Radhika Patel | Capco
Radhika is the Product Manager for the Capco UK Digital Lab, overseeing a multi-disciplinary team who take generate modern, digital solutions for financial services client challenges using customer-led techniques coupled with cutting edge technology expertise.
Within 2.5 years, Radhika has gone from a new entrant in consulting to being a recognised leader at Capco who has made a significant impact to both clients and Capco itself
Radhika has worked on high profile projects from the get go. She was part of the team that won £30m of funding to build a banking platform for a leading UK retail bank which is now live in the market. She has since worked on developing new digital propositions, including a new youth banking proposition for a leading retail bank and a number of new open-banking propositions for a major payments provider.
Innovation has always been Radhika's passion. Prior to joining the industry she completed an industry-sponsored PhD in condensed matter and material physics at University College London. As part of her research, she developed instrumentation to study layered materials and was awarded over £10k from the Natural Environmental Research Council to investigate the commercial opportunity for the IP. She filed an initial patent for the instrumentation, and it has led to successful research papers from her research group.
While at UCL, Radhika set up the UCL Physics Postgraduate Society which she co-founded with a group of her peers. The community is still thriving 5 years later organising external speakers, multi-day hackathons and providing hundreds of students with the opportunity to share their research and collaborate.
Cheryl Laidlaw | Website in a Day
In 2015 I knew that I had to niche and that's when Website in a Day was born.
This came around because it was taking ages to get websites finished and I knew that sitting with the client would add so much value and make me stand out when most web designers would never leave their desks. Being visible was a massive part of the success of Website in a Day and the efficiency of getting it down in one day. The word soon got around and my diary has been booked ever since.
In 2017 I changed all my social media handles to London Web Girl. I wanted to stand out in this industry and I knew I had to be bold. My following on social media channels grew so much and as a result, londonwebgirl.com became a brand on its own.
in 2018 I decided to niche once more by focusing on private practices in a collaboration with Dr Cath and Gemma who also serve Doctors and Surgeons. We created Clinic Alchemy (http://www.clinic-alchemy.com) which practical advice for doctors to accelerate their private practice & Grow their personal brand and wealth.
In 2018 Liz and I created our youtube channel 'Work the Room' as we networked a lot we wanted to have a platform where we could review networking groups around London so we could help people to choose a tribe that represents them and actually gets them business. In 2019 we then set up the 'Work the Room' networking event ourselves using what we think are the best practices to network.
Karina Klimaszewski | Aon
I work at Aon in our Retirement Practice, advising clients on their pension strategy.
In addition to building strong relationships with my clients and helping them meet their objectives I am involved in Aon's DC thought leadership, in particular on DC member engagement and financial wellbeing. For example, I co-wrote this year's 2020 Aon DC Survey and regularly present at external events including Aon's 2019 Pension Conferences -which I love.
I also spend a lot of time getting to know and developing others.
Within Aon, I spend time implementing change to improve the working experience of colleagues. For example, organising speed mentoring, presenting at meetings to help others understand their strengths and weaknesses and mentoring colleagues. I also oversee apprenticeships for Aon's Retirement and Investment department in the UK (three school leaver and two graduate programmes), considering overall strategy and on-programme experience.
Externally, I helped to launch NextGen, a cross-industry committee aimed at encouraging the next generation of pensions professionals. We have over 300 members and as part of this I have chaired events and launched a cross-industry mentoring initiative. I also present at events encouraging diversity in STEM careers and in the actuarial profession.
I studied Maths, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics at Warwick University. I joined Aon as a graduate in 2010 and qualified as an actuary in 2013.
Jessica Garbett | PwC
I work at PwC as a Manager within the People & Organisation Consulting team, working with clients from across sectors on their people challenges, including how to attract, retain and develop talent.
Through my role I have been able to work with clients on some of society's most complex problems such as preparing for the future of work, upskilling/reskilling, creating an inclusive and diverse workforce and more widely supporting their workforce and HR function transformation.
I am founder and Chair of the PwC UK Social Mobility Network, which comprises of over 900 members, and around 80 Social Mobility Champions who take a active role in driving Social Mobility in their regions and business units with the ultimate goal of maximising the impact that PwC’s Social Mobility initiatives can have on the communities in which we operate and raising awareness of Social Mobility. Social mobility is an area that is close to my heart personally, after growing up in a working class family, hence my passion to make a difference in this space.
Outside of work I am a Trustee of Mind in Brent, Wandsworth and Westminster and I have spoke at events within PwC to encourage colleagues across all grades to take on trustees roles as this is an area where I feel that we can make a big difference, and in particular where young people can bring diverse perspectives to boards.
I am a One Young World Ambassadors and previously co-chaired the PwC One Young World Network, which has a goal of empowering those who are Manager and below to drive change in areas they are passionate about and to raise awareness amongst this group of global issues. As part of this role our network organised a number of internal and external events such as Sustainable Development Goal coffee mornings, larger scale events on climate change and poverty alleviation.
I have been involved in organising annual volunteering 'One Firm One Day' activities for my team (with approx 300-400 participants) over the past few years, and I also participate in fundraising on a regular basis running London Marathon to support this.
Kirsty McKnight | Oliver Wyman
Having studied Economics at the University of Cambridge, I joined Oliver Wyman as a Management Consultant in January 2019.
To date, my work has been mainly focused on the financial services sector working on a variety of different challenges such as leadership effectiveness, cyber security and anti-money laundering.
I have also played an active role in our community co-leading our campus recruitment sponsorships and our women's network external engagements, focusing on ensuring we hire and retain the best talent. Outside of work, I also volunteer as an Ambassador for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.
Charlotte Wibberley | Association of Professional Virtual Assistants
Charlotte launched the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants in January 2016 keen to support, nurture and champion the VA & Freelance industry, and to create a safe space for high performing online businesses to collaborate, knowledge share and continue their professional development.
She supports & trains aspiring and existing VAs & online business owners as their coach, mentor and chief- cheerleader for their goals and ambitions.
Founder and CEO of the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants, Charlotte campaigns heavily to improve industry standards and engage with VAs and business owners alike around the true value of the VA and worth that they bring.
In 2017, she led the #timetoeleVAte campaign in partnership with IPSE to redefine the VA profession, change perceptions and improve how the freelance and VA industry is seen both by those inside and outside. She also ran the inaugural EleVAte conference which pioneered a conference for VAs focussing on them as business owners and entrepreneurs.
Through the Association of Professional Virtual Assistants, Charlotte has introduced a much needed accreditation to the industry and is working towards regulation and professionalising of the VA industry.
Charlotte has been quoted around the subject of women in self-employment on a number of occasions and was proud to be one of the key case studies for Dame Julie Deane’s Self- Employment Review in 2016.
Outside of work Charlotte is wife to fellow entrepreneur Andrew, and mum to Alex, 7 and Evie, 5 who are her ‘big why’ and keep her busy and out of trouble!
Emma Bennett | PwC
Over the last 3 years, my focus has been on driving the growth of PwC’s Financial Services Technology practice.
As a results-driven strategic business manager who enjoys working with complexity, I jumped at the opportunity to help set up and drive this emerging part of the business at a time when both the professional and financial services industries are evolving. Having started out laying the foundations of governance, defining our objectives, and establishing the strategy, I am now working across our Financial Services practice to embed technology into everything we do. Whether it is leading the development of strategies for areas such as FinTech, delivering integrated business, sales and marketing campaigns to pivot our brand, or running our development programme for Future CIOs, I remain focused on 'joining the dots' across what is a complex and multi-matrixed firm in order to drive growth whilst delivering the best experience for our clients.
Alongside my day job, I get involved in a number of activities around the firm: I play an active role in supporting the digital upskilling of those around me through my roles as a Salesforce coach and trainer; I act as a sales coach on PwC’s InsurTech and FinTech programmes, helping high potential start-ups to accelerate their growth by finessing their pitches for different audiences; and until recently, I led communications for PwC’s Disability, Ability and Wellbeing Network (DAWN), highlights of which include leading a webcast for World Mental Health Day which equipped over 250 people with practical tools for managing their own and others’ mental health, and representing DAWN at a Ministerial reception for the Disability Confident scheme.
Prior to joining PwC, I ran the business operations of a young public sector consultancy where I worked as part of the leadership team to strengthen the core foundations of the business and drive operational improvements that would unlock growth. Having joined the firm 4 years earlier, fresh out of university with a degree in English Literature and a fascination with the physicality of Anglo-Saxon words, I took huge value from spending my first year at the firm gaining a breadth of experience across all functions within a consultancy – from marketing, to proposals, to resourcing, contracting and even client delivery on a variety of projects for local government clients.
Outside of my work life I am passionate about food, fitness, and family, and not letting long-term health conditions win.
Kiren Bhardwa | Capgemini
Kiren is a management consultant with a background in International Business, specialising within transformation and business change.
She has worked with a range of clients within Financial, Public, Energy and Defence sector. In addition to her main role, Kiren is the Chair of the Capgemini UK BAME Network and co-lead for Active Inclusion within Business Transformation Services. She has partnered with Central HR and Centres of Excellence to develop, review and implement strategic communications, events and inclusive practices into learning & development.
Patricia Keating | Tech Manchester
I am currently the executive director of Tech Manchester, an incubator for early stage tech startups in the North West.
Our primary purpose is to help founders reduce the costs of launching their businesses and to help them find ways to operate that are both smarter and leaner. This is provided by a host of support initiatives, including business skills workshops, a structured mentoring programme, non-executive director development and backed up by a variety of online resources.
Since Tech Manchester's inception in 2017 I have been striving towards our goal to develop a greater Manchester and contribute to the city’s vision of being a leading European tech hub. Now in its third year, Tech Manchester’s mentoring programme supports hundreds of startups in the Manchester area, and collaborates on a mentoring level with key stakeholders including The Growth Company, Salford University, and Manchester Entrepreneurs Student programme.
This year has also seen the launch of a project that I am especially passionate about. Working in collaboration with Tech Equity, Tech Manchester is delivering ‘Women in Linux’, a social mobility career programme for women living in some of the most underprivileged wards in Greater Manchester.
Prior to this I worked for Regus in Northern Ireland for nine years, working my way up to become area manager, running two business centres of £1.5 million turnover. In 2015 I launched a startup, Wedoo, a personal support and destination company. Myself and my co-founder bootstrapped the business for two years, building an ecommerce portal to manage the business and its customers.
It was an invaluable experience into the challenges that entrepreneurs face and the types of support they need and has fed the approach I’ve taken to building Tech Manchester. The earliest stages in the life cycle of a business are the most under resourced but need the greatest support. That’s where Tech Manchester comes in.
Harriet Glen | Crossrail
Harriet began her transport career in 2013 after completing a geography degree at Durham University and gaining an MSc in Transport Planning at UCL.
After a successful stint working across various departments across Transport for London, from bus network planning to building the strategic case for Crossrail 2, she has since taken on a leadership role completing Europe’s largest infrastructure project as Head of Programme Close Out for Crossrail.
Harriet is also passionate about driving diversity within the transport industry. She was elected as Chair of Transport for London’s Women’s Network Group from 2016-2018 and won the EveryWoman ‘Industry Champion’ Award in 2018 for her voluntary efforts promoting and retaining women in the transport industry. Harriet is also passionate about mentoring others and has served as an advisory member of The Girl's Network, a charity that supports mentorship and advancement of young women from disadvantaged backgrounds.