Gary Shuttleworth, Strategic Development Director, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, leads within the business on growth, social impact and external engagement.
Joining in 2019 as Framework Director for the company’s Highways business, Gary became Business Development Director within its Nuclear business in January 2021 before being promoted to his current role in April 2022.
With more than 25 years of multi-sector experience, Gary has a wealth of knowledge in building long-term strategic relationships with customers, identifying and developing future opportunities and understanding market conditions. A founding member of the All Together Cumbria social enterprise and a key supporter of Morgan Sindall Infrastructure’s legacy ambitions, he was appointed to the board of Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster in 2021.
Outside work, Gary enjoys spending time with his family and supporting his local football team.
Emily Hesketh is a Director at Deloitte who specialises in corporate sustainability reporting and assurance. She is an ACA qualified chartered accountant with a background in audit, and her clients are mainly large and/or listed corporate groups and cover a range of industries, including energy and resources, TMT (technology, media, telecom), industrials/manufacturing and retail/consumer.
Emily leads assurance projects for both Annual Reports and sustainability-linked lending and advises companies on ESG (environmental, social, governance), reporting under frameworks such as TCFD, ISSB and CSRD. She has lived and worked in/near Manchester her entire career, excluding two years on secondment to the US.
Since completing her training on Deloitte’s Brightstart apprenticeship/school leaver programme, she now volunteers to promote awareness of the programme in schools and colleges across the North West, focusing on improving social mobility. She is also a member of the Pro-Manchester Green Economy panel and was listed in North West Business Insider’s 2023 Green Power list.
In her spare time, you will find Emily climbing mountains or on her paddleboard, usually with the family dogs, Bert and Ernie!
Iwona Szmidt is Managing Director, Head of Global Currency, Commodities & Derivatives Operations (GCCDO) and GMO Transformation & OpEx (TOpEx) Market Leader and Site Lead for Chester.
Iwona Szmidt joined Bank of America in 2018, in Chester. Iwona started her tenure at BofA as Head of FX Operations & TC, she took on responsibility for the Chester site in 2020, expanded her global functional role to include OTC Derivative Confirmations & Settlement and then Commodities in 2021 and was appointed into her current role in May 2023.
Prior to joining Bank of America, Iwona worked at NatWest Markets (NWM) for seven years, performing several leadership roles, most notably running its Global Collateral and Funding Operations, as well as site lead for Markets Operations at its Manchester Office. Previously to NWM, Iwona spent six years at Morgan Stanley in London in various Derivative Operations Management roles, before moving on to run its EMEA Branch Operations. Earlier Iwona spent six years at Goldman Sachs, in London, in various Treasury & Derivative Operations roles.
Iwona is a member of the GMO SLT, co-chairs the Global Operations and GMO EDI Councils, is a member of the BofA EMEA Philanthropy Board and chairs the Chester Site Steering Group. Iwona is on the boards of Business in the Community’s (BITC) North West Leadership Board and Right to Succeed Liverpool.
Iwona graduated from the University of Liverpool with a B.A. in Architecture.
Iwona’s parents are of Polish origin, but she was born and raised in London and lived there until 2010 when she moved to the Northwest of England. Iwona lives in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, with her husband and young daughter.
As a huge advocate for the growth of the business community and employee talent in the Northwest of England and working in an organisation that believes in supporting and giving back to the communities we work in, Iwona felt that BITC was a great organisation to put her energies into, to truly move the dial on how businesses and the communities of North West England can work together to create great regional opportunities and a brighter future.
Scott Hill joined Capita in April 2019 as a Divisional People Director and has led HR teams and divisional people plans for a number of divisions within Capita. He was promoted to Chief People Officer in March 2022.
He is responsible for implementing the people agenda, supporting and advising the organisation to evolve Capita’s culture and ways of working for our employees.
Scott has over 20 years of global Human Resources experience, predominantly in the outsourcing industry, as well as a great track record in forming and leading large teams through demanding and complex organisational transformations. Prior to joining Capita, Scott was HR Director at Interserve, a global property and FM organisation, providing outsourced services to the public and private sectors in over 20 different countries.
About Business in the Community’s Employment and Skills Leadership Team
Each area of work Business in the Community (BITC) undertakes is led by a group of senior executives who provide strategic guidance and support us in achieving our objectives.
The purpose of Business in the Community’s Employment and Skills Leadership Team is to help create a UK where everyone, regardless of their background or experience, can access the education, employment, and skills they need to thrive throughout their working lives.
Will Shaw has more than 20 years of experience working in the UK Corporate Health & Wellbeing space. Joining Bupa in 2018, he holds P&L accountability for Bupa’s Corporate Private Medical segments in the UK Insurance market. Prior to Bupa, Will worked for Cigna’s UK domestic business for 17 years.
Passionate about helping businesses to create working environments that enable employees to thrive, Will is a valued member of the Business in the Community (BITC) Wellbeing Leadership team. Through his deep understanding of the people challenges employers are currently facing, he helps organisations build the infrastructure that brings the very best out of workforces.
Firmly believing and actively promoting the virtues of positive work/life balance, Will highly prizes his time away from work. When away from the office, you’ll most likely find him spending time with his family, sailing around the Solent and enjoying the countryside with his dog.
About Business in the Community’s Wellbeing Leadership Team
Each area of work Business in the Community (BITC) undertakes is led by a group of senior executives who provide strategic guidance and support us in achieving our objectives.
The purpose of BITC’s Wellbeing Leadership Team is to build a movement that is committed to positioning health and wellbeing as strategic boardroom issues with a particular focus on mental health; driving collective action through evidence-based, practical solutions.
Claire Camara is a future-focused, courageous leader with the tenacity and confidence to effect change and innovation. Claire has delivered exceptional results across several complex organisations and influencing the economic landscape by bringing new skills and establishing new industries e.g., multi-sport events Azerbaijan.
As the Global Chief People Officer for EssenceMediacom – a role she assumed having joined predecessor agency MediaCom in the same role in November 2021 – she is a key member of the Global Exco and leads the EM People Leadership Team, shaping the experience of all 10,000 Essentials throughout the agency network. Reporting directly to the Global CEO, Claire works co-operatively to design and deliver people-centric strategies that deliver an inclusive and strategically aligned people plan. She leads a team of experts focused on fostering a culture of inclusivity, developing leaders globally, promoting engagement and recognition, enhancing inclusivity, and creating the conditions for every essential to deliver their best work.
Prior to joining the agency, Claire held a number of international roles where she delivered excellent results and a long-term legacy for the country, organisation and all those involved; these include the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Baku 2015 First Olympic Games and the Baku 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games. She has also gained a breadth of commercial experience working in organisations such as The Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer PLC, Superdrug, and the Princes Youth Business Trust.
About Business in the Community’s Race Leadership Team
Each area of work Business in the Community (BITC) undertakes is led by a group of senior executives who provide strategic guidance and support us in achieving our objectives.
The purpose of BITC’s Race Equality Leadership Team is to support employers to help break down the barriers that prevent the progression of ethnic minorities in their workplaces and show how an inclusive organisation better serves its customers, clients and communities.
Robert Hamlin is Chief Strategy Officer for CityFibre, leading CityFibre’s strategy, commercial development and mergers and acquisitions activities. He is also the ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) champion leading the responsible business strategy.
He joined CityFibre in 2012 as part of the early executive team and has led the commercial development of the business, including key customer partnerships and acquisitions. Additionally, he is a trustee for the Forever Colours Children’s Hospice.
Robert has over 20 years of experience in growing infrastructure-based telecoms, and media and technology companies. These included roles as Enterprise Director and Strategy Director at Arqiva, the largest broadcast and tower infrastructure operator in the UK, and being a non-executive director (NED) on the board of YouView. Before that, he was in the investment banking team at Macquarie and led Corporate Development at IT provider Logicalis.
Business in the Communty’s place programme
Business in the Community’s (BITC) Place Programme is about bringing everyone together in a place to act collaboratively. To act on long-term goals, based on a common agreement of the challenges, opportunities and solutions and drawing on the strengths of everyone in that community, whether they are a business, a community organisation or from the public sector.
Our mission
To facilitate meaningful connections between businesses, communities, and local councils to reset economic ambitions and collaborate on new, innovative solutions that will deliver long-term, transformative impact.
Andrew Guest is a former teacher and now a strategic leader with experience across the full range of engineering and development services of the Mott MacDonald Group, a large employee-owned global company.
Andrew has a particular track record in account leadership and programme delivery on a range of public sector partnership work. He has significant experience in the education and social care sectors. He is the leader of 450 engineering professionals operating across most major building and infrastructure projects within Wales, Midlands and the Southwest of England.
Business in the Communty’s place programme
Business in the Community’s (BITC) Place Programme is about bringing everyone together in a place to act collaboratively. To act on long-term goals, based on a common agreement of the challenges, opportunities and solutions and drawing on the strengths of everyone in that community, whether they are a business, a community organisation or from the public sector.
Our mission
To facilitate meaningful connections between businesses, communities, and local councils to reset economic ambitions and collaborate on new, innovative solutions that will deliver long-term, transformative impact.
Steven Cooper CBE is the CEO of Aldermore Group, a leading specialist lending and savings bank.
Previously Steven was CEO of C.Hoare & Co and prior to that a Senior Executive at Barclays where he held a number of executive positions including CEO of Personal Banking for UK & Europe and CEO UK Business Banking.
Steven is Chair of Experian UK, a Non-Executive Director (NED) of the recruitment firm Robert Walters PLC and he was a Co-Chair of the Social Mobility Commission until 2021.
He is a passionate advocate for social mobility; he is a regular speaker and media commentator on the issue and has recently joined forces with former Cabinet Minister Justine Greening to form the Equality of Opportunity Coalition.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Herriot Watt University and made a Commander of the British Empire – both for services to banking and social mobility.
About Business in the Community’s Employment and Skills Leadership Team
Each area of work Business in the Community (BITC) undertakes is led by a group of senior executives who provide strategic guidance and support us in achieving our objectives.
The purpose of Business in the Community’s Employment and Skills Leadership Team is to help create a UK where everyone, regardless of their background or experience, can access the education, employment, and skills they need to thrive throughout their working lives.
This event, Responsible Business in Action- North West is part of the Business in the Community (BITC) series of events being held across the English Regions, Wales and Scotland, throughout 2023, each bringing together local business leaders.
These events provide a unique opportunity to work together and collaborate to tackle the cost-of-living crisis we are currently facing and build on the impact BITC working with our members has had over our 40-year history.
Take action today
We recommend the following actions for Responsible Business in Action- North West roadshow delegates to get more involved with BITC and take collective action to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
Work with other businesses in the North West to make a difference
Cost-of_Living Crisis
For 40 years, BITC and its members and stakeholders have been addressing the issues that the cost-of-living crisis is exacerbating. We know the severity of what is happening right now and the mounting pressures that your businesses may be under too.
Categorised into four areas: supporting employees, customers, communities and suppliers, our cost-of-living resources provide a host of resources to aid your business at this critical time.
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