Finance Mentor

Leroy Knowles

Leroy grew up in Bedford and currently lives in South West London. He studied for an undergraduate degree in Economics and Management at St. Anne's College, Oxford University. From there, he secured a place on the Graduate Training Programme at J.P. Morgan and now works in the Acquisition Finance team at BNP Paribas, covering clients in Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East and has now amassed over 20 years of experience in investment banking.

Leroy is also passionate about social mobility, authoring the article "How to Transition from Poverty to Investment Banking: The Challenges, Barriers and the Lessons Learned". Furthermore, Leroy is a member of BNP Paribas' Early Careers Network and Multicultural Network. 

 Accountancy Mentor

Ant Thomas

Ant is a Director in Grant Thornton’s audit practice, a chartered accountant, a member of the Chartered Management Institute and has recently completed an Executive MBA. Ant has over 15 years’ experience in the accounting industry, spending the first 11 at Deloitte, including two secondments at public companies.

Ant works with UK and International businesses across a range of industries, having worked in offices across the UK including Birmingham and London.

A product of the state-school system, Ant is very passionate about opportunities for all and sharing the experiences he has had both in and out of work to allow others to fulfil their potential. He believes that experiences and learning obtained outside work are just as important as those in work.

Ant’s main passions, when not auditing, are spending time with friends and family, playing golf, football and tennis as well as learning new songs on the piano.

 Accountancy Mentor

Nick Parker

Nick is a former President of ICAEW, serving in 2017/18. Nick qualified as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant in 1978 and then qualified as a Chartered Tax Advisor in 1980. Nick is also a member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners.

Having recently retired from the ICAEW Council after 25 years of service, Nick is now a Board member of the ICAEW Tax Faculty and also serves on the ICAEW Professional Standards Appointments Committee.

Nick is a trustee of Access Accountancy, an organisation seeking to break down barriers to entry into the accounting industry, independent of an individual’s socio-economic background.

Nick is a Tax Partner with RSM UK and is also the Finance Director of a large family Group of companies that is involved in construction, investment and farming.

Law Mentor

Melanie Simpson QC

Melanie Simpson QC has been a barrister since 1998. In 2020, Melanie’s excellence was recognised by the legal world when she was appointed to the elevated position of Queen’s Counsel. Melanie is a specialist in the field of criminal law which means that, unlike in other areas of law which are not trial based, she is among an elite number of barristers whose powers of oral advocacy and trial management skills are what makes them stand out from the legal crowd. 

Melanie’s successful trial practice means that not only is she instructed to act in high-profile cases, which often attract widespread media interest, but she is also sought out by media organisations in order to provide them with a legal opinion. Melanie, has an ongoing working relationship with the BBC and Channel 4. Melanie has a consultant role with YouTube where she provides them with guidance on the interplay between human rights, criminal law and freedom of expression.   

Over the last few years, Melanie’s practice has taken on an international dimension where she has advised people charged with governmental fraud, corruption, money laundering.                            

Melanie attended a State Grammar school before studying law at University College, London and recognises the importance of the phrase “each one, teach one”. Melanie’s pro bono work has seen her sit on local youth justice boards, conduct human rights work in the Caribbean and throughout her career she has mentored aspiring barristers. 

Law Mentor

Susan Pemberton

Susan is an England & Wales qualified solicitor with 18 years’ experience of managing risk in international law firms.

Her most recent role was as Head of Legal Risk at Clyde & Co LLP, one of the world’s largest commercial law firms.  This was a global role that involved overseeing the management and resolution of risk issues across the Firm’s 50+ offices and in relation to its 4000+ personnel. Risk issues addressed by Susan and her team ranged from conflicts of interest involving clients to strengthening and enforcing financial crime prevention throughout the Firm’s network.

Before joining Clyde & Co in 2014, Susan ran the risk function at a US Firm in London, Weil Gotshal, setting up the team from scratch in 2002.  Her focus there was on centralising risk management to allow partners to concentrate on fee-earning and client development and enhancing risk-awareness amongst lawyers and other employees.

Prior to her risk management roles, Susan was a commercial litigator at two London firms, specialising in bringing large IT system claims against manufacturers and suppliers.

Susan graduated in law (Jurisprudence) at the University of Oxford, and is a CEDR-qualified mediator.

Law Mentor

Andrew Chalkley

Andrew is the Senior Partner of Boyes Turner LLP, a regional law firm based in Reading.  He was the firm’s first CEO for twenty years, until last year. He is responsible for the firm’s governance, risk and compliance and he chairs Members’ meetings and the Members’ remuneration committee.

His role involves developing the firm’s profile and reputation, representing the firm in the external market place as an ambassador, spokesman and figure-head as well as facilitating effective internal relationships and providing support to the Managing Partner.

Andrew qualified as a solicitor in 1982 and started working as a commercial property and then company commercial lawyer. His clients included some of the UK's largest and most successful national retailers. He quickly realised that he had an interest in the evolving management of professional services businesses and he has for the last 30 years dedicated himself to managing law firms.

Andrew is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars on professional practice management as well as careers in the legal profession. He has written many articles on management issues and often comments in the media on developments within the legal profession and professional service firms generally.

Business Mentor

Imogen Joss

Imogen spent her executive career in the fintech arena as Commercial Director of the London Stock Exchange and latterly President of two divisions of S&P Global. She brings global experience to the boards that she serves plus a strong commercial, client and talent-focused agenda while specialising in Remuneration Committee work on both listed and non-listed boards.

She currently serves on the boards of five organisations across advisory services and fintech, as well as being Chair of the firm’s Remuneration Committee. From April 2021, she will chair the Partnership Governance Board (PGB) at Grant Thornton UK

Imogen has three grown up children and, having taken a five year career break when her younger son was born, is a key advocate of creating environments where working parents can flourish in their careers.

As well as mentoring a number of CEOs and senior leaders, as Chair of Trustees of a charity focused on the alleviation of rural child poverty in the UK, Imogen and her team support those at the sharp end of delivering education, health care and social support.

Finance Mentor

Ari Ratnakumar

After a couple of years in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley, Ari decided to start his own company called Wiser (wearewiser.com) 7 years ago. Since then Ari and his team have grown the business to £7m Revenue (20% EBITDA) and 90 employees. Wiser work with various startups, brands, SMEs and large corporations such as Nike, UBS, WorldPay, Lloyds, AMEX, Tesla, Fidelity, having fingers in multiple pies with big plans.

Law Mentor

Angela Flaherty

Angela is a Partner at international law firm Clyde & Co, specialising in energy insurance disputes, including litigation and arbitration. Angela’s clients are insurers whom she advises on complex cross-border issues, working closely with her international colleagues.  The subject matter of the work Angela does is energy, encompassing the oil and gas sector and renewables. 

Angela’s role requires strong verbal and written communication skills, analytical thinking and specialist knowledge of the technical and legal issues underpinning the matters she deals with.  Her role also requires a large amount of networking and client management, which she really enjoys. 

She completed a law degree at the London School of Economic & Political Science and the Legal Practice Course at College of Law Moorgate.  Angela then started her training contract at Clyde & Co in 2008, where she qualified into the energy team in 2010 and then was promoted over the years until she became a partner in May 2018.  Angela is fully embedded in a wide range of initiatives at Clyde & Co, including related to gender diversity and social mobility.

Law Mentor

Angela Clist

Angela is a partner and head of the Legal Services Centre at Allen & Overy, which is the firm’s internal managed legal services business. Prior to heading the Legal Services Centre, Angela was a partner in the Securitisation group at Allen & Over for 19 years, working on many market leading transactions including the establishment of the first covered bond programmes in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand and the establishment of the first residential mortgage master trusts in the UK.

Angela has advised a number of governmental and other committees on issues affecting the securitisation and covered bond market and was heavily involved in the UK and Australian covered bond legislative process.

Angela is co-Global Head of Allen & Overy’s Financial Institutions Sector Group and she sits on a number of internal management committees in the firm. She was a member of the global Allen & Overy Board from 2014-2018. She is active in diversity and inclusion initiatives.

In 2019, Angela joined the Board of Perenna Limited as a Non-Executive Director. 

Business Mentor

Jeremy Blake

Jeremy started his career in Shell Research before opportunity led him to Crime Scene Science. He worked in Crime Scene Investigation for Kent Police eventually becoming Head of Crime Scene Investigation. He then joined the Home Office Forensic Science Service leading the effective use of forensic science in policing.  Throughout this period, he was a senior lecturer in Forensic Chemistry at the University of Kent and deputy chair of the Forensic Science Society Awards Committee.

His interest in solving problems using science led him to move in the recycling industry to become a tenacious operational leader. His work in multiple industries allowed him to acquire skills in a range of roles including finance, operations, commercial, marketing, R&D and product development but throughout has constantly strived for robust structures and sustainable growth.

Having spent a number of years leading the recycling operations of the largest recycler in the UK he is now Chief Operating Officer of Enval.  Enval has a cutting-edge process that converts waste plastics back to oil and combines his drive for sustainability with his interest in technical processes. 

Jeremy also acts in advisory capacity to many groups to drive the development of the Circular Economy.  This includes trade bodies, government groups and even on TV when they cannot find anyone more interesting.

Law Mentor

Chris Wellham

Chris Wellham has been practising employment law for over 20 years and currently leads the Employment Law Team at Tesco, the UK’s largest private employer with over 300,000 employees.

Chris was the first person in his family to attend school beyond age 16. He attended the local grammar school and went on to study law at university. Chris took various paralegal roles and self-funded his Legal Practice Course course before securing a training contract at Hogan Lovells LLP, where he stayed for most of his career as an employment lawyer. He then moved in-house at Virgin Media to lead their Employment Law team before moving to Tesco in 2017.

Chris recognises that access to a mentor who understands the professional environment and the opportunities available can be a significant advantage in achieving social mobility.

Business Mentor

Belinda Brown

Belinda Brown is an Investor Relations Director at Diageo Plc, based out of London.  Diageo is the leader in beverage alcohol – operating in around 180 countries with over 200 brands.  

Belinda is also the co-founder of the Diageo Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage (REACH) employee group, created to promote an inclusive culture whilst supporting the recruitment, retention and development of black, indigenous, and other people of colour in Diageo. 

Belinda was born in Jamaica, but spent her childhood years in Northern Ireland, before moving to London for work after graduating from university at Queen’s University, Belfast with a first-class honours in her BSc. undergraduate degree, and a distinction in her MSc., both in Finance.  Belinda sits on Board for the Queen’s University Association, London – the association offers a range of social events which encourage networking and promote links with Queen’s.

In October 2020, Belinda was named as a ‘Top 10 Future Leader’ in the Ethnicity Awards.  She was also named in the 2019 Power 50 Awards, an annual list that celebrates the 50 most outstanding senior business figures that work flexibly from across the UK.

Law Mentor

Philip Philippou

Philip Philippou is a Solicitor and Partner at Nicholas & Co Solicitors Ltd. He specialises in Litigation/Dispute Resolution focussing primarily on Commercial and Property issues where many of his clients are High Net Worth individuals, Property Developers, Landlords or prominent businesses.

His calm, pragmatic approach to dealing with disputes is valued highly both by his clients and his colleagues. He frequently represents other legal professionals in their private matters, and has trained Solicitors who have become successful in their own right. His mantra for legal practice and, indeed, life in general, is “preparation is key”; something his opponents have often found to their cost.

A child of immigrant parents and state school educated, Philip qualified as Solicitor in 1992 without attending University. He is able to understand the fears and insecurities of aspiring young people who may feel they are disadvantaged by different life experiences or connections from others on the same career path. He is keen to help them develop confidence and identify ways of achieving their goals.

Media Mentor

Jodie Promod

Jodie Promod is Head of Communications at Grant Thornton UK LLP. She has nearly 20 years’ Communications experience in the Automotive and Financial Services sectors.

Jodie began her career in the United States at Delphi Automotive, where she gained invaluable experience in global communications, communicating with both wired and non-wired employees, communicating in a unionised environment, planning and promoting large-scale events, communicating in crisis, maintaining employee engagement through divestitures and acquisitions, communicating with employees during Chapter 11 bankruptcy and fielding media enquiries. She relocated to the United Kingdom in 2009 and joined the Communications team at Grant Thornton, which she now leads.

She is committed to measuring, understanding and nurturing employee engagement to help Grant Thornton employees think, feel and act in ways that help the firm to achieve great business results. She also leads the firm’s PR team, which is responsible for telling the firm’s story to the wider world and managing the firm’s reputation. In this varied role, she has supported the launch of new brands, the implementation of shared ownership and has pioneered new communication channels.

Jodie has a Master of Arts in Communication & Multimedia from Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, USA.