Amarbir Dhesi | PwC
I joined PwC in 2010 having graduated from the University of Sussex with a first class degree in Mathematics with Economics.
I've always worked in general insurance and I learnt the basics doing audits and working on the administration of one of the largest ever non-life insurance insolvencies at the time. I was fortunate enough to work with a wonderful team of people who encouraged me to continue to grow by working on a wide variety of projects such as Part VII transfers, Mergers & Acquisitions and Schemes of Arrangement. Through this work I also became a member of the Insurance and Reinsurance Legacy Association (IRLA) which allowed me to expand my network outside of PwC.
Over the years I've worked with London Market insurers, Lloyd's Syndicates, personal lines insurers and large global commercial insurance companies. This experience helped me to develop my understanding of different markets and the unique challenges faced by my clients. I was then able to better support them by tailoring my delivery on different projects, including helping clients design deal structures to take to market, assisting them with regulatory submissions and applications and helping them to realise value in their business through restructuring or commutations. I've always been passionate about quality and the best part of my job has been seeing the appreciation of my clients when I help them resolve their problems and overcome their challenges.
I've been able to share insights I've gained through my experience of latent insurance liabilities with the wider market. I've presented at the International Association of Asbestos and Pollution Reinsurers and I recently presented at the live virtual launch of the latest PwC Annual Global Run-off Survey.
I've also been able to take on more of a people role within PwC which has included establishing a Wellbeing Champions network within the actuarial team. Through this network I've managed to design and implement various workshops aimed to address resilience, mental health and understanding privilege.
Rebecca Stewart | Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
I am currently a Key Account Manager at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty.
After completing my BA in Sociology in 2011, from the University of Bristol, I was always determined to build a career in the Insurance sector. However, following the completion of my degree I was lucky enough to obtain an internship in the London 2012 Olympic marketing team, which was given the rather easy job of galvanising the nation for the games. My team was specifically focused on organising all of the non-commercial projects in order to enhance the ‘spectator experience’ for the games, alongside organising events and projects around London. The games was obviously a once in a lifetime experience, and I loved working on the project before embarking on my career in the City.
My first role in the Insurance sector was working at Willis Tower Watson, where I was a Wholesale broker placed in the North American Property from January 2013 until September 2016. The role entailed placing and serving complex property business from the US into the European market in London, with a particular focus on large natural catastrophe exposed programs. Whilst I learnt a lot from this role, and built some fantastic relationships, I eventually decided my skills lied within the relationship side of the business, and so moved across to Allianz (AGCS) to focus on servicing FTSE250 companies. The key aspect of my role is to maintain and enhance AGCS’s relationships with new and existing corporate clients and brokers, produce strategic action plans that seeks to increase retention, new business, up-sells and cross-sells across AGCS and the wider Allianz Group. I have worked in this role for nearly five years and thoroughly enjoy it. I am lucky enough to work with a wide variety of fantastic clients, that include everyone from leading fashion houses to global defence giants, which makes the role exciting and interesting as no day is ever the same!
Sian Toussaint | PwC
I joined the management consulting graduate scheme in 2014 after completing a summer internship with the firm in my second year of study at the University of Birmingham.
I received my first promotion after 18 months where I began to specialise in people-centred digital transformation, supporting clients across the public and private sectors. Within two years, I was promoted to Manager where my primary focus has been on driving people-centred change for our Insurance clients. Through my role, I have led critical components of our client’s people transformation agenda; this has included improving the employee and customer experience for an insurance company launching their first online sales channel through to implementing digital upskilling initiatives and leading discussions with functional executives in relation to futureproofing their workforce within the context of the London Market modernisation efforts.
Alongside my day job as a management consultant within our insurance practice, I have used the skills, confidence and knowledge gained through my work to involve myself in community focused initiatives. I have an external appointment as a Governor Chair at a primary school in my local borough of Tower Hamlets, where I work with the broader governing body to improve the educational offering and resources. Having such a role in London’s poorest and arguably most class-divided borough has really centred my desire to focus on equal opportunities in every facet of my life.
I am extremely committed to improving black and female representation at every level. I have been invited to speak on external panels including the launch of the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Women in Consulting group to share my views with over 200 attendees alongside industry leaders in support of increasing female representation in the profession. This led to my nomination and election as the co-Chair of the MCA’s Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, where I am currently driving the development of best practice guidance for 60+ management consulting firms to support diversity, equity and inclusion within their organisations.
I also have a leadership role within the Financial Services Consulting Black Network and have used this platform to implement sponsorship and broader talent management initiatives to improve the black staff experience and create a more inclusive environment for everyone, supported by leaders within our practice.
Emma Palmer | Rail Delivery Group
Emma graduated with a BA in Management & Marketing, then went on to complete an MSc in Travel Management.
She joined the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) as Strategic Lead for Innovative Ticketing in 2016. She has been working to develop the industry customer proposition for Near Field Communication (NFC) ticketing and technical solutions that will deliver a revolutionary ticketing experience for customers.
She recently completed a 6 month secondment at Chiltern Railways as Head of Revenue. Now back at RDG she is leading an industry work stream on revenue recovery and commercial agreements.
Whilst working full time and being a mum to two small children she is also studying for a Diploma in Strategy and Innovation at Saïd Business School.
Emma is leading conversations in the rail industry with regards to improving Diversity & Inclusion within the rail industry. She has a clear goal to see better representation of minorities at senior levels and inspire others.
For 13 years Emma spent time her spare time as a legal advocate for young people in care as she is passionate about children's' right.
Amy Whitehead | London Underground
After graduating from the University of Leicester with a 1st class honours BSc Mathematic, I applied and successfully joined the extremely competitive TfL’s Project Management graduate scheme.
Whilst on the scheme I have worked on a diverse portfolio of projects varying in size and complexity; including Cycle Superhighways (Feasibility), Fit for the Future (Concept Design) and Earls Court Development Project (Delivery/Handover). I also had a six-month placement in project sponsorship where I was accountable for 7 Commercial Development projects.
During my time on the graduate programme, I completed my MSc in Project Management at UCL (University College London). Juggling my studies with a full-time career proved difficult, however, due to my persistence, resilience and time management skills, I successfully graduated with a Distinction and was asked to present my dissertation findings at a RICS Conference in April 2018.
After the graduate scheme I became an Assistant Project Manager in LU (London Underground) Asset Development, which managed large scale enhancement projects with 3rd Party investments. I worked across several projects including Lillie Bridge Depot Facilitation Project, London Road Sidings Feasibility Study, Tottenham Hale Station Upgrade (£50m) and Colindale Station Redevelopment (£27m). I was responsible for the management of different workstreams within these projects as well as a stakeholder engagement during a difficult period for LU, where there were several significant organisational changes.
Due to my experience in delivering during the design phases, I became Acting Project Manager for Colindale Station Redevelopment in January 2018 and after a successful interview process, I became Project Manager in May 2018. I managed the project through concept design; successfully obtaining approval from the London Fire Brigade and LU discipline engineers for the use of Glulam Timber in the station, an unprecedented achievement for a LU station. I also led the team and obtained planning permission from Barnet for the station and the adjacent site development. One of the biggest challenges was to overcome the conflicting interests of the station and the adjacent site development in terms of interfaces with structure, delivery timescales and logistics.
Working on Colindale Station Redevelopment has provided me with the opportunity to challenge the norm and use my initiative to find project efficiencies, whilst ensuring that quality and health and safety is not compromised. One key example of this is the Construction Support Study that was completed as part of the procurement of detailed design. This approach had some significant positive outcomes including reducing the Estimated Final Cost by £6.9m and improving the construction sequencing, reducing the station closure period, by more than half, from 27 weeks to 12 weeks.
After being identified in March 2020 as a future leader within Renewals and Enhancements (R&E), I was invited and succeeded in applying for an Executive Officer role. This position gave me responsibility for leading key business improvement initiatives on behalf of the Head of Renewals (R&E 2021 Initiative) and provided exposure and input to senior leadership decision making. I was able to develop effective working relationships with Directors, Senior Managers and staff across LU and promote positive strategic relationships across R&E. I have been instrumental in ensuring that R&E wide initiatives are applied in the Renewals Programme and identifying any potential issues, and solutions, with the subsequent roll out.
I am due to start as Lead Project Manager for Infrastructure on the Safe Track Access, a high priority project with aggressive timescales.
Leading important projects and teams as a young female has been challenging due to underlying biases around younger people and females in the construction industry. However, due to my motivation and proactive approach to achieving projects, targets and business objectives, as well as constantly striving to challenge and look for efficiencies, I am able to overcome these barriers.
Alexandra Egge | Mott MacDonald
Alexandra is a Town Planner who takes an innovative approach to the analysis of wellbeing and social impacts of the built and natural environment.
She has an MSc in Spatial Planning and Urban Design from the Bartlett School of Planning at University College London, for which she was awarded the RTPI Prize for Academic Achievement. She began her career as a Transport Planner specialising in scheme appraisal and analysing the wider impacts of integrated transportation infrastructure upon social and economic outcomes. She developed an industry-leading tool, the Wellbeing Impact Evaluation (WELLIE) to embed the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act within the Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG) Process which enables practitioners to maximise the contribution of transport infrastructure towards wider community benefits and builds these benefits into the business cases for schemes. She was awarded the Royal Town Planning Institute Young Planner of the Year 2019, the Constructing Excellence Wales 'Future Leader' Award and the CIHT Cymru 'Small Transportation Project or Study' award for her work to develop, promote and implement WELLIE on projects throughout Wales. In 2019 she published 'Rethinking Wellbeing in Transport Appraisal' which she presented at the Transport Practitioner's Meeting, in addition to hosting workshops and lectures for Welsh Government and professional institutions to share her research on Designing Infrastructure for Wellbeing.
In 2020 Alex progressed into her current role as a Town Planner where she builds upon her experience and expertise to create communities which support sustainable wellbeing through a holistic approach towards placemaking. She is currently developing and presenting a module on the theme of Sustainable Placemaking within Cities which will be presented to an international cohort of Cities Practitioners. She is also developing research to explore the impact of spatial psychology upon place-based solutions to health inequalities as part of the post-COVID19 recovery for city centres.
Kirsten Galea | Proudlock Associates
ARB registered Architect and Inclusive Design Advisor based in London with twelve years’ experience in the Transport sector working on Rail and Infrastructure projects.
In 2019, my training in Access Auditing and the Equality Act has provided me with a deeper understanding of the diverse needs of people within the built environment, especially those of Deaf and Disabled people.
During my career, I have been involved in a variety of complex Transport and Infrastructure projects and have experience in a variety of roles. Having managed multi-disciplinary teams, I have developed my leadership skills to bring diverse teams together in order to succeed at each unique project challenge. The varied roles I have worked in have also provided me with a wide spectrum of knowledge.
More recently I have been supporting experience Access Consultants in managing co-production teams for large masterplans; providing access appraisal reviews of a variety of projects at planning, including designs for an embassy, townhall, train station, school, student housing accommodation, urban landscapes and public spaces; developed guidelines for hosting accessible and inclusive meetings for Deaf and Disabled people; written a number of thought pieces on accessibility and inclusion around topics such as sports facilities, changing places facilities, co-production and inclusive design consulting.
My lived and work experiences have made me very passionate about inclusive design and accessibility, which to me is the foundation to creating equitable environments for the enjoyment of everyone!
Outside of my work commitments, I also volunteer with Women in Transport, a not-for-profit supporting women in transport. Since 2016 I have acted as Company Secretary (2017-2021), Mentee Engagement Lead and Social Media Administrator volunteer roles.
I am also member of The Access Association, London & South East branch. The Access Association is a Limited Company providing a national network for individuals who are passionate about access and inclusive design.
Supporter member of The National Register of Access Consultants (NRAC). The NRAC is an independent UK wide accreditation service for individuals who provide access consultancy and access auditor services.
Supporter member and Access Champion member of Merton Centre for Independent Living (CIL). Merton CIL is an organisation run and managed by Deaf and Disabled people delivering free services for Deaf and Disabled people who live in the London Borough of Merton. They promote the independence and inclusion of Deaf and Disabled people in Merton.
Member of Transport for all. An organisation of disabled and older people dedicated to champion the rights of disabled and older people to travel with freedom and independence in London.
Lily Webb | Transport for London
Lily is passionate about delivering projects that positively transform customer experiences and deliver innovative solutions for clients in the transportation sector.
Lily studied MEng Civil Engineering and graduated with First Class Honours in 2016. Whilst at university, she was a scholarship student on the Institution of Civil Engineers/University of Surrey Scholarship scheme, gaining 18 months of industry experience with a major engineering consultancy with overseas visits in the North America, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.
After graduating, Lily pursued her interest in the transportation sector, successfully delivering solutions for aviation clients and their local communities in and around London. Since 2019 she has worked for TfL, leading projects supporting the modernisation of Rolling Stock to deliver improved reliability, environmental benefits and transformative customer experiences for London Underground. Alongside her project management roles, Lily has supported the roll-out of training courses for her colleagues; digitally upskilling her project team and promoting TfL’s environmental commitments and sustainability initiatives as part of an award-winning Safety Foundation Course. Lily has also been recognised with “Make a Difference” awards for her continued contributions to improving safety and security across the business.
Outside of work, Lily is a passionate STEM ambassador and a member of the University of Surrey’s Industrial Advisory Board, a role in which she contributes to taught content evaluation and informs strategic changes to undergraduate degree programmes to better suit the future needs of industry.
Lydia Herbert | Atkins
Lydia began her career as a Graduate Transport Planner in 2016, after successfully obtaining a first-class honours in BSc Geography and an MSc with Distinction in Energy and Sustainability.
At Atkins, Lydia specialised in using advanced GIS analysis to plan new transport routes and took opportunities to take this skillset beyond her team in London, going onto support the rail team on projects in the UK and abroad, and also the Geospatial team in Glasgow. At the same time, Lydia started gaining experience as a Project Manager.
Lydia always seeks opportunities to improve and successfully applied for a secondment to the Local Transport Market team in 2019, enabling her to develop skills in the commercial management of projects and operations. This opportunity helped to fast track her career, taking on a Framework Management role for one of the key local authority clients in Atkins’ portfolio. As part of this role, Lydia is responsible for managing the client relationship and delivering all the projects that sit within this growing account. Since then, Lydia has taken on more responsibility in her role, focussing on creating efficiency and process improvements and then sharing these as best practice across the wider Framework Management team. In 2020, Lydia was privileged to be awarded the Atkins President’s Award for outstanding contribution to her team and the Frameworks she manages.
Alongside this, Lydia is currently working towards a chartership with the Association of Project Managers, and successfully received the Project Fundamentals Qualification in February 2021.
Lydia also volunteers as a regional STEM Ambassador and an Enterprise Advisor for a school in Hampshire, helping them develop their careers programme and encouraging students to broaden their careers horizons and fulfil their potential. Lydia is passionate about wanting all students, regardless of gender and ethnicity, to have the opportunity to pursue careers in STEM and actively works to be a positive role model for women in this industry.
Carolyne Ferguson | Kier
I started my association with customers as a 14-year-old wanting to earn extra cash in the evenings and weekends and soon found that my passion for people grew as I progressed into my late teens.
People fascinate me, probably why I choose a career in retail so I could truly examine them in all their glory. Over the years, I have experienced customers not knowing how to effectively communicate! I have been on the wrong side of customer's aggression too many times. Simply because customers did not know how to articulate their problems to me. So, what did I do?
I listened! After I had stepped back!
I joined Marks and Spencer as a Visual Merchandiser but very soon worked through the ranks to become a store manager. Leaving M&S, I joined Debenhams and enjoyed many a year interacting with customers and staff.
In 2014, I needed a new challenge but wanted to transfer my customer skills to another industry, so I joined a construction company as a customer service officer. Learning from the bottom about the industry but still keeping those important links and transferable skills, I felt that I had finally come home!
Promoted to Stakeholder Manager and then Stakeholder and Communications manager gave me aspirations to always deliver open and honest expectations to everyone involved so that confidence and trust could be built by all parties.
I started working for Kier Highways on the smart motorway project on the M23 in April 2018. Working on a major project is always exciting and keeping all the plates spinning is a challenge but really enjoyable and rewarding.