Surrey Business Leaders Forum

Tim Wates

Director - Wates Group

Tim Wates is a Director of Wates Group one of the UKs leading privately owned Construction, property services and development Companies. Wates Head office is in Leatherhead.

Tim is a Chair / non-executive director of two SMEs, is a trustee of the Clink charity, a member of the Advisory board for the Judge Business School at Cambridge University and a trustee of various Family Charitable Trusts. He was Chair of the Coast to Capital LEP for six years until July 2020 and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Surrey.

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Andrew Smith OBE

Corporate Affairs Director - Pinewood Studios

Andrew joined Pinewood Studios in June 2008 as Corporate Affairs Director. Prior to this, Andrew was Managing Partner of The Policy Partnership. Andrew is currently a member of the Film Skills Council, the British Film Commission Advisory Board, the British Screen Advisory Board and BAFTA.

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Graham Gibson

Chief Claims Officer - Allianz UK

Graham joined Allianz as Director, Claims in June 2008 with responsibility for customer service delivery and technical integrity and he is a member of the AZ Commercial Executive Committee. Over and above his claims responsibilities Graham has ownership of Procurement & Workspace Services, Complaints and Fraud at a company level. Recently he became responsible for the Inspection Services Engineering business.​
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Graham represents Allianz in a number of market initiatives and was formerly a member of the Civil Justice Council, a Director of the Claims Portal, the Chartered Insurance Institute’s, Claims Faculty Advisory Board and a Director of AGF. Currently, he is the Chairman of Thatcham, the Chairman of Allianz Pensions Trustees, The Chairman of AEIS Ltd and a Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau. ​

In addition he is a member of the Allianz Global Claims Committee which sets the Strategy for Claims at a group level.​
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Graham is a regular speaker at industry seminars and a contributor to trade press articles.

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Richard Grainger (Chair)

Chairman - Liberation Group

Richard worked in the City of London for over 25 years. Having qualified with Price Waterhouse, Richard joined the corporate finance department of Hill Samuel Bank in 1987 prior to moving with the team to Close Brothers Corporate Finance (“CBCF”) in 1996. Richard was Chief Executive of CBCF during its most successful growth period between 2001 and 2007. During this time, Richard was involved driving the growth of the UK business and developing and expanding Close Brothers International. Previously, he ran the Leisure and Retail Team and founded their Restructuring Team. Richard sat on the Management Board of Close Brothers Group plc for six years and finished as Chairman of CBCF in June 2009.

An Oxford graduate and a qualified Chartered Accountant, Richard is currently Chairman of Liberation Group, the brewer, pub owner and drinks wholesaler and Chairman of McKay Securities PLC, a Property Investment Trust (REIT). He is a trustee of Horatio’s Garden, a spinal injuries charity. Previous roles include the Chairmanships of Safestore Plc, Palmer & Harvey PLC, Ipes and Harrington Brooks.

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Jean-Philippe Launberg

Strategy & Business Director - Gordon Murray

Throughout my career I have been fortunate to have worked on a wide variety of vehicle and powertrain projects, and strategic expatriate assignments around the world. This experience has enabled the development of a broad set of technical, managerial and leadership skills and behaviours that I am ready to apply to accelerate transportation (and not just automotive) efficiency, electrification and drive profitable sustainability.

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Alison Addy

Head of External Engagement and Policy - Gatwick Airport

In almost 27 years at Gatwick Airport, Alison’s career spans planning, airport development, and
community engagement. Since 2020 she has led Gatwick’s External Engagement and Policy
team, focusing on building relationships with external stakeholders to identify and understand
the key issues and influence policies relevant to Gatwick’s business recovery and future plans,
both locally and nationally. This includes a strategic focus on the theme of people, community
and economy within our sustainability strategy – Decade of Change to 2030

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Amy O’Callaghan

Economic Development, Public Policy (Amazon)

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Richard Maughan

Senior Director, UK Policy and Public Affairs - Pfizer

Richard Maughan works at Pfizer as Senior Director, UK Policy and Public Affairs.

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Chris Lee

CFO - Jellyfish

Went to school in Redhill and then Reigate College 6th form.
Studied Economics at Loughborough University whilst working with and being sponsored by BAA and involved in the building and set up of Terminal 5 and the Heathrow Express rail link.
Started with Jellyfish in Reigate 16 years ago and have helped build Jellyfish from starting in early pay per click services to now being a global business with 40 offices in 25 countries. We have a team of 2,500 fantastic digital experts providing a full range of leading digital services to global brands and partnering with Google, Meta and Amazon.
Hugely supportive of the local community and Surrey as a whole.

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Dominic Wake

Head of Market Access and Corporate Affairs - Sandoz

Over 15 years’ experience in communications, government affairs, market access, policy and marketing, in pharmaceuticals and professional services. Roles at AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and H+K Strategies.

Strategic leader skilled in communications, patient group liaison, healthcare policy and access and a respected people manager.

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Mark Leftwich

Market Leader, Personal Health - Philips

Mark has been with Philips for nearly two decades and holds a formidable track record in accelerating the growth strategy across the business and contributing to the company’s role as a responsible UK business, from taking steps to combat the systemic health inequalities faced across the UK, to working with schools to improve the quality of the air our children breathe and in the face of national crisis, supporting our National Health System’s resilience in delivering life-saving care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Philips Foundation lead for UK and Ireland, Mark plays a key role in delivering projects focused on improving the lives of the communities

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Mike McNicholas

Managing Director, Infrastructure - Atkins Global

Mike McNicholas is the MD of Infrastructure for Atkins Global

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Ben Clifford

Global Health, Safety and Sustainability Associate Director (Fidelity International)

Ben Jenkins

Corporate Affairs Director - Asahi UK

Ben is the Corporate Affairs Director for Asahi UK.

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Chris Targowski

Economic Development, Amazon

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Jon Elliott MBE

Head of UK and Ireland Government Engagement, Haleon

Jon Elliott leads UK and Irish government engagement at Haleon plc, the world’s largest consumer healthcare company. Prior to joining Haleon Jon spent 3 years at AstraZeneca, where he led global government affairs strategy and prior to that UK government engagement on R&D including the development and delivery of AZ’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Before joining AZ Jon spent over 10 years in the UK Civil Service, working across multiple departments on the domestic and international agendas. Some highlights from his time there include negotiations with the US and the EU on post-Brexit regulation and trade and as part of the emergency response to crises such as the Ebola and Zika outbreaks.
He holds a degree in biological sciences from the University of Aberdeen and was awarded an MBE in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to British life-sciences and the COVID-19 response.

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Claire Mohacek

Economic Development Policy (Amazon)

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Helen Foord

Head of Global Government Affairs (McLaren Automotive Ltd)

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Chris Hurren

Office Managing Partner RSM UK

Chris is the Office Managing Partner of the RSM Guildford office, providing services across the county. RSM is a leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services to middle market leaders, globally.
Chris has been working with larger owner managed and private equity backed businesses for over 25 years. Chris is passionate about the local business community and keen that he and his local team at RSM help put Surrey on the map as one of the best places to do business in the Country.

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Yvonne Spencer

Director of Science Transformation - APHA

Yvonne Spencer is the Director of Science Transformation for the Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA).

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Jack Nicholson

Land and Development Director (Berkeley Group Plc)

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Katia Malcaus

Community Engagement and Public Affairs (Gordan Murray Design)

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Vic Chetty

Senior Stakeholder Engagement Manager (Heathrow Airport Ltd)

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