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.

Andre Burwood is the Programme Director of BASE (Battersea Academy for Skills & Employment) at Battersea Power Station Development Company. With extensive experience in employment strategy, skills development, and workforce partnerships, she leads initiatives that connect local people with sustainable job opportunities in key sectors, including construction, hospitality, retail, and tech.

Andre has a strong track record in developing public-private partnerships, securing funding, and influencing strategic employment policies. She has worked closely with employers, education providers, and government bodies such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to align skills training with business needs.

As a respected voice in London’s employability landscape, Andre is committed to breaking down barriers to employment, ensuring businesses have access to a skilled workforce, and supporting individuals in building long-term careers. Her leadership at BASE continues to drive innovation in skills provision and economic inclusion at Battersea Power Station.

Andre Burwood brings experience from previous involvement/​roles with Greater London Authority — Skills for Londoners, Business Partnership Apprenticeship Advisory Group, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Vice Chair Work Education Policy Advisory Committee, Mayors Fund for London – Young London Working, London Borough of Waltham Forest – Head of Employment & Enterprise and London Borough of Tower Hamlets – Head of Employment and Skills. 

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.

Caroline has worked in the hospitality industry in human resources for more than 30 years and has encountered a wide variety of HR challenges and successes during that time. What’s important to her is always making time for the front line employees. Recognising that, as Human Resources, she might be at the crossroads of whether someone stays or leaves is critical to the job. Trying to know a little something about as many people as possible has undoubtedly helped her progress in her career.

She is proud to say that the company enables a focus on developing talent based on attitude over specific work experiences for many of the available roles. The most rewarding part of her job is definitely being able to focus firstly on ensuring that the right people are hired to fit the role and the company culture, and secondly, but equally as important, on employee development. The emphasis on attitude-first hiring reflects the importance of creating a positive work environment where growth and potential are nurtured.

Before starting her TfL journey as an Apprentice Project Manager, Hannah gained early work experience washing hair at a local salon from age 14. This taught her independence and customer service while balancing college work. Her desire for challenges and passion for work led her to consider apprenticeships. The TfL apprentice scheme provided excellent training, equipping her with essential career skills. During the scheme, she chaired a Committee for Graduates and Apprentices, representing her community and building her network. Hannah had the opportunity to undertake placements across the business, including the Northern Line Extension and Neasden Depot Modernisation. Since completing the scheme, she has continued to grow, progressing from Project Manager to Executive Manager for the Assets Directorate.

Air Vice-Marshal Chris Luck is a former Royal Air Force officer. During his distinguished military career, he commanded at every rank and concluded his service career as CEO of the Defence Academy and Commandant of the Joint Services Command and Staff College. He achieved over 5000 flying hours, predominately on helicopters, and participating in multiple operations across the globe. He was twice appointed Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 and 2013. 

Since 2019, he has been the Group CEO of Shaw Trust, a large national not-for-profit enterprise, delivering employability services, education learning and skills, community health and wellbeing, and children’s services, including being the largest provider of not-for-profit homes for children in the UK. 

Chris was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Northamptonshire in June 2023. 

Hobbies and interests include motorbike track days and horse riding for the adrenalin, the French language for relaxing, campanology, and continuing to pursue his interests in strategic studies.

Peter Phelps is the Training Delivery Lead at Vorboss. He specialises in the development of new recruits, creating training plans that ensure staff are well-equipped to tackle their new roles. With 10 years of experience in Learning & Development, he has previously worked in the travel industry for Eurostar, where he delivered training sessions for customer service staff in locations as far afield as Bucharest, as well as in London and the south east. In 2021, Peter transitioned into the Telecoms industry with Vorboss, where he is responsible for training and developing fresh recruits from various backgrounds to become Installation Technicians through the company’s in-house training academy. He has overseen the training and development of over 200 technicians, who are now working in zones 1 and 2, laying the fibre network and connecting customers to London’s fastest business internet.

Debbie Akehurst is the Chief Executive of Central District Alliance and Hatton Garden Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). With extensive experience in property, regeneration, and economic development, she specialises in building partnerships and delivering strategies that benefit businesses and communities. Debbie is committed to creating social value and supporting local communities through collaboration. In addition to her leadership role, Debbie chairs the London Skills Improvement Plan Advisory Board and the Dress for Success Advisory Board, where she plays a key role in shaping inclusive growth and workforce development strategies. Her work reflects a commitment to delivering long-term value and sustainable outcomes.

Matthew Hamilton was appointed as the Director of the South London Partnership (SLP) in January 2023. SLP provides strategic sub regional co-ordination and delivery for the London Boroughs of Kingston, Croydon, Sutton, Richmond and Merton with a focus on growth, health and care, employment and skills, net zero and better connectivity. Matthew is responsible for overseeing over £25 million of employment support programmes and in conjunction with partners delivery of the SLP annex to the London LSIP. Prior to this role, Matthew was Head of Improvement Strategy at the Local Government Association and Director of the District Councils’ Network.

Connor has spent over a decade working on youth and employability programmes and is currently part of the Central London Careers Hub, delivered by Reed in Partnership, funded by the Careers and Enterprise Company and the Greater London Authority. With a special focus on industry engagement and emerging sectors, he leads the employer-facing operations of the Hub with the aim of creating sustainable routes for young people to access the industries of the future. His ambition is to support the development of a modern careers system that meets the needs of individual learners and aligns with the demands of our evolving economy, both now and in the future.

Vanesa has two decades of experience creating and delivering business growth support for entrepreneurs, for a wide range of organisations including universities, charities, corporates and government. This has given her a deep understanding of the capital’s business support ecosystem and entrepreneurs’ needs and challenges. More recently, Vanesa has been leading the Small Business Service Unit at London & Partners, including the Grow London Local service which links entrepreneurs to business support and skills. 

Jacqui Smith was appointed as Minister for Skills at the Department for Education on 6 July 2024. Jacqui’s previous ministerial career includes Home Secretary and roles in the departments of Education, Health, Industry and Equality across her 10 years in government. 

Zephaniah is a Director in the Local Public Services team at Microsoft UK, overseeing mayoral regions and councils across England. With over a decade of experience in the technology industry, he is deeply passionate about inclusion, community, and the economic impact of technology and digital skills in transforming communities, cities, and nations. 

At Microsoft, Zephaniah has held several impactful roles. He served as the Business Manager for the CEO of Microsoft UK, led the UK Data business, leading the commercial business, marketing and partnership strategy. He also spearheaded the commercial distribution business for Microsoft Surface hardware devices. 

In addition to his professional contributions, Zephaniah is committed to fostering inclusion and diversity. He is the Chair of the EMBRACE Employee Resource Group at Microsoft UK, which champions ethnicity and cultural diversity within the workplace. 

• Zephaniah also serves on multiple advisory boards, including:
• The United by 2022 board, overseeing the legacy of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
• London’s, Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP)
• Kubrick Consultancy, Data Advisory Board, providing strategic guidance to in data, AI, and next-generation technologies Born and raised in London, Zephaniah is an alumnus of Aston University. 

He now resides in the West Midlands with his wife and two young children.

Richard Brown is Associate Fellow at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. He has worked in public policy and research for thirty years – including as a higher education researcher at The Times, local government researcher at the Audit Commission, manager of the Mayor of London’s architecture and urbanism unit, strategy director at London Legacy Development Corporation, and deputy director at Centre for London. 

Richard’s freelance research and writing work has recently included projects on skills, innovation, higher education, innovation, the cost-of-living crisis and post-Covid urban policy. He is a regular blogger at On London, co-author (with Richard Rogers) of ​‘A Place for All People’ (Canongate 2018), and co-author and ‑editor (with Jack Brown and Tony Travers) of ​‘London’s Mayor at 20’ (Biteback 2020). Richard is also a non-executive director at London Modern.
 

An experienced Further Education Leader with over 15 years’ operating at a senior level. In April 2024 Jackie Chapman was appointed Group Principal at Capital City College, the largest FE provider in London. She is also the CEO of 01 Founders, an innovative peer-to-peer coding school since February 2022.

Jackie also manages Apprenticeships+ the training arm of Capital City College and whose team have supported over 4200 apprenticeships in the last 5 years and continues to work with multiple stakeholders and employers to help identify and solve skills shortages.

As an active member of LCCI and sits on the Skills and Employment committee and has been involved in LSIP’s in central and east London from the outset.

Jackie is now launching the new Soho campus, which specialises in Creative and Postproduction. Students studying Level 3 BTEC and T Levels, working with industry in cutting-edge hi-tech facilities.

Richard Punt is the global legal leader at Deloitte. He brings an extensive track record in legal market strategy having worked with a broad range of firms and other participants over the last 20 years. At Allen & Overy he was CEO of consultant lawyer business Peerpoint and developed the firm’s Advanced Delivery capabilities in legal technology and regulatory consulting. He was Chief Strategy Officer at Thomson Reuters with a particular focus on building their legal software capabilities including the introduction of AI. His current role represents a return to Deloitte. Before joining A&O in 2014, Richard was a consulting partner with the firm for 15 years holding a number of senior roles both globally and in the UK, including Managing Partner first for Strategy & Planning and subsequently for Clients & Markets. He has recently undertaken work in collaboration with BusinessLDN on the reskilling challenges for London posed by AI.

Stephen has been chief executive since 2016, having spent two years previously as deputy chief executive. He joined from Working Links, where he led on policy, strategy and business development. Prior to this, he worked for the London Development Agency as director of employment and skills, commissioning programmes and leading the work of the London Skills and Employment Board; was chief economist at the Social Market Foundation; and spent six years as senior policy advisor in HM Treasury working on policy for skills, productivity and child poverty.

Natalie joined The Education Policy Institute in September 2015 as Executive Director and Head of Research. Natalie worked in the Department for Education from 2002 to 2014 on a range of policies including early years, children’s services, school funding and the Pupil Premium. Between April 2014 to May 2015, Natalie was seconded to the Cabinet Office where she worked in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. In December 2020, Natalie became CEO of EPI.

She currently serves as a Trustee of two Multi Academy Trusts as well as the Fair Education Alliance and also sits on the Board of the Queen’s Street Group.
 

Hina was one of the first female Muslim Assembly Members, first elected in May 2021, Hina has sat on the economy committee for almost four years, and will chair the committee from this May onwards. During her time on the Assembly Hina has championed the cause of small businesses across London, from calling for more investment to highlighting the skills gaps that persist throughout the city’s economy.

Before becoming an Assembly Member, Hina worked as a teacher and was highly involved in charity work, seeking to increase opportunities for young Londoners. Hina received an OBE in the 2024 new years honours list for her services to charity.

Michael Lemin is Head of Policy at NCFE, a leading educational services charity and Awarding Organisation. He leads on all aspects of policy analysis and public affairs, advocating for policy and a range of strategic projects. In his earlier career, Michael worked in in a number of roles in Early Years, and set up one of the first pilots to introduce individual budgets for disabled children. He also spent a year in post-war Sierra Leone, developing local governance structures to support economic and social recovery.

Mete Coban MBE became the Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy in July 2024, overseeing the Mayor’s world-leading climate action plan for the capital.
Before becoming Deputy Mayor, Mete was a Councillor and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, and Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, delivering a £61 million Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis. He is best known for pioneering Hackney’s Community Energy Fund, providing clean, green, community-owned energy to 39 not-for-profits.

Mete is widely credited with making politics more accessible to young people as the Founder of the youth-led charity My Life My Say. He received an MBE for services to young people in the New Year’s 2020 Honours List in recognition of his efforts to make politics and democracy more accessible to the younger generation.