14 CEO, HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts FEATURED WINNER Mark Lewis
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CEO T O D A Y UNITED KINGDOM A W A R D S 2 0 2 3 Welcome to the latest edition of CEO Today, where we’re dedicating our attention to the annual CEO UK Awards. Each year, these awards acknowledge the tenacity and strategic thinking of UK-based CEOs who continue to drive their organisations forward amid market volatility and economic uncertainty, particularly in the UK. Among the array of talented leaders recognised this year, several have demonstrated consistent guidance and unwavering dedication to their respective fields. Amongst these is Jonathan Geldart of the Institute of Directors (IoD) who has shown commendable leadership throughout a year of challenges. His practical approach to directing the IoD while continually supporting business leaders across the UK underscores his dedication to good corporate governance. At HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts, Mark Lewis has effectively blended innovative practices with a service focus, positioning the brand as a trusted player in the hospitality sector. His strategic vision for the company has proven instrumental in maintaining its strong market position. From the fast-paced fintech arena, Simon Paris of Finastra has demonstrated a resilient approach to leadership. His efforts to digitally transform the banking industry are notable as Finastra continues challenging traditional norms and encouraging financial inclusivity. The above CEOs, along with all our award recipients, have exhibited effective strategic and adaptable leadership. They have each, in their own way, set a benchmark in managing the delicate balance between pushing innovation and maintaining a strong focus on their team and customer needs. In this issue, we delve deeper into their leadership journeys and accomplishments. We hope their stories provide valuable insights and stimulate thoughtful dialogue within our CEO Today community. www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 5
Featured Winners 8 JONATHAN GELDART Institute of Directors 14 MARK LEWIS HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts 18 SIMON PARIS Finastra 22 ELAINE KERR DPD Group 26 DEAN WILLIAMS Dean Williams Coaching Service 30 DAVID REID Birten Shaw
I was then appointed to the global board of Grant Thornton International Ltd. This included 10 years in China, doing a lot of cross-cultural work – advising boards of member firms about operations and brand development. I worked to bring five separate Chinese accounting firms together within Grant Thornton in China and ended up working with the Chinese government on helping them on the rebranding of the Chinese accounting profession. So, I was intimately involved in writing the guidelines for the branding of Chinese accounting firms, which seems a bit weird now, but I received a letter of thanks so it must be true! Whilst I was commuting between Yorkshire and Beijing, I joined the Institute of Directors in the North of England to maintain my network in the UK. As part of that, I got involved as a volunteer in North Yorkshire, Outstanding Leadership for Business Networking Organisation of the Year Director General, Institute of Directors Jonathan Geldart www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 9 Can you tell us about the career journey that led you to become Director General at the IoD? Having started my career in the brewing industry, I spent 16 years at PwC, covering experience in insolvency, corporate finance, marketing strategy and their middle market practice. After I left PwC, I walked to the North Pole. And that was a kind of seminal moment for me – doing something that was very different, but which taught me a lot about leadership and resilience. “My name is Jonathan Geldart and I am the Director General of the Institute of Directors. The IoD is the UK’s leading membership organisation for business leaders. Our membership includes directors from right across the business spectrum – from media to manufacturing, from professional services to the public and voluntary sectors. Members include CEOs of large corporations as well as entrepreneurial directors of start-up companies. This year, we are celebrating our 120th year. We also received a Royal Charter in 1906, instructing us to “represent the interests of members and of the business community to government and in the public arena, and to encourage and foster a climate favourable to entrepreneurial activity and wealth creation.” The Charter also tasks the Institute with promoting “for the public benefit high levels of skill, knowledge, professional competence and integrity on the part of directors”, which the IoD seeks to achieve through its training courses and publications on corporate governance.”
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 10 could not run any of our face-to-face professional development courses and we also saw a decline in our membership. That meant restructuring the business. Whilst that unfortunately led to a number of people having to leave, it acted as a catalyst for the acceleration of some of the changes that, frankly, the Institute needed to take. And then, just as the economy was emerging from COVID, Putin invaded Ukraine, and we have seen a huge change in the political environment. So, as with all businesses, it has clearly been a challenging period. But what it has all meant is that we have had to be super-focused on going back to the roots of why the Institute was set up in 1903, and why it received its Royal Charter in 1906, which is about improving the quality of directors. Better directors for a better world. We do this through enabling members to connect with peers facing familiar challenges and helping them to develop their skills and knowledge through our worldclass professional development courses, including our gold standard Chartered Director programme. But what we have also seen during this period is that we have been fortunate to have an unprecedented level of engagement with the UK government, enabling us to influence the people making decisions that touch our directors’ world. The voice of our members was, and continues to be, well heard by UK government ministers – particularly in relation to the middle market of UK business. This is based to a large degree on our deliberate shift towards an evidence-based approach. We do not opine on matters; we evidence our opinion through research, harnessing the data that we gather from our members. Have you seen your own skills grow during this period? I think that in many ways I was pretty well-equipped from my previous roles. Rebranding Grant Thornton globally from a tired 1970s brand into a more vibrant 21st century brand and then working in China taught me a lot about resilience, self-sufficiency and finding becoming the branch chair, before becoming the Chair for Yorkshire and the North East region. Throughout my career I have worked with a lot of different types of organisations but, because accounting firms internationally run as member organisations, I have a good deal of experience of membership organisation and the structures, systems, protocols and approaches that you have to have in order to run an international membership organisation. So, when the Director General role came up in 2019, I was stupid enough to apply! I moved from poacher to gamekeeper, knowing all about Brexit but nothing of the other challenges that were just around the corner. What changes has the IoD gone through since your arrival in 2019? The organisation has undergone fundamental change, not least because of COVID. Overnight, we lost two thirds of our business in March 2020. We simply The voice of our members was, and continues to be, well heard by UK government ministers – particularly in relation to the middle market of UK business.
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 11 China – having a really long-term view. We can do that at the Institute of Directors because we have been around for 120 years. Therefore, having a 100-year view is perfectly appropriate. Our immediate objective is to regain the Institute’s position as the preeminent voice for directors in the United Kingdom, then to grow and still be here in another 100 years, representing the directors of the day in being the best they can be. I believe we have recovered from the issues of the past and we will now continue to thrive. We will do so by being single-minded about what we offer, not getting distracted – through providing world class education to business leaders; through being an honest, independent voice for business, and through providing our members with the best value we can. How has the IoD supported its members through the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine, energy price increases and cost-of-living challenges? I think the main thing we have done is fight in their corner. Sometimes we have lost the immediate ways to get things done. You also have to be quite resilient to go out to the middle of nowhere, walking in temperatures of -16 degrees with polar bears for company, like I did to the North Pole. However, a key thing that I have learnt whilst at the IoD is how to manage the complexities of a highly governed organisation. I had lots of experience of working with global boards, but dealing with what is essentially a PLC board is a very different animal. And that is all to the good. The Institute is set up in such a way as to be accountable to our members, and to society as a whole. It means I am much more acutely aware of the impact of decisions than I ever was before. And there’s nothing quite like making mistakes to improve your quality of decision-making. So yes, my skills have certainly grown! Do you have a vision for the IoD and its role in the UK? Absolutely. When I came into the organisation in 2019, I remember going into Number 10 Downing Street and being asked this exact question. My answer remains the same now as it was then. I have a 100-year vision for the Institute, and that is something that really comes out of my experience in
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 12 arguments with government, but we have always fought in their corner. Through engaging with our membership, we have listened to the issues that they are facing on the ground and their views on how the government can provide the right framework for them to plan effectively and allow their businesses to thrive. It has also allowed us to develop the evidence to make their case. Our member surveys give us the mechanism whereby we can listen and then distil what they say clearly and consistently, enabling us to be evidencebased when we are going to talk to government ministers across the Nations. The second thing that we have done is ensure that all members, no matter where they are across the country and internationally, are able to access and benefit from the full range of support and services that we provide. So that meant moving much of our offer online – in particular with regards to our professional development courses, but also other activities such as our events and member connections. What is interesting is that there is no correlation between GDP growth or decline and learning and development. People still want to invest in themselves as much – if not more so – in a downturn as they do when things are on the up. So we stuck to our guns on that. We provided members with the ability to continue to develop themselves through a range of courses, both small and large. We extended the breadth of what we do and we are refreshing our course content to ensure it is up to date and relevant as the landscape shifts and changes. We are now more accessible to more members wherever they are in terms of physical locations as well, bringing more value to members. We now have 48 locations around the UK that are open for members to drop in and use. And we are continuing to reshape the way that we deliver locally for our members. What is it that motivates you to achieve success in your role? As I have already alluded to, I am a proud Yorkshireman. We are known for being somewhat stubborn! So, I think that where I get most satisfaction
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 13 I am humbled that what we are doing at the Institute has been noticed. As everybody says – largely because it is always true – it’s not me, it’s a really good team; people who believe in the institution. This is an award for all of them, not just me. So I would like to take opportunity to thank my amazing colleagues at the IoD, as well as the many members who volunteer and act as our ambassadors across the UK and beyond. Can you share anything about IoD’s plans for development in 2023 and the future? We are going to continue to focus our attention on the next generation of directors whilst supporting our existing members. The future of the economy, the future of business in the UK, is going to come from that next generation. We are therefore focussed on reshaping the Institute to make it more attractive to a younger and more diverse group of directors – ensuring that we are representative of wider society. We are here to support them in their learning, development and expansion of their horizons. I am delighted that that work is paying off. However, there is more to do. We will absolutely be focused on adding value for members and hopefully adding more members. We are also upgrading and extending our courses. As well, we will seek to engage with government wherever we can to the wider economic benefit of our members, and indeed the country. is in beating the naysayers. If people say it is not possible, I will try and prove them that it is. People have, for a long time, said that the Institute of Directors was in terminal decline. But I would like to think that we have proved that it is not. I have always set myself big, audacious goals. Having a team around me that share the same level of belief is great, because we all believe we can do something here and that the organisation is worth investing in and developing. The IoD can and does move with the times. After a decade of membership decline, we have seen first a flattening off of that and now membership is growing. We are seeing that over a third of new members are women, that the average age of our current intake is in their early 40s and that they come from all parts of the UK and internationally. That is a far cry from the perception of the Institute as a predominantly older, male, London-centric organisation. We have a clear purpose and a focused five-year strategy. Of course we make mistakes, but we are agile and flexible in our response and we’re doing something that’s immensely worthwhile. What does this award mean to you? Of course I am hugely honoured to receive this award. However, more than that, I am genuinely surprised and bemused. Why would anybody have singled me out? I believe we have recovered from the issues of the past and we will now continue to thrive. Jonathan Geldart Director General, Institute of Directors Address: 116 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5ED Phone: +44 (0) 20 3855 4308 Email: membership@iod.com www.iod.com
partnerships that can add value to our hotels are at the heart of the business. As a start-up facing off against global NASDAQ-listed and well-established brands, it was quite daunting, but hotels understood our argument and philosophy and gave us the opportunity to exclusively represent them on the GDS under our proprietary HO chain code. These hotels are notably still with us nearly 20 years later, and we are immensely grateful to them for their support. HotelREZ has grown by way of reputation and word of mouth. I think in the first two years we onboarded around 200 hotels. Today, the company is ranked amongst the largest (and we would like to think the best) hotel consortia in the world. We represent independent hotels, groups, apart-hotels and large private label-branded clients worldwide. HotelREZ is a B2B brand. We did not go down the road of the soft-branded players; our key focus has been to provide best-in-class technology, supported by global partnerships that drive incremental revenue to hotels, which is underpinned by excellent levels of support that exceed expectations. Education is critical in the relationship with hotels, Outstanding Leadership for Hotel Services Company of the Year CEO, HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts Mark Lewis www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 15 What led you to found HotelREZ in 2004, and in what ways have you seen it develop since then? At the time of HotelREZ’s formation, the distribution sector had pivoted away from the term and meaning of ‘hotel representation’ to a technology-focused strategy that would in theory be the panacea of all ills. The pursuit of pure SAAS-based models meant ultimately that hotels would get a myriad of technology solutions but could then have little support, guidance or ability to leverage it, not least because of continual staff turnover in many properties. I felt there was a balance needed between cuttingedge technology and ensuring the hotels were able to optimise this to generate the ROI and fair-share market position they needed. Consequently, I founded HotelREZ in 2004 based on quality representation and distribution. Service, revenue management and global preferred partnerships with the world’s largest TMCs, niche agencies, corporates and lateral strategic Mark Lewis is CEO and founder of HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts. A graduate of the University of Wales, Mark boasts a background in foreign currency trading and later tour operating, primarily in the area of hotel contracting and product development, before moving into hotel distribution and representation with what was then Utell International. HotelREZ was founded in 2004. The company connects hotels seamlessly to the booker market worldwide via the Global Distribution Systems (GDS: Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport – Galileo/ WorldSpan), with connections to over 750,000 travel agents and over 400 OTAs and Tour Operators. Additionally, HotelREZ provides state of the art booking engines, web design, metasearch and digital marketing along with full integration to hotel property management systems, revenue management systems and CRM/loyalty solutions.
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 16 How have the company’s brand acquisitions helped to build on its potential? Much of our growth has been organic – we have never undertaken any funding rounds and remain a private and highly successful company. We did acquire Best Loved Hotels, which is a historic and respected hotel marketing consortia much loved in the agency community. This strategic purchase has allowed us to work with additional hotels around the world and so helped grow HotelREZ’s overall footprint. In addition to Best Loved Hotels, we both own and manage World Rainbow Hotels, which is a LGBTQ consortia brand on CVENT that allows hotels globally to tap into this lucrative market that is important in terms of revenue and inclusion. Is there a particular creed or philosophy that motivates your work? I think you must remain ethical. Fairness, respect and delivering on your promises are key. You need to own the challenges thrown at you and address them head on. This is the corner stone of our Customer & Ethical Charter. We are not a cookie cutter one-size-fits-all business, but a tailored, quality-driven distribution and representation business that retains customers based on service and personal relationships, but at scale. for us to understand their business and for them to appreciate how the technology can drive their success. For example, it is baffling that so many hotels would rather spend more on lobby flowers than rich media because it is not as tangible and visible, but this is all part of understanding the value of quality distribution. I use the word ‘quality’ deliberately, as hotels would be surprised at the state of some of their distributed data. It can be a minefield; any one flag ‘not ticked’ or lack of content can have a huge impact on hotels’ revenues, which is why our hotels are rigorously and continually audited. We are incredibly entrepreneurial and seek out solutions or workarounds for our members to help them achieve their goals, and I think it is this commitment to our customers that has led to our growth. Notably, this extends to the team and culture we have created within HotelREZ. We are lucky to have an incredibly experienced, professional, motivated, forward-thinking and long-standing team. Their loyalty to the company, our members and mutual success, particularly during the pandemic, was simply incredible – the internal ethos is very positive, and thankfully politic-free. All of this allows us to be both flexible and quick to market in our approach to hotels’ specific needs. Our primary focus, now and in the future, remains our customers, which inevitably drives our growth. However, It is probably time to begin raising our profile globally so hotels realise there is a full-service quality alternative to traditional GDS technology providers, as the reality is if we are included in a hotel RFP we generally do win it.
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 17 currently undertaking a lot of development work on our webservices area to enable hotels to gain greater levels of direct business, which we will roll out toward the end of 2023. In addition to this, we are expanding our API layer in association with Sabre, with whom we have a great commercial partnership. This allows various PMS or OTAs to plug in to us directly, which is particularly helpful for hotels who are using niche PMS players who we can work with easily to provide their customers with HotelREZ’s distribution. We have partnered with PMS globally, including the likes of Mews and Guestline, Apaleo and Cloud Beds, with many others in the pipeline. We are finalising the details on our powering of a luxury soft brand, to be launched this year. It will offer hotels an alternative to traditional market players at competitive price points and ROI, yet is exclusive, so will operate on an invitation-only basis. It may cause some disruption, which is a good thing – it is always good to offer more choice. This is a luxury product underpinned by HotelREZ’s full-stack representations and distribution solutions. What is your vision for the future of HotelREZ? HotelREZ will continue to grow, continue to support our members and continue to find new exciting markets for them through our worldwide partnerships – we remain focused on growing their incremental revenues and ROI. The reality is we have so much to shout about – more, perhaps, than many of our peers. So it is time to raise the profile. Without ego I can say we are truly great at what we do and immensely proud of what has been achieved and what is coming… so watch this space! What does this award mean for you? I am of course very flattered and grateful to receive an award from CEO Today. To be recognised after years of developing and growing what is now one of the world’s leading global representation companies is wonderful. It has been quite a journey, but my team and the loyalty of customers are why we are in the position we find ourselves in. Can you tell us anything about your plans for development in the latter half of 2023? Well, in the last year we developed and rolled out a new RFP and content management solution, ‘REZtoMarket’, to hotels that enabled them to easily manage all this from one place. This has exponentially increased the number of corporate and other marketing RFP’s available to hotels. That said, we have quite a year ahead of us. We are Much of our growth has been organic – we have never undertaken any funding rounds and remain a private and highly successful company. Mark Lewis, CEO HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts London & Newark Tel: +44 20369 99936 E: info@hotelrez.com (new members) press@hotelrez.com (enquires) www.hotelrez.com
Future World’s Open Finance Global Rankings (2022) and Great Place to Work – India for three consecutive years (2020-2023). Simon joined Finastra (formerly Misys) as President in 2015, was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer in 2017 and became Chief Executive Officer in June 2018. He brings more than 25 years of sales, management and global leadership expertise to the company, having previously held the role of President, Industry Cloud, at SAP. Prior, he was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Company. He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the INSEAD Business School in France and a Bachelor’s degree in Business & European languages from the European Business School. Simon is married to Mariola (a Spaniard) and together, they have 3 children aged 24, 22 and 19. They have a passion for travel, culture, gastronomy and time in Spain, one of the four countries in which Simon has lived & worked during his career. About Finastra Outstanding Leadership for Technology Company of the Year CEO, Finastra Simon Paris www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 19 Simon takes responsibility for Finastra’s strategic direction and growth. His leadership steers the company as it realizes its vision for open finance, encouraging industry-wide collaboration to spark innovation and transform the next generation of financial services. A firm believer in the principle of doing well by doing good, Simon chairs the World Trade Board and is passionate about how technology and open trade can drive financial inclusion and improve people’s lives. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Everbridge, a critical event management (CEM) software company, and on the Board of Directors for Thomson Reuters. An inspiring and trusted Fintech thought leader, Simon speaks regularly at large-scale events including the World Trade Symposium, Paris FinTech Forum and Milken Summits. He is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, pioneering refreshing and candid views on equality in the workplace for many years, and since then, gaining accolades such as jointly winning the Vista CEO Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG). Featuring in Bank Innovation’s ‘Innovators to Watch’ list back in 2018, Simon has since been named a top 50 financial technology CEO by The Financial Technology Report for the third year running, as well as a top 20 CEO in Europe by the Software Report 2022. He was also recognized in the CEO Today Awards 2021, and, under his stewardship, the company has received multiple awards including TechWomen 100’s Company of the Year (2022), joint 13th position in the Open
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 20 About Finastra ‘Open’ puts innovation in the hands of our customers When 95% of innovation happens outside of your own walls, it’s key that financial institutions have the technology, tools and expert ecosystem to grow and succeed. Finastra serves ~8,100 financial institutions globally, including 45 of the world’s top 50 banks. We provide the broadest, deepest software applications across Lending, Payments, Treasury & Capital Markets, Investment Management and Universal (Digital, Commercial and Retail) Banking and further underpin seamless connectivity to marketplaces, partners and fintechs through our open platform, orchestrating the world of open finance. Our open platform, FusionFabric.cloud, hosts over 200 fintech apps, as well as providing the technical foundation for the banking requirements of the future, including Banking as a Service, embedded finance and composable banking services. As an organization, we are committed to doing well by doing good; championing diversity and inclusion through our open culture of ‘bring your whole self’ and pledging to a better future for the world through our ESG agenda, carbon-offsetting initiatives and inclusion in the Vista Climate Pledge. We truly believe that when finance is open, it unlocks the potential of people, businesses and communities, everywhere. Find out more at Finastra.com. Simon is a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, pioneering refreshing and candid views on equality in the workplace for many years, We enable the financial services world, to deliver the future of banking Simon Paris Finastra www.linkedin.com/in/simonparis www.finastra.com
www.ceotodaymagazine.com 21 CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023
we can. Our parent company (La Poste in France) has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, becoming the first global delivery company to have this target validated by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). In 2022 the number of deliveries made by DPD UK using electric vehicles (EVs) doubled to 35 million (15% of current annual volumes) whilst our EV fleet increased to 3,000. We’re on track to deliver 100% of our parcel volumes using only EVs by 2030. Do you have any predictions about how this sector will continue to be shaped in the latter half of 2023 and beyond? Despite the cost-of-living crisis and its impact on consumer spending, our volumes are steadily rising and we’re expecting a busy final two quarters of the Outstanding Leadership for The UK’s Leading Logistics Firm CEO, DPD UK Elaine Kerr www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 23 Since last we spoke, what new developments have you observed in the UK logistics and delivery sector? This is an important question because one of the keys to business success is staying close to your customers, working alongside them as partners and working out how to exceed their expectations. Every member of our senior management team is involved in customer management, spending a lot of time working directly with them. That gives you a much more rounded view of the business and helps you understand all the issues and opportunities. And the main trend to emerge from conversations with customers – shippers and shoppers alike – is an everincreasing focus on environmental issues. People really care now about reducing carbon emissions. That’s why going green is one of our biggest current priorities – we are rolling out electric vehicles (EVs) as quickly as Elaine Kerr has worked for DPD for nearly 30 years, joining as a Sales Executive based in the North West, followed by roles as Customer Relationship Manager and Head of CRM. She was promoted to the DPD UK senior management team in 2008 as Director of Sales & CRM, then in 2020 became Executive Director, Sales, CRM and Customer Services. She was appointed DPD UK CEO in June 2021. DPD UK has doubled its turnover since 2016 by establishing itself as the go-to carrier for retailers who value a personalised home delivery experience. The company has a Net Promoter Score of 76 and a Trustpilot rating of 4.5. Its 18,000-strong team now delivers over 400 million parcels a year for 7,500 customers, including leading brands such as Asos, IKEA, Selfridges, M&S, Gousto, EE and Next.
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 24 we care about and what’s most important to us. It defines what it takes to succeed with DPD and why someone’s attitude will always matter more than their qualifications. Passion, Respect, Honesty, Flexibility, Hard Work and Accountability are the six Values that comprise our DNA. We all do our best to live by these six words every day. I was recently asked, ‘Who inspires you most?’ and my answer is, our own people. The DPD team is incredible. We work in a very tough sector. It’s an industry where everyone has to perform every single day, no matter what the weather, the traffic or anything else throws at you. But it creates the most amazing people who go above and beyond, every time. Can you share anything about what you have been working on recently, or what might be on the horizon for DPD UK? We’re making strong progress in the healthcare sector. We began to grow our share of this market during year. In my thirty years with DPD we’ve navigated many economic challenges. The key is not to panic but to stay focused on the bigger picture and I remain confident that in the long run we will continue to benefit from the growth of e-commerce. Looking beyond 2023, we believe that ‘Out of Home’ services will continue to grow in popularity. That’s why we’re expanding our ‘pick up drop off’ partnership with the Post Office. We currently have 3,000 of their branches in our network and this will increase to 4,000 by the end of August. Thanks to this relationship, we’ll be able to increase volumes from customers like Ebay. But whatever happens next in the sector, I think the most important thing is to have a robust yet flexible strategy. There are four elements that help DPD stand out from the crowd and that help us attract great people and great customers: 1. Deliver the best service money can buy 2. Use the best technology available 3. Retain, recruit and develop the most customer centric people in the industry 4. Be the UK’s leader in Sustainable Delivery. My other main responsibility, whatever the economic climate, is to make sure we stay true to the culture or ‘DNA’ that has made us such a successful business in the UK. Our DNA describes who we are, what
www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 25 job. Working alongside my fellow DPD CEOs – the people who head up our other business units across Europe – has also been a great learning experience. I really enjoy running a UK company that’s part of a much wider global network, backed by investment and expertise from our French parent company, La Poste. Do you have any advice for less experienced managers who might be looking to emulate your success? Stay close to your customers and always be innovating. The next-day parcels sector is only around 50 years old in the UK but its history is littered with companies that are no longer with us. Why? Because they didn’t listen enough to their customers and they failed to innovate. I think this is where DPD has excelled, surging out of the pack in the last decade to become a leader in the home delivery market. We love to wow our customers with great innovations. For example, we were the first to offer home shoppers a service called ‘Predict’ – giving them a one-hour window telling them when their driver would arrive. This was a game-changer in our market because it made online shopping so much more convenient than before. Our award-winning App is also a leader in its class – in fact it has been downloaded by 10 million people and at one stage was trending ahead of Tinder! And the App also includes a ‘Design Space’ where we co-create new ideas and service innovations with thousands of our most engaged customers. At the end of the day, success begins and ends with staying close to the people who pay your wages! the pandemic, but continuing to win new business is no mean feat, as it has meant obtaining ‘Wholesale Distribution Authorisation’ – a government licence to operate in the heavily regulated pharma sector. Meanwhile from an internal perspective, we’ve been working on creating a real listening culture, doing everything we can to make DPD a fulfilling place to work. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is a topic that’s very close to my heart. And it’s the younger people at DPD who are opening the eyes of senior management to ED&I issues. They’re making us realise how crucial it is to create a culture where everyone feels that they belong and can make a positive contribution. That’s why I’m so keen for a wider variety of voices to be heard. My aim is to create different conversations and opportunities for everyone at DPD. We are incredibly lucky to have such a diverse team and we want to celebrate that and turn it into one of our core strengths. We now have ten volunteer ‘D&I Ambassadors’ across the business who represent a wide spectrum of voices and meet every month to share successes and to maintain momentum with our D&I agenda. So a big part of my role as CEO is to make sure we have an open, diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can flourish. Not least because of the ‘business benefits of belonging’ – when people feel genuinely valued and important, they give you more in terms of discretionary effort, bright ideas and creative problem-solving. And all of that can help DPD remain a leader in its sector. How are you continuing to refine your skills in your role? I’ve been CEO for just over two years now after nearly 28 years in senior sales and customer service roles with DPD. I’m still as excited to work here as I was on my first day with the company, but of course my responsibilities are much broader now. So a key focus has been to deepen my understanding of other key areas of the business – Operations, IT, Finance, HR, Sustainability, Public Affairs, Governance and so on. I’m fortunate to have a really strong Senior Leadership Team heading up each of these areas and I trust them to do a great Elaine Kerr CEO, DPD UK www.dpd.co.uk
Outstanding Leadership Coaching of C-suite Leaders Executive Coach Dean Williams www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 26 Dean Williams is an accomplished executive coach, with over two decades of experience in the field of senior leadership development and performance improvement. He is widely recognised as a thought leader in his field, having worked with numerous organisations across various industries to help their executives and teams achieve greater success. Dean has helped thousands of executives and organisations to reach their full potential through his innovative coaching methodologies. Recently asked to calculate, it is considered that Dean has held around 4,500 individual coaching sessions with C-suite execs to date. In addition to his coaching work, Dean is an active member of the sports industry, serving on boards in both gymnastics and football. Dean is also a prolific author and speaker, having written several books/articles on leadership, coaching and team performance. His work has been featured in numerous publications, and he has conducted keynote talks at conferences and events around the world. Dean Williams has become a respected figure in both the business and sports worlds, inspiring countless senior individuals and teams to achieve their goals and reach their potential. Dean Williams Executive Coach Tel: +44 08456 044403 E: dean@deanwilliamscoaching.com www.deanwilliamscoaching.com
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www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 29 What does this award mean to you? In my 22 years of being an executive coach I have been fortunate to have been recognised for my approach and impact a number of times. I was inducted into the prestigious Forbes Coaches Council a number of years ago, and have been recognised as being one of the ‘Top 100 Globally’ by CEO Today before. But this most recent award from such a reputable source and voted for by an audience that I serve means so much. It is confirmation that what I do makes a significant difference at such a high level. What is your personal philosophy when it comes to coaching highperforming executives? It is all about creating a productive partnership with my client – understanding why they are looking to partner with me and, importantly, why now. I work hard to understand and respect the executive’s brilliance and experience, and where they see their own limitations and developmental areas. One of the questions I always ask is: “What do you need from me that you cannot do for yourself?” I am looking for coachability within my clients, executives that I know I can partner with and add value to. There is a DNA to a successful exec which for me includes the ability to accurately analyse their own performance, along with a relentless thirst to be even better. I never cut corners with this initial understanding and contracting. Getting agreement and alignment from the off enables focussed, pragmatic and challenging conversations of real value to the exec. An experienced executive coach knows when to inject their experience, advice and wisdom and when to persist with acute and challenging questions to work the execs’ cognitive muscles. The balance between sharing and questioning is of paramount importance – no executive pays me to just ask questions and switch off my experience! I am paid to improve thinking, full stop. How do you ensure that your coaching is tailored to each unique client? It is the contracting that sets the pattern and the approach. Some executives will connect with me every six weeks, while others will call more ad-hoc… sort of an emergency service! Ten executives every year are offered an annual contract with me, benefitting from the regularity of connection. I see them every month throughout the year and they also have the option of calling on me throughout the month. There is a DNA to a successful exec which for me includes the ability to accurately analyse their own performance, along with a relentless thirst to be even better.
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Outstanding Leadership Business Consultancy Service of the Year CEO, Birtenshaw David Reid anyone in the UK that isn’t able to get the support they need to thrive, prosper and become independent; we want to be that mechanism to help them achieve their potential About David David Reid is the Chief Executive of Birtenshaw, an organisation that provides a unique range of services for children and young adults with special educational needs and disability. Birtenshaw operates as a social enterprise – while they are a profit-making organisation, all of their profit is reinvested for growth and success in order to improve their services. Although the organisation was founded in 1956, it was technically bankrupt when David became CEO in 2006. When he took over, it had roughly 6 months left of life, had he not made difficult decisions at the time to restructure the business, changing contracts and the way that they sold their services. After four years of hard work, the business turned around for the better and has since then seen 400% of growth from 2012 until today and established itself as a larger employer in the area. About Birtenshaw Birtenshaw was established in Bromley Cross, Bolton in 1956. Birtenshaw provides a creative and dynamic range of Care and Education services for children and adults with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). Through Birtenshaw Special Schools (in Bolton and Merseyside) and Birtenshaw College we provide education for children and young people with significant physical impairment, complex health needs, learning disability and / or Autistic Spectrum Conditions. Birtenshaw’s education services are complimented by our social care services, which include several children’s homes, one of which is a short break centre, a domiciliary care agency, supported tenancies, an adults short break centre, plus a sports and recreation programme. What has been your proudest moment at Birtenshaw in recent years? I am absolutely delighted about a number of things that our organisation has achieved, and the difference we’ve made in the lives of so many people. I am delighted to be the person in a privileged position that is able to employ so many incredible people, who can in turn help so many people. In terms of the things that I am happiest about that we have achieved, most recently is the opening of a brandnew special school in Liverpool which is a partnership arrangement with the City of Liverpool Council and the only partnership of this type in the UK. It’s a service that has only opened last September and we had expected it to take 3 – 4 years to reach full capacity, however we are already at three-quarters capacity now, and by September of this year, or at the start of the second Academic year, that school will already be at full-capacity. We’re really pleased to be able to support so many families in Liverpool, however this also demonstrates just how great of a demand there is for this service. We’re looking to find ways of increasing this as quickly as possible in order to meet this demand. What is your top goal as you lead Birtenshaw forward? To continue transforming the lives of hundreds if not thousands of young lives, and to meet the demand for the current supply of quality services. We need to develop our services as quickly as possible in order to provide more services in other regions in the UK and, ultimately, have a complete UK footprint so that we are able to reach and support more people. It’s a very difficult thing for us to think that there would be www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 31
34 MARTYN FISH HGF 36 DR LOUBNA BOUARFA OKRA.ai 38 KAREN WINTERHALTER Onyx Health 40 DANIEL O’NEILL Procook Ltd 42 ROSIE GINDAY Miss Macaroon 44 SAMANTHA RUTTER-BRYANT Open Study College 46 ANDREW JAMIESON Catapult Offshore Renewable Energy 48 HEIDI MOTTRAM Northumbrian Water Group 50 POONAM GUPTA PG Paper Company Ltd 52 HANNAH FITZSIMONS Cashflows 54 ISMAIL AHMED WorldRemit 56 JAYN STERLAND Weleda 58 MELISSA SNOVER Nourished 60 DR BAHMAN NEDJAT-SHOKOUHI Medefer 62 DR ROY WILLIAMS The Sovini Group 64 NICK THOMPSON One Beyond 66 MOHAMED AL NABIH Morphin Group 68 NADEEM RAZA Microlise Limited Winners
Outstanding Leadership of Intellectual Property Services CEO, HGF Martyn Fish www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 34 HGF is one of Europe’s leading intellectual property firms, bringing patent attorneys, trade mark attorneys and IP solicitors together to provide a full-service IP solution. The firm has 23 offices throughout the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland. HGF creates and manages IP portfolios for the world’s leading companies and research institutes. The firm advises clients on the creation of strategic IP assets and provides world-class expertise in oppositions, appeals, commercialisation, dispute resolution and litigation to defend and enforce IP rights. The firm has dedicated teams of experts working across key industry sectors with relevant experience who fully understand their clients’ businesses and appreciate the significance of their brands, innovations and other IP assets. The firm has a strong group of technology-based strategic business units with experience and expertise covering chemistry, engineering, electronics and life sciences. How has the experience you gained in other roles at HGF informed your work as chief executive? I have been at HGF for nearly all of my career, joining the firm 19 years ago. I have in effect ‘grown up’ with the firm and have witnessed first-hand the remarkable growth that we have enjoyed as an organisation. This growth has meant that the firm has always presented me with new challenges as I have progressed through my career. I have had a number of different roles within the firm which have all informed my current work as CEO. My first role was as an assistant solicitor, handling contentious and transactional IP matters. This role required lots of collaboration with many different people across the business and gave me a strong understanding of how each part of HGF operates. Can you tell us more about HGF’s change strategy for 2023-6? The firm has ambitious plans for 2023-6. As a people business, our employees and partners are central to our future success. We will continue our industryleading investment in learning and development across the business. An example of this is the 18-month leadership development training program that all our leaders and managers across the business are currently undertaking. We firmly believe that IT solutions are key to the future success of our business. We have a very talented in-house IT department who will be at the forefront of pushing our strategy forward. We will also continue to grow our business, welcoming talented people across Europe to join our team.
Martyn is a partner and CEO at HGF. He has been with the firm for over 19 years. Before becoming CEO he held various leadership positions, the most significant being head of the European law team for over 10 years. Martyn is currently leading an ambitious program of change within HGF, following a new strategy for the firm for the period 2023-26. As a solicitor his legal expertise covers multi-jurisdictional IP litigation, including a number of high profile cases in the pharmaceutical and consumer brand market. He also advises on IP agreements. as I would have liked. The use of technology has changed how we operate our business, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us valuable lessons as to how we can be more flexible with our working practices, and of course the UPC is the biggest change to the patent landscape in a generation. There are areas of the industry which have not changed as fast as probably they should have. I am very aware that the IP profession overall is still quite traditional and in general is not as diverse as it should be. Although there has been more of an effort across the profession in recent years, there has not been substantial change. Hopefully the profession is now more open to change and at HGF we are committed to playing our part in this. What does this award mean to you? To me, this award recognises how far HGF has developed as a business over the past 20 years. In common with many of my colleagues, HGF has given me many opportunities to develop my skills as the business has grown. It is important to me that we continue to grow and develop our business so that we can offer everyone within our firm the best opportunities to develop their own careers. In 2010, I was promoted into the partnership and began to take on more management responsibilities. Understanding how the partnership model operates is vital to my current role. I became the head of our law team and gained considerable insight into the business side of our practice and how to manage a team. I also became head of the Leeds office (our largest office with over 120 employees), which further developed my people management skills. All of the above has given me a strong understanding of the IP industry, how an IP firm works, the nuances of life in a partnership and the management skills essential to carry out my current role. It has in effect been a 17-year apprenticeship! In what ways have you seen the IP sector grow and change during your 19+ years at HGF? How is the firm tapping into these changes? There have been many changes over the years as you would expect, although many things have remained constant and some things have not changed as much www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2023 35
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