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

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

Karen O'Donnell
Head of Governance & Company Secretary
Red Kite Community Housing

Nicolina Andall
Senior Corporate Counsel
Atlas Copco UK Holdings

Erika Eliasson-Norris
Founder & CEO
Beyond Governance Limited

Wendy Hardy
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Tesco plc

Carolyn Ferguson
Company Secretary
The Go-Ahead Group

Beverley Van Der Sluis
Company Secretary
ShareGift

Muriel Thorne
Director
Oakwood Corporate Services Limited

Urvasi Naidoo
Director of Legal and Governance
World Sailing

Helen Baker
Governance Consultant
HN06 Limited

Fiona Chalk
Founder and CEO
Governance4FE Limited
TEAM LEADER

Vinotha Anthony
Deputy Company Secretary
Funding Circle

Georgina Gearing-Bell
Senior Manager Company Secretarial
Law Debenture

Gary Gray
Head of Governance & Company Secretarial Services
Burness Paull LLP

Michelle Murphy
Head of Shareholder Services
Evelyn Partners

Rachel Pilcher
Governance & Secretariat Director
Vistry Group PLC

Claire-Marie O'Grady
Group Company Secretary
Tate & Lyle PLC

Emma Brown
Senior Company Secretarial Manager
Foresight Group

Caroline McGrory
Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee

Toyin Osaze-Omonuwa
EMEA Head of Legal Entity Governance & Product Governance
Wells Fargo

Philip McCarron
Head of Governance & Company Secretary
Goodwille
DEAL MAKER
Individuals that have contributed to the success of major corporate transactions or restructurings.

Amanda Mellor
Company Secretary
Haleon plc

Vicky Dalby
Co-Head of UK Corporate Governance
Law Debenture

Nataliya Yaroshenko
Assistant Corporate Secretary
First Quantum Minerals

Robert Lyons
Head of M&A, Corporate Services & Deputy Company Secretary
Marks and Spencer Group PLC

Susan Fadil
Senior Director - Fund Services
JTC

Scott Brooker
Company Secretary
Cineworld Group Plc

Catherine Stead
Company secretary
Rentokil Initial plc

Rupert Hopley
Group General Counsel & Company Secretary
Informa PLC

Alex Richardson
Head of Subsidiary Governance
Royal Bank of Canada

Ruth Pavey
Company Secretary
Shaftesbury Capital PLC
BOARD INFLUENCER

Elizabeth (Liz) Colvin
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Secure Trust Bank plc

Joyce Sarpong
Trustee
Joyce Sarpong

Oluwafunmilayo Jeje
Assistant Company Secretary
Leonardo UK Ltd

Uloma Adighibe
Director - Fund & Corporate Services
JTC

Toby Newman
Company Secretary & Head of Legal
PHP PLC

Sunita Kaushal
General Counsel & Company Secretary
Affinity Water

Peter Speirs
Company Secretary
James Fisher Offshore

Penny Thomas
Interim Company Secretary
Close Brothers PLC

Kate Owen
Director of Governance
Elemental CoSec

Debbie Fish
Interim Company Secretary
CMC Markets
ESG Progress Leader

Matthew Timmons
Partner
PwC UK

Melissa Lea
Assistant Company Secretary
Schroders plc

Jon Bolton
Group Company Secretary
Videndum PLC

Somya Rastogi
Assistant Company Secretary
Evelyn Partners

Fahrin Ribeiro
Company Secretary
Actis LLP

Kevin Carpenter
Head of Integrity
International Table Tennis Federation

Gemma Eagle
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Severn Trent Plc

Sarah Knight
Head of Board Governance and Organisational Compliance
NCS (National Citizen Service)

Lyndsey Case
Head of Governance
Trifast plc
INNOVATORS

Anthony Clarke
Deputy Company Secretary
Shell International Ltd

Deirdre Quinn
Head of Company Secretariat & Legal
Kin Company Secretarial Limited

Nick Lindsay
Managing Director
Elemental CoSec

Kevin Maguire
Group Company Secretary
Crest Nicholson PLC

John Odada
Group Company Secretary
Royal London

Julia Foo
Company Secretary
Segro PLC

Kevin Massie
General Counsel & Company Secretary
PZ Cussons

Gavin White
Company Secretary
Evelyn Group

Joanna Harkus Madge
Deputy Company Secretary
Sainsburys PLC

Adaeze David
Deputy Company Secretary
Haleon PLC
TECHNICAL EXPERTS

Jenny Farrer
Group Company Secretary and General Counsel
CVS Group PLC

Liz Lynxwiler
Company Secretary
BT Pension Fund

Helen Ashley Taylor
Group Head of Company Secretariat
The Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation

Francesca Todd
VP Company Secretariat
AVEVA Group

Cynthia Mora-Spencer
Head of Secretariat (CGI UKI), CGI Institute Secretary
The Chartered Governance Institute

Kayleigh Redhead
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Marks and Spencer Group plc

Aline Campbell
Assistant Company Secretary
Severn Trent PLC

Kim Lan Yap
Company Secretary Consultant - Interim
Rentokil Initial PLC

Sharna Ludlow
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
M&G PLC

Teresa Gibbs
Assistant Company Secretary
Mitie Group PLC
RELATIONSHIP MANAGERS

Emma Hunt
Senior Manager
EQ Advisory Prism Cosec

Kerry Round
Founding Director
Round Governance Services

Jemima Boughton
Manager
Computershare Governance Services

Charlotte Locke
Senior Manager Company Secretarial
Law Debenture

Sanchana Mishra
Company Secretarial Manager
Menzies LLP

Anureet Kaur
Assistant Manager - Fund & Corporate Services
JTC

Shaun Zulafqar
Company Secretarial Director
Shakespeare Martineau LLP

Fabia Welch-Richards
EGC Director
PWC

Laura Nuttall
Director & Head of Governance
One Advisory

Meg Ogunsola
Associate Director
Deloitte Legal
RISING STARS

Holly Chesters
Company Secretarial Assistant
Legal & General

Nick McGreevy
Senior Company Secretarial Assistant
Royal London

Leila Gadsden-Chaiboub
Company Secretarial Assistant
Great Portland Estates plc

Francesca Tay
Company Secretarial Assistant
Funding Circle

Susie Lamb
Assistant Company Secretary
Ageas UK

Natasha Spurr
Company Secretarial Associate
Foresight Group

Tristan Weller
Corporate Governance Graduate
BP plc

Megan Cammidge
Trainee Company Secretary
Nationwide Building Society

Eve Wood
Company Secretarial Assistant
National Grid plc

Suzie Greenop
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Severn Trent Plc
FUTURE LEADERS

Sruti Bajoria
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
easyJet PLC

James Gordon
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Investec PLC

Rachel Tsang
Senior Assistant Company Secretary
Octopus Investments Limited

Charlotte Mepham
Senior assistant company secretary
BP PLC

Samira Chambas-Yusuf
Assistant Company Secretary
Diageo PLC

Katie Ellis
Deputy Company Secretary
Secure Trust Bank

Phoebe Stamford-Moroz
Deputy Company Secretary
Tate & Lyle PLC

Ethan Fleming
Corporate Governance Manager
Legal Services Board

Anmol Dhillon
Deputy Company Secretary
UPP Limited

Symone Krimowa
Governance Lead
Wellcome Trust
JUDGING PANEL

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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