Governance Hot 100 Winners

This year, we have taken our celebration of governance talent a step further. In doing so, we cast a bright light on the many talented individuals that have shaped the profession in recent years. Our Judges this year awarded 10 individual category winners representing the standout entries from each category. We are also delighted to announce our first Lifetime Achievement Award. This goes to an individual that’s made a significant contribution to the improvement of the UK governance industry and consistently upheld its values throughout their career.

The quality of nominations has been outstanding this year and the competition fierce.

On behalf of the judging panel, I am sure you will join me in congratulating our winners who rightfully deserve their place in the 2023 Governance HOT 100.

Continue scrolling to see all of this year's deserving winners.

Download the Winners Brochure
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Rosemary Martin

Lifetime Achievement Award

Until March 2023 Rosemary was, for 13 years, Group General Counsel & Company Secretary at Vodafone Group Plc, a multinational telecoms company with €38bn revenues and over 100,000 employees. She was a member of the Group’s executive committee, with a focus on managing risk, legal matters, privacy, compliance and governance. Rosemary is Acting Chair of Council at the University of Sussex and a charity trustee

Prior to Vodafone, Rosemary was General Counsel and Company Secretary of Reuters Group Plc which she joined in 1997 having been a Partner in Rowe & Maw (now Mayer Brown) a law firm in London. She was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1985. Rosemary has worked with Chairmen to build high performing boards and to ensure the highest levels of governance. She has extensive experience in board committees including Audit & Risk, Nominations, Remuneration and Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG).

Throughout her executive career Rosemary championed inclusion and innovation in the legal and governance profession. She also led philanthropic activities in Vodafone Foundation and Reuters Foundation. She has received awards for pro bono legal work, promoting diversity and for innovation.

We spoke with Rosemary to gain further insight on her career and the governance profession.

WHAT STANDS OUT AS THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT OVER YOUR CAREER?

I am most proud of the colleagues from my Corporate Secretariat teams who have pursued excellent governance careers themselves. It is hugely satisfying to see talent come up through the profession.

HOW HAS THE GOVERNANCE INDUSTRY CHANGED OVER YOUR CAREER?

It has changed a lot! When I first joined a company secretary's team Sir Adrian Cadbury had yet to publish his seminal report, the Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance. That report, published in 1992, was in many ways a foundation stone for modern corporate governance. Since then many, many words have been written on the topic and more and more rules and guidance have been published. It is hard to keep up nowadays. I do sometimes think that the corporate governance industry would do well to go back and re-read that report as it was a model of clear-thinking, principles-based guidance that empowered boards to strike "the right balance between meeting the standards of corporate governance now expected of them and retaining the essential spirit of enterprise".

WHAT TRAITS/TRAINING MAKES A SUCCESSFUL GOVERNANCE PROFESSIONAL?

In my view a successful governance professional needs to be well trained in the technicalities of governance, needs to be interested in the details but also needs to have the ability to see the big picture and be ready to implement the principles of governance in a thoughtful way.

WHAT HAS KEPT YOU INVESTED IN GOOD GOVERNANCE THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER?

Organisations are endlessly fascinating theatres in which all kinds of dramas play out. Pursuing good governance is interesting because the challenge Sir Adrian Cadbury set down 30 years ago - to strike the right balance between meeting the standards of corporate governance and retaining the essential spirit of enterprise – is non-trivial and those organisations that manage to get that balance right can really make a positive contribution to the people whose lives they affect.
This feels like a worthwhile thing to pursue.

GOVERNANCE TRAILBLAZER

The forward thinkers that raise the standards of corporate governance beyond what is expected.
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Karen O'Donnell

Head of Governance & Company Secretary

Red Kite Community Housing

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Nicolina Andall

Senior Corporate Counsel

Atlas Copco UK Holdings

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Erika Eliasson-Norris

Founder & CEO

Beyond Governance Limited

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Wendy Hardy

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Tesco plc

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Carolyn Ferguson

Company Secretary

The Go-Ahead Group

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Beverley Van Der Sluis

Company Secretary

ShareGift

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Muriel Thorne

Director

Oakwood Corporate Services Limited

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Urvasi Naidoo

Director of Legal and Governance

World Sailing

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Helen Baker

Governance Consultant

HN06 Limited

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Fiona Chalk

Founder and CEO

Governance4FE Limited

TEAM LEADER

Inspirational managers that create high functioning governance teams and actively help to develop careers.
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Vinotha Anthony

Deputy Company Secretary

Funding Circle

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Georgina Gearing-Bell

Senior Manager Company Secretarial

Law Debenture

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Gary Gray

Head of Governance & Company Secretarial Services

Burness Paull LLP

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Michelle Murphy

Head of Shareholder Services

Evelyn Partners

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Rachel Pilcher

Governance & Secretariat Director

Vistry Group PLC

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Claire-Marie O'Grady

Group Company Secretary

Tate & Lyle PLC

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Emma Brown

Senior Company Secretarial Manager

Foresight Group

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Caroline McGrory

Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee

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Toyin Osaze-Omonuwa

EMEA Head of Legal Entity Governance & Product Governance

Wells Fargo

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Philip McCarron

Head of Governance & Company Secretary

Goodwille

DEAL MAKER

Individuals that have contributed to the success of major corporate transactions or restructurings.

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Amanda Mellor

Company Secretary

Haleon plc

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Vicky Dalby

Co-Head of UK Corporate Governance

Law Debenture

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Nataliya Yaroshenko

Assistant Corporate Secretary

First Quantum Minerals

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Robert Lyons

Head of M&A, Corporate Services & Deputy Company Secretary

Marks and Spencer Group PLC

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Susan Fadil

Senior Director - Fund Services

JTC

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Scott Brooker

Company Secretary

Cineworld Group Plc

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Catherine Stead

Company secretary

Rentokil Initial plc

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Rupert Hopley

Group General Counsel & Company Secretary

Informa PLC

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Alex Richardson

Head of Subsidiary Governance

Royal Bank of Canada

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Ruth Pavey

Company Secretary

Shaftesbury Capital PLC

BOARD INFLUENCER

Individuals that influence strategic decision making at the most senior level and are particularly adept at forging relationships with key stakeholders.
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Elizabeth (Liz) Colvin

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Secure Trust Bank plc

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Joyce Sarpong

Trustee

Joyce Sarpong

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Oluwafunmilayo Jeje

Assistant Company Secretary

Leonardo UK Ltd

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Uloma Adighibe

Director - Fund & Corporate Services

JTC

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Toby Newman

Company Secretary & Head of Legal

PHP PLC

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Sunita Kaushal

General Counsel & Company Secretary

Affinity Water

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Peter Speirs

Company Secretary

James Fisher Offshore

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Penny Thomas

Interim Company Secretary

Close Brothers PLC

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Kate Owen

Director of Governance

Elemental CoSec

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Debbie Fish

Interim Company Secretary

CMC Markets

ESG Progress Leader

For those that have pushed the agenda and positively influenced ESG processes within their organsation. 
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Matthew Timmons

Partner

PwC UK

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Melissa Lea

Assistant Company Secretary

Schroders plc

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Jon Bolton

Group Company Secretary

Videndum PLC

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Somya Rastogi

Assistant Company Secretary

Evelyn Partners

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Fahrin Ribeiro

Company Secretary

Actis LLP

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Kevin Carpenter

Head of Integrity

International Table Tennis Federation

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Gemma Eagle

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Severn Trent Plc

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Sarah Knight

Head of Board Governance and Organisational Compliance

NCS (National Citizen Service)

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Lyndsey Case

Head of Governance

Trifast plc

INNOVATORS

Blue Sky thinkers that effect positive change through the innovative use of technology and systems.
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Anthony Clarke

Deputy Company Secretary

Shell International Ltd

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Deirdre Quinn

Head of Company Secretariat & Legal

Kin Company Secretarial Limited

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Nick Lindsay

Managing Director

Elemental CoSec

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Kevin Maguire

Group Company Secretary

Crest Nicholson PLC

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John Odada

Group Company Secretary

Royal London

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Julia Foo

Company Secretary

Segro PLC

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Kevin Massie

General Counsel & Company Secretary

PZ Cussons

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Gavin White

Company Secretary

Evelyn Group

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Joanna Harkus Madge

Deputy Company Secretary

Sainsburys PLC

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Adaeze David

Deputy Company Secretary

Haleon PLC

TECHNICAL EXPERTS

Individuals that demonstrate the highest level of technical competency to support Governance best practice.
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Jenny Farrer

Group Company Secretary and General Counsel

CVS Group PLC

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Liz Lynxwiler

Company Secretary

BT Pension Fund

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Helen Ashley Taylor

Group Head of Company Secretariat

The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation

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Francesca Todd

VP Company Secretariat

AVEVA Group

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Cynthia Mora-Spencer

Head of Secretariat (CGI UKI), CGI Institute Secretary

The Chartered Governance Institute

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Kayleigh Redhead

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Marks and Spencer Group plc

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Aline Campbell

Assistant Company Secretary

Severn Trent PLC

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Kim Lan Yap

Company Secretary Consultant - Interim

Rentokil Initial PLC

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Sharna Ludlow

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

M&G PLC

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Teresa Gibbs

Assistant Company Secretary

Mitie Group PLC

RELATIONSHIP MANAGERS

For those working within professional services with a reputation for supporting a varied client portfolio and building trusted relationships.
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Emma Hunt

Senior Manager

EQ Advisory Prism Cosec

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Kerry Round

Founding Director

Round Governance Services

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Jemima Boughton

Manager

Computershare Governance Services

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Charlotte Locke

Senior Manager Company Secretarial

Law Debenture

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Sanchana Mishra

Company Secretarial Manager

Menzies LLP

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Anureet Kaur

Assistant Manager - Fund & Corporate Services

JTC

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Shaun Zulafqar

Company Secretarial Director

Shakespeare Martineau LLP

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Fabia Welch-Richards

EGC Director

PWC

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Laura Nuttall

Director & Head of Governance

One Advisory

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Meg Ogunsola

Associate Director

Deloitte Legal

RISING STARS

For those with fewer than six years’  experiencethat have made a significant impact within their team and the profession.
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Holly Chesters

Company Secretarial Assistant

Legal & General

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Nick McGreevy

Senior Company Secretarial Assistant

Royal London

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Leila Gadsden-Chaiboub

Company Secretarial Assistant

Great Portland Estates plc

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Francesca Tay

Company Secretarial Assistant

Funding Circle

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Susie Lamb

Assistant Company Secretary

Ageas UK

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Natasha Spurr

Company Secretarial Associate

Foresight Group

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Tristan Weller

Corporate Governance Graduate

BP plc

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Megan Cammidge

Trainee Company Secretary

Nationwide Building Society

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Eve Wood

Company Secretarial Assistant

National Grid plc

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Suzie Greenop

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Severn Trent Plc

FUTURE LEADERS

For those that demonstrate the skills required to become a Head of Department within the next 5-10 years.
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Sruti Bajoria

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

easyJet PLC

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James Gordon

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Investec PLC

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Rachel Tsang

Senior Assistant Company Secretary

Octopus Investments Limited

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Charlotte Mepham

Senior assistant company secretary

BP PLC

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Samira Chambas-Yusuf

Assistant Company Secretary

Diageo PLC

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Katie Ellis

Deputy Company Secretary

Secure Trust Bank

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Phoebe Stamford-Moroz

Deputy Company Secretary

Tate & Lyle PLC

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Ethan Fleming

Corporate Governance Manager

Legal Services Board

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Anmol Dhillon

Deputy Company Secretary

UPP Limited

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Symone Krimowa

Governance Lead

Wellcome Trust

JUDGING PANEL

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David Press

Founder & MD

DMJ Recruitment

David is one of the founding directors of DMJ, an award winning company secretarial and legal recruitment agency. Having worked in this specialist field since 1999, David is widely recognised as the leading authority on recruitment within the governance market.

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Maddie Scrafton

Managing Director UK Governance Services

Computershare

Maddie heads up Computershare’s Governance Services team in the UK, providing managed services and governance advisory services to company secretaries and their teams. She joined Computershare after a successful period as Head of Governance for the board at HSBC, has worked with a range of clients during her time at EY and was previously Company Secretary of an AIM listed group.

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JJ Williams

Head of Risk Governance & Shareholder Services

Lloyds Banking Group

JJ heads up the Risk, Governance and Shareholder Services team at Lloyds Banking Group and has extensive company secretarial experience gained within complex FTSE100 and FTSE350 companies, including HSBC plc, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Gemfields plc, where she was the Group Company Secretary, and BP plc, where she was the Company Secretary of the BP Pension Fund. JJ is also a qualified solicitor.

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Robert Welch

Group Company Secretary

Tesco PLC

Robert is an experienced Company Secretary with wide-ranging experience across a broad range of fields including governance, board support, risk management, shareholder relations, corporate transactions, insurance and reward.

He's also a member of the CGI's Company Secretaries’ Forum, GC100, Primary Markets Group of the London Stock Exchange and CBI Companies Committee.

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Balbir Kelly-Bisla

Group Company Secretary

WPP PLC

Balbir has significant governance experience across various roles in listed companies (including GSK, RSA Insurance and Segro plc) and is currently the Group Company Secretary of WPP plc.  Prior to joining WPP, she was the Company Secretary of William Hill. In addition to her cosec experience, Balbir was Director of Investor Relations at GSK for a number of years leading on ESG engagement.

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