The Mayor’s Business Advisory Board
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, has formed a Business Advisory Board to champion London's economic growth. Meet the business leaders.
Board goals
- Help the Mayor meet his manifesto commitment to be the most pro-business Mayor yet.
- Advise the Mayor on the major issues facing London's economy.
- Share creative and innovative ideas to improve City Hall policy making.
Board makeup
- Membership is made up of top-flight business leaders who reflect the diversity and dynamism of London's economy.
- 10 out of 15 board members are women.
- Five board members are from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background.
- Members of the board are not paid for their roles.
Board meetings
- The Board meets a minimum of four times a year.
- The Mayor chairs the meetings and the Deputy Mayor for Business also attends.
- Members are encouraged to share their insights from business and participate in open discussion with the Mayor.
Board members
Julie Abraham became CEO of hi-fi retail chain Richer Sounds in April 2017. She started working for the company in 1994 and most recently served as IT Director.
Omid Ashtari was previously the General Manager at London start-up Citymapper. Before joining Citymapper, Omid was Managing Director of Foursquare Europe.
Anne Boden founded Starling in 2014 after a 30-year career at some of the world’s best-known financial companies. She was awarded an MBE for services to financial technology in 2018.
Julie Brown joined Burberry in January 2017 as Chief Operating and Financial Officer. She has previously led finance, commercial and strategy functions for AstraZeneca and Smith & Nephew. Julie is also the chair of Roche's audit committee.
Constantin Cotzias is a Director of Bloomberg Europe and Chairs the Bloomberg London office. He heads government relations, business development and strategy globally and is a Board Director of Bloomberg’s regulated trading platforms.
Kym Denny joined Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge, as their Entrepreneur in Residence for the Life Sciences in August 2019. Kym was CEO of hVIVO, a specialty biopharma company from 2010 to 2018. Kym led the company’s highly successful IPO on AIM in 2012 and led several successful fundraising drives totalling almost £100 million. Kym also sits on the Mayor’s Skills for Londoners Board.
Sir Lloyd Dorfman is the Chairman of Doddle, the founder of Travelex Group (the world’s largest retailer of foreign exchange, which started from one shop in London), was Chairman of The Office Group (2010-2017) and has a variety of other business interests. He Chairs the Prince’s Trust and is on the board of the Royal Academy, the Royal Opera House and BAFTA. Sir Lloyd was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018 for his services to philanthropy and the arts.
Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia received a Damehood for her contribution to financial services and women in the finance industry in the Queen’s New Year Honours List 2019 and became Salesforce’s UK and Ireland CEO in October 2019. Dame Jayne-Anne stepped down from her role as the CEO of Virgin Money after 11 years in Oct 2018.
Dame Vivian Hunt is the Chief Innovation Officer at UnitedHealth Group. Previously, Dame Vivian served as a Managing Partner for McKinsey & Company, UK and Ireland, where she provided strategic advice to leading firms in the private, public and third sectors, with a particular focus on strategy, innovation and performance transformation.
Asma Khan opened the award-winning Darjeeling Express restaurant in June 2017. Prior to this, Asma hosted a supper club in her home from 2012 and then opened a pop-up in Soho in 2015. Asma was the first British chef to feature in the Netflix documentary series Chefs Table.
Shalini Khemka founded The E2E Group (E2Exchange, E2E Invest and E2E Exec) in 2011. Shalini is also a Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE) and a judge for the Great British Entrepreneurship awards.
Nicola Mendelsohn is the Vice President for Meta’s Global Business Group. Nicola joined Meta (formally known as Facebook) in 2013 and is responsible for leading the group’s advertising across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Nikhil was appointed Chief Executive of the FCA in October 2020. He began his career in HM Treasury before serving as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister between 2005 – 2008. Nikhil then became Head of the Financial Stability Unit before becoming HM Treasury’s Director of the Financial Services Group from 2009 – 2014. Nikhil joined the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2014, and was appointed CEO in 2015.
Sir William Sargent co-founded Framestore in 1986. Framestore’s is today a world-renowned film visual effects and animation company based in London, New York, Los Angeles and Montreal. Sir William was knighted by the Queen in 2008.
Debbie Wosskow co-founded AllBright, a club and community that champions and connects women in business. Debbie is an experienced innovator, business founder, investor, Board advisor and entrepreneur. Debbie was the founder and former CEO of Love Home Swap. In 2016, she was awarded an OBE for services to business.