Silvester is a British journalist and media executive, currently serving as London Editor at The Times, a position he stepped into in October 2024. In this role, he leads the newspaper’s coverage of the capital, commissioning original reporting and curating content focused on London’s news, culture, lifestyle, and business. Before joining The Times, Silvester spent nearly four years as Editor of City A.M., having been appointed in November 2020 after serving as its deputy since September 2019. At City A.M., he oversaw its digital transformation, relaunched its print edition post-COVID hiatus, introduced the popular The City View podcast, and steered the title through its acquisition by THG, helping to return it to profitability. Earlier in his career, Silvester worked as a leader writer and PR chief at The Sun, as well as holding leadership roles at the Institute of Directors and the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

Andy Silvester is a British journalist and media executive, currently serving as London Editor at The Times, a position he stepped into in October 2024. In this role, he leads the newspaper’s coverage of the capital, commissioning original reporting and curating content focused on London’s news, culture, lifestyle, and business. Before joining The Times, Silvester spent nearly four years as Editor of City A.M., having been appointed in November 2020 after serving as its deputy since September 2019. At City A.M., he oversaw its digital transformation, relaunched its print edition post-COVID hiatus, introduced the popular The City View podcast, and steered the title through its acquisition by THG, helping to return it to profitability. Earlier in his career, Silvester worked as a leader writer and PR chief at The Sun, as well as holding leadership roles at the Institute of Directors and the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

Patrick Doig was appointed Chief Finance Officer (CFO) from 14 February 2026 — he continues to hold the statutory CFO role he has held since 2021.

He’s responsible for the overall TfL Budget, funding and business enabling processes. He will drive cost efficiency across the entire organisation, including through supply chain transformation.

Patrick has been with TfL since 2008, and his past roles include Group Procurement & Commercial Director, Group Finance Director and Divisional Finance Director.

Before joining TfL, Patrick trained as a chartered accountant with KPMG. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales and has an MBA with Distinction from London Business School.

Kirsty Walker is Vice-President (External Engagement) at UCL (University College London), where she leads a portfolio encompassing communications, media relations, public affairs, marketing, digital and events. Her role was created in 2021 to strengthen UCL’s global reputation and influence, ensuring the university’s public profile reflects its world-leading excellence in research, education, and innovation. 

Before moving into higher education, Kirsty had a successful and wide-ranging career in political communications and journalism. She spent nearly 13 years as a political correspondent based in Westminster, reporting on major global events and travelling with successive British Prime Ministers to locations including Iraq, Afghanistan, the White House, and the Kremlin. She is an experienced broadcaster and commentator, having appeared on BBC, ITV, Sky, and LBC. 

After leaving journalism, Kirsty worked for Westminster-based communications agency iNHouse Communications. She then joined the civil service as Head of Strategy and Communications, and later Secretariat Director, for the Social Mobility Commission, alongside former chair the Rt Hon Alan Milburn. She joined UCL in June 2018 to lead the university’s media relations team and develop the university’s senior political engagement strategy, including setting up UCL’s first public affairs team in 2021. 

Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist KPM leads Frontline Policing for the Metropolitan Police Service, overseeing more than 20,000 officers and staff responsible for local policing, public protection, and specialist crime across London. His remit includes driving performance improvement across frontline policing, managing complex risk, and delivering large‑scale organisational transformation – ultimately to build trust, lower crime and raise standards. 

With a policing career spanning nearly three decades, Matt has held a wide range of senior operational and strategic roles across the Met and nationally. He has led complex change programmes including Command & Control transformation and Central Estates and served as Gold Commander for London’s policing response during the Covid‑19 pandemic. He has also held national leadership roles within Counter Terrorism Policing, with national responsibility for CT Protect and Prepare. As Assistant Commissioner for Met Operations from 2022, he oversaw the policing operation of the Coronation of HM King Charles III and led the MPS response to significant protests, most notably linked to the Israel / Gaza demonstrations. He was also the MPS lead for Firearms and the government-led Accountability Review. As AC for Frontline Policing since Dec 2024, Matt has led significant structural change within the business group and crime performance improvement. 

Matt works closely with government, London partners, and business leaders to support London’s safety, confidence, and economic vitality. He currently serves as Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Performance Management Coordinating Committee and was awarded the King’s Police Medal in the 2025 New Year Honours for distinguished service.

Having worked on Battersea Power Station for over 20 years, and a Battersea resident herself, Sarah Banham oversees the project’s extensive community, sustainability and public affairs programmes, and has an extensive knowledge of the landmark’s rich history. Within her role, Sarah ensures the project has meaningful and positive impacts within the wider community, focused on placemaking as a means to ensure that the new Battersea Power Station town centre is an integrated part of the London Borough of Wandsworth

John Dickie is the Chief Executive at BusinessLDN. Formerly the organisation’s Director of Strategy and Policy, he was responsible for the business membership organisation’s public policy development and its member management team. A former Deputy Leader of Camden Council in London, John was a member of the current Mayor of London’s London Finance Commission, the previous Mayor’s Infrastructure Delivery Board and is a member of the King’s College Commission on London. 

His previous senior roles include Head of Corporate Affairs at the BBC, Regulatory Affairs Director at the European Competitive Telecommunications Association and Managing Director of consultancy Prima Europe, later GPC London, where he provided political and policy advice to major international businesses. John started his career at Swiss Bank Corporation International and has degrees from Oxford University and the London Business School.

Alys Denby is opinion and features editor of City AM. She writes the weekly Free Thinking newsletter and presents the video series of the same name. She regularly appears in broadcast media including BBC, Channel 5 Sky News, Times Radio, LBC and GB News. She has previously worked for a think tank and as a parliamentary researcher

Riz is the face of BBC London — presenting the flagship 6.30pm nightly TV news programme. She’s been named as one of London’s ​‘1,000 most influential people’ by the Evening Standard and won Media Professional of the Year 2009 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Riz has taken many major politicians to task including Tony Blair and David Cameron. She led the coverage of the 2008 London mayoral elections separating spin from reality in interviews with Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. She also presents the national 8pm bulletin on BBC One and hosted the BBC One show ​‘The Olympic Torch Comes To London’ with Matthew Pinsent.

In 2000, she presented the BBC2 documentary From Coup to Coup about the political state of Pakistan following General Musharraf’s military coup to power.

Prior to her on-screen television career Riz worked in the BBC for three years as a Business Adviser to the Director of Television, being named as one of the television industry’s ​‘young hotshots’ by Broadcast magazine.

She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, with written Arabic and basic French.