Kate Ancketill – CEO and founder, GDR
Kate is a business futurist with a tech, consumer, retail and brand specialisation, making complex societal shifts and emerging technologies relatable for any audience. She has delivered the trends keynote for the world's largest retail conference, the NRF Big Show for the last eight years.
As CEO and founder of GDR, Kate is innovation partner to around 30 of the world's largest consumer brands, including Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Target, P&G, Costa Coffee, Coca-Cola, Clorox, Danone, Google, Microsoft, Jaguar Landrover and Lego.
Rachel is responsible for leading the University of Glasgow’s strategy for external engagement covering an integrated portfolio of Marketing and Communications; Brand and Reputation Management; Student Recruitment; Admissions; International Policy and Partnerships; Widening Access and Lifelong Learning; Development and Alumni Relations; and Civic Engagement. Rachel is also the University’s Refugee & Asylum Seeker Champion. Rachel is the University’s Universitas 21 network Senior Leader, a Board member of the University’s European network, The Guild, and the University lead for the CIVIS European University Alliance, thereby supporting the activity of a global group of research-intensive universities. Rachel is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and currently a Global Trustee of CASE, whilst also contributing to several sector advisory boards both at home and overseas.
Karan Bilimoria is the founder of Cobra Beer, Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited, a Joint Venture with Molson Coors, and Chairman of Molson Coors Cobra India. In the Monde Selection, one of the most prestigious quality awards in the world for beer, the Cobra range have collectively been awarded a total of 128 Gold and Grand Gold medals since 2001, making it one of the most awarded beers in the world.
Lord Bilimoria is the Founding Chairman of the UK India Business Council, a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, a former Chancellor of Thames Valley University (now the University of West London); he was the youngest University Chancellor in the UK when appointed. Karan was a former Senior Non-Executive Director of the Booker Group now TESCO PLC (2007-2016); he is one of the first two visiting entrepreneurs at the University of Cambridge; he is a founding member of the Prime Minister of India’s Global Advisory Council. In 2006, Karan Bilimoria was appointed the Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, making him the first ever Zoroastrian Parsi to sit in the House of Lords. In 2008 he was awarded the Pravasi Bharti Samman by the President of India. He is an Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), an Honorary Fellow of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge and was Chair of the Advisory Board of the Judge Business School, Cambridge University from 2015-2020 and subsequently appointed as an Honorary Ambassador. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and graduated in law from the University of Cambridge. He is also an alumnus through executive education of the Cranfield School of Management, the London Business School and the Harvard Business School. In July 2014, he was installed as the seventh Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, making him the first Indian-born Chancellor of a Russell Group University in Great Britain, and he is the President of the UK Council for International Students Affairs (UKCISA). Since 2017 Lord Bilimoria has been a Bynum Tudor Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford. Lord Bilimoria is an Honorary Group Captain in 601 Squadron Royal Air Force. In June 2020, he was appointed President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). In September 2020, he was appointed as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford based at the Centre for Corporate Reputation. Karan has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from University of East Anglia, University of Birmingham, Brunel University, Cranfield University, University of Exeter, Heriot-Watt University, London Metropolitan University, Staffordshire University, York St John University, University of West London (previously Thames Valley University), and University of Westminster. Karan is also President of The UK Council on International Student Affairs (UKCISA) and Co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Students. In June 2022, Karan became a non-remunerative Trustee of Policy Exchange, a non-profit educational charity.
Andrew Murphy is a Senior Advisor for the global strategy consulting firm Bain & Co and Co-founder of GreenFox Energy - a fast growing provider of domestic solar energy solutions.
Andrew spent the majority of his career working for The John Lewis Partnership - the UK’s 10th largest private sector employer and the parent group of Waitrose supermarkets & John Lewis Department Stores - ultimately as Group Chief Operating Officer.
Andrew is a Board Director of Clicklink - a leading eFulfilment logistics provider, Chair of the Scottish Government’s Retail Industry Leadership Group, the former Chair of the Scottish Retail Consortium and was founding Chair of Scotland's first city centre Business Improvement District; Essential Edinburgh.
JJ Chalmers is a TV Presenter with a remarkable story. The career of the former Royal Marine Commando was cut short after he suffered life-changing injuries following an IED explosion in Afghanistan. After years of rehabilitation, JJ went on to compete in the 2014 Invictus Games where he captained the Trike Cycling team and took home three medals.
As a spokesperson for this inaugural Invictus Games JJ got an insight into TV during the publicity rounds and seeking a new and thrilling adventure led JJ to embark on a broadcasting career.
He hit the ground running in 2016 with a Studio Presenter role for the Rio Paralympics and since 2017 has anchored BBC1's coverage of the Invictus Games. JJ has become a key part of the BBC's sports team with highlights including The Commonwealth Games and The London Marathon. As part of the BBC's Ceremonial coverage JJ commentates on The Lord Mayor's Show and considers himself privileged to have been involved in the D Day Memorial coverage, Trooping The Colour, The Duke of Edinburgh's and Her Majesty The Queen's funeral programming. Other BBC credits include The One Show, BBC Breakfast, Wild Escapes, Pilgrimage, The People Remember and the acclaimed documentary for Radio 5 Live From Helmand and Back.
2020 saw JJ join the cast of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1 dancing all the way to the Quarter Finals. Swapping the dance floor for his workshop JJ joined BBC1's Money For Nothing showcasing his crafting and design skills. JJ continues to be an integral part of the BBC1's Olympic presenter squad and Channel Four's Paralympics coverage. For Channel 5 JJ has fronted the 3 part series Dunkirk plus he joined The Chelsea Flower Show and Gardeners World Team for the BBC. This year sees JJ hosting Scotland's Greatest Escapes for the BBC in which he showcases the best places to stay and Beyond Bombs: a podcast series for The Halo Trust.
JJ is an Ambassador for both Help For Heroes and a Trustee for The Invictus Games Foundation
Aileen is Head of Tourism & Conventions at the award-winning Glasgow Convention Bureau, responsible for the successful positioning of Glasgow as a conference destination for national and international association meetings. In addition, Aileen’s role includes Tourism and Destination Management for the city. At a national level, Aileen is a member of the Scottish Tourism & Hospitality Industry Leadership Group.
As a keen supporter of the meetings industry, Aileen currently sits on the ICCA (International Conference & Conventions Association) Board as Vice President and Destination Sector Co-Chair.
Tim is the CEO of Global Student Living, the world’s leading student housing data and analytics firm. Proudly founded in the UK, Global Student Living now provides insights and advice to hundreds of PBSA investors, operators and developers across more than 17 countries and 4 continents
Charlotte joined the EAUC team in February 2023 as CEO and is responsible for the strategic leadership of the organisation. She has over fifteen years’ leadership experience across membership and tertiary education organisations where she’s focused on business development, transformational engagement and policy and advocacy.
Before joining EAUC she was the Education and Training Foundation’s education for sustainable development (ESD) lead and prior to that was a keystone of NUS’ sustainability work, most notably project managing the UNESCO ESD prize winning Green Impact programme from its inception. She was a co-founder of Students Organizing for Sustainability International. She’s previously held senior teaching associate positions at the University of Bristol and was a sustainability consultant working with private and public sector clients prior to her tenure at NUS.
Charlotte has an MSc in energy and environmental technologies, is a Fellow of the RSA and a board member at Change Agents UK. She lives in Scarborough and is happiest when on her bike, travelling overland or cooking for friends.
Rosie is the Sustainability Business Partner for CH&CO, leading operational sustainability for over 1000 sites in the UK and Ireland, delivering against CH&Co’s ambitious sustainability strategy. Covering a wide range of sites, from state schools to Buckingham palace, she advises on operational sustainability and project manages company-wide sustainability innovations.
A combined love of hospitality and sustainability led her from duty managing restaurants to working for the NGO the Sustainable Restaurant Association, where, amongst other things, she worked on an EU Life project focused on carbon labelling in workplace and university canteens. This was followed by working at University College London for Gather & Gather as the only on-site sustainability manager within the group. There she delivered against the comprehensive sustainable food policy set out by the university, focusing on reporting, stakeholder management and delivering key projects around reusable cups, carbon labelling and reduction, and plastic elimination.
Vicky provides leadership of all of the University’s residential and sport services operations; ensuring the delivery of quality services for students (and staff).
She leads on the development and delivery of an effective long term strategy for the residential and sports offer in addition to providing leadership and insight, acting as a senior representative of the University in the management of relationships between the University’s students and members of the communities in which they reside.
Prior to this role Vicky was Head of Sport and Active Lifestyles at the University, a role she held for over 7 years. Her background involves roles at The University of Birmingham, Badminton England and Birmingham City Council. Vicky has held Director Roles on the board of British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and Lancashire Sport and is currently an Independent Non-Exec Director for Rossendale Leisure Trust.
Phil is responsible for the delivery of commercial initiatives across UEA, providing leadership and management of resources in support of wider strategic planning and specific themes and projects.
Joining the University of East Anglia in 2012, initially as Director of Sport, Phil has overseen the development of a sport and physical activity programme that has gone from strength to strength and in that time been recognised by BUCS for campus physical activity engagement and workforce development programmes.
In 2018 his role expanded to manage UEA’s other key commercial service departments incorporating Accommodation (both student residences and an independent hotel service), Catering, Retail and Nursery services, ensuring UEA has a diverse range of commercial services that will make the campus an attractive place to live, work and study, as well as offering excellent experiences for the local community within UEA’s role as an anchor institution in Norwich.
Jo has worked in both the private and HE Sector for 30 years, working her way up from “office junior” in a family business to Chief Operating Officer at Leeds Trinity University.
Led by values and a commitment to making student lives better Jo has championed change and strived to ensure campus support services that are fundamental to student experience are front and centre of University operations and that the people in those roles are celebrated and valued also.
Melissa has worked within the student accommodation sector since 2009 and has gained invaluable experience within the Private and HEI sector. Melissa is the Deputy Director of Commercial Services and Estates at the University of Kent, she has been in post since 2022. She is responsible for and provides strategic management for a comprehensive integrated range of value-added services including catering, conferencing, residential accommodation, sport and recreation and Marketing. She has extensive experience gained in managing both in-house and 3rd party contract staff, with direct strategic and operational management responsibilities, including managing Soft Services Contracts, New Builds, Mobilisation and Refurbishment Projects, Capital Investment works, Third Party Lettings/Commercial Summer Lettings and Outsourced and Inhouse Catering.
Melissa has been a member of various Senior Leadership Teams throughout her career. As a trained life coach Melissa has focused her career on the importance of investing and developing people to create effective, diverse and happy working environments which will allow teams to ‘thrive’ and achieve organisation goals and objectives. She specialises in Leadership development, building training programmes, managing teams through organisational change, promoting Culture and EDI initiatives within organisations whilst meeting commercial objective and targets.
Melissa's vision for her role at CUBO is to create a CUBO L&D framework that supports the goals and ambitions of the CUBO members. Working actively with current and new members to create impactful training and mentoring opportunities for leaders and their teams which will add value to organisations and the people within them.
A long-standing lover of food, Paul’s culinary journey was inspired by his mum and auntie who nurtured his passion for cuisine from an early age.
Paul launched HIT’s award-winning Chef Academy in 2016, establishing it as a world class training and development centre with a reputation for exploring different cultures through food.
In 2017, under Paul’s leadership, the Chef Academy was rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and the following year, it won a highly acclaimed Catey award. The Academy now works with figureheads such as Marcus Wareing and Raymond Blanc to further its reputation as the best of the best.
Paul teaches martial arts Ninpo Taijutsu in his spare time. He likes cooking socially, DIY and spending time in his garden. He also enjoys reading about military history.
Jenny has worked for Unite Students on HE sector engagement for the last ten years, and prior to this spent 17 years in the sector itself. She leads on student experience insight, national HE engagement and sector-wide projects.
Luke Warren is a dynamic and accomplished CEO of Kinetic with a strong passion for innovation in higher education. As a visionary leader with a rich background in the EdTech industry, Luke has been instrumental in driving Kinetic’s vision and strategic direction and instilling customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and technology exploration into Kinetic’s culture.
Under Luke's leadership, Kinetic has achieved significant milestones, including securing 1st place on the APUC framework (ITS1051AP) and the acquisition of CELCAT, a leading HE Academic Scheduling software provider. His success has led to his recognition as the Most Influential Higher Ed Software CEO by CEO Monthly.
Luke is committed to making Kinetic an unrivalled market leader, leveraging its relationship with Volaris Group, Kinetic's parent company, to deliver cutting-edge software solutions that meet the evolving needs of higher education institutions.
James is an experienced hospitality practitioner and consultant, with over 25 years’ experience in the industry.
He has worked closely with leading hotels, food businesses, universities, the NHS, and local government, to review and develop catering strategies, develop new food concepts, and manage new outlet design projects. James has also written, developed, and delivered training programmes for leading international hotel, travel, and leisure operators.
Qualified to master’s level in Organisation Development and Consultancy, James is currently furthering his education through studying a part-time PhD exploring success and failure in new restaurants. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and is an experienced university lecturer in hospitality management.
Russell Partnership Collection are the UK’s leading Food, Nutrition and Technology Collection delivering creative and commercially viable results to over 600 clients across 30 countries.
Greg is Residence Life Manager at The University of Sheffield with responsibility for the Student Support team, the residences Conduct team, and currently the Engagement and Development team.
The E&D team deliver a broad Residence Life programme in partnership with Sport Shefield and the Student's Union. The Conduct team has responsibility for managing student behaviour in residences and has been developing new systems and outcomes to respond to allegations of misconduct while ensuring the delivery of proactive and educational content.
Greg studied an MA in Higher Education Student Affairs and completed an internship in Ohio as well as attending conferences and study tours to help inform the development of novel and award winning initiatives, Greg has a particular passion for ensuring the Residence Life team are instrumental in delivering The University's equality, diversity and inclusion strategy.
Robert joined Higher Education, having spent 17 years in the private sector working for the John Lewis Partnership. An Arts graduate of the University of St Andrews, his retail experience spans the entire length and breadth of the UK from Aberdeen to Poole and from Norwich to Manchester in a variety of store and head office roles. Immediately prior to joining the University of Glasgow he was Head of Branch at John Lewis Aberdeen, having previously fulfilled the same role for a new store opening in York in 2014. He has been in post at Glasgow since February 2018.
Commercial Services was a newly formed function at Glasgow in 2018 and includes Catering & Events, Accommodation, Retail, Sport, Print and the University Nursery. With a combined annual turnover of some £36m, previously these individual services were all managed separately, so the bringing together under Robert’s leadership provided an ideal platform for growth in revenue and contribution, business development and improvement in customer experience.
Helen currently works as Head of Campus Facilities Management at Staffordshire University, having responsibility for a wide range of staff and student facing services, including; sustainability, waste, water, cleaning provision, porting, travel, transport and post services. She also leads the Estates and Commercial Services aspects of the onsite Graduation Awards seasons.
Helen is a member of IEMA, working towards chartership in the near future and also trying broaden her facilities management knowledge. She graduated from Newcastle University in 2008 with BSc Hons. in Environmental Biology and gained her MSc in Environmental Sustainability and Green Technologies from Keele University in 2013. A keen netballer, Helen has recently returned to the sport after over 10 years not playing!
Helen has also worked in a number of government bodies and HE institutions in environmental and sustainability roles and has first hand experience of the changes in the sector in relation to our environment and our impact on both the local environment, but how this also impacts global aspects.
Daniel is the Accommodation Office Manager at the University of Sheffield, responsible for the letting and administration of the University Accommodation portfolio. In addition, Daniel is also responsible for Smart Move Sheffield, a service that both operates a registration scheme and promotes Private Sector accommodation to students at the University of Sheffield.
Before joining the University of Sheffield Daniel worked for both third sector and private accommodation providers. Daniel has experience of not only managing but mobilising sites and has experience of managing properties from a 1 bedroom garage conversion to a 543 bed block of Purpose Built Student Accommodation.
Daniel regularly provides insights into areas best practice in student accommodation including allocation methods, non-standard lettings and specialist cohorts such as LGBT+ and quieter accommodation. He has experience in the delivery and development of a number of both local and national accommodation accreditation schemes sits as a University representative on a number of Citywide partnerships as well as working as an independent verifier.
Robin has worked in student accommodation since 2003, with his most recent role at Bournemouth University (BU), as Head of Residential Services, where he has been in post since January 2015.
During his 18 years, he has worked for both universities and private providers and, as such, has a unique perspective from both sectors. Robin has used this to adopt and develop a collaborative approach between university and private providers to deliver student community lead portfolios that are constantly considering and adapting to the changing needs of the modern student, thereby helping to expand the reach and recognition of student accommodation as an important, and integral, part of the broader higher education experience.
Most recently at BU, Robin has introduced a unique Residential Life programme that is a true partnership arrangement between BU's private sector providers, BU's student services as well as SUBU (BU Student Union), demonstrating how universities and the private sector can work together to achieve mutually beneficial aims and outcomes for their students, residents, or customers.
I’m Chloe and I am the Residence Life Manager at Futurelets, Coventry University. I have worked in higher education for 8 years and in Residence Life for 5 years. My strong passion for student support and student experience has shaped my journey and developed my career path allowing me the opportunity to positively impact student living. Having completed my degree in Childhood, Education and Society, I gained skills and knowledge to progress in higher education and it has inspired me to support a younger generation to be the best they can be.
Since starting up the ResLife programme in Coventry, I have been part of the vast growth and success which the programme has achieved and since managing the programme from 2021, I have had the opportunity to implement support projects and initiatives to enhance the student living experience.
I'm Meg Powers and I'm a Reslife Coordinator for Futurelets at Coventry University. In my role I enjoy using my skills to contribute to improving the student experience. My recent performance and leadership skills have earned me a shortlisted place as New Professional of the Year at the 2023 CUBO Residence Life conference.
I use my positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed in the promotion of Reslife.
My education includes a BA Hons in Theatre Studies, and my background has been based around dance and fitness. I use this experience as a transferrable skill for the Futurelets Reslife programme to enhance the wellbeing of our residents.
Sarah joined UCL in 2019 and has been the Head of Marketing, Communications & Experience since 2021, responsible for the strategic student experience, marketing, and communications for the Campus Experience and Infrastructure department.
Her early career was spent in FE at North Kent College (NKC), but after achieving the CIM Professional Certificate in Marketing, she moved into HEI at UCL, and has since developed and overseen the implementation of a range of projects across both accommodation and the wider campus to encourage engagement and brand loyalty.
Some key successes include being responsible for the creation and delivery of a virtual ResLife programme during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing online events and welfare support for UCL Accommodation residents, and the refurbishment of the North Lodge building, creating a central Welcome Point for both internal and external stakeholders, the first of its kind at UCL, which she is now keen to grow.
An advocate for the importance of understanding the potential audience, Sarah has become a champion in broadcasting how student, staff, and visitor experience should be incorporated as a pillar throughout any project or campaign
Emilia Olsen is a Strategy & Experience Manager at UCL within the Campus Experience & Infrastructure division. Committed to Customer Experience (CX) and co-production in universities, her work focuses on student engagement, research, and peer-to-peer programmes - developing and delivering strategic projects to enhance the experience for students, staff, and visitors at UCL.
Since joining UCL in 2021, Emilia has worked on a wide range of projects including leading a year-long qualitative research project designed to assess the Accommodation experience and identify opportunities for improvement, collaborating with the Student Support & Wellbeing team to implement and expand UCL’s ResLife programme, and managing the Campus Experience Ambassador programme.
I am currently the Deputy Director of Accommodation and Commercial Services at the University of Sheffield having previously been Head of Accommodation Services for twelve years. Previous roles were with LSE, Royal Holloway and City University and I have experience of both residential and hospitality operations along with management of sportsground, nursery and IT and internal audit functions.
Over the past decade I have been particularly interested in the development of Residence Life in the UK, leading me to study tours and conferences across North America, Australia and Europe and a commitment to supporting this growth at Sheffield and at other institutions through CUBO and professional contacts. Having experienced the huge benefits of this international sharing of knowledge, I'm keen to promote this for colleagues across CUBO along with supporting the organisation more generally.
I currently work as Head of Commercial Finance at Loughborough University, supporting the financial management of commercial services including accommodation, catering and sport. I qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) in 2017 after receiving the highest mark worldwide in two of my professional examinations.
I live in Leicestershire with my wife and daughter and away from work make regular trips north to watch Preston North End FC. I graduated from Loughborough University in 2013 with a First Class Honours in Sport and Exercise Science. Prior to moving to Loughborough I grew up in Chorley, Lancashire as a keen sports person and in 2010 I was the runner up in the National Junior Crown Green Bowls Championship.
Amanda Castray is Ulster University’s Director of Campus Life leading Sports Services, Student Accommodation, Catering, Conferencing and Events across four campuses. With a vision of creating Thriving Campus Communities, Amanda leads a team of 110 staff, developing and implementing strategies, policies, programs and partnerships to support the non-academic aspects of university life for students, as well as continually improving standards of campus services for staff, members and the community. Under her leadership, the University’s student experience has rated No. 1 in Northern Ireland and services have won multiple UK higher-education awards. In the last academic year, Amanda led the successful transition and welcome of 15,000 students into the new £360M, 75,000m2 Ulster University campus in Belfast city.
Amanda’s career has spanned the public and private sectors, developing policy, delivering projects and services, and leading people across the energy, services and higher-education sectors in Australia and the UK. She led a successful $100m+ public-private student accommodation deal and a $400m bid for new University STEM facilities in Tasmania. Amanda holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Executive Leadership, a Bachelor of Commerce Degree with First Class Honours from the University of Tasmania, has completed Harvard Business School, Melbourne Business School leadership, Tasmanian Leaders and Institute of Director programs.
Amanda moved to Belfast from Tasmania with her two children in 2018. In 2020, she was named one of the top 50 ‘women of influence’ in Irish sport and she was a finalist in the 2017 Australian Business Women’s Awards (Tasmania) in recognition of her leadership abilities. She is a passionate advocate for wellbeing and regularly competes in running events to raise money for mental health, completing the 2020 Belfast Marathon and 2021 and 2022 Belfast Half-Marathon as well as Team events each year.
Kirsty joined the University of Leicester in 2010 and has been Director of Campus Services since September 2016. She was previously Deputy Director of Residential and Commercial Services.
At the University of Leicester, Kirsty is the strategic lead for Accommodation; Print Services; Leicester Conferences; Campus Operations, including Portering and Cleaning, Grounds and Gardens, Post, Fleet; and Security. Kirsty is also a Board Director of College Court Conference Centre and Leicester Services Partnership, (the Student Union and University catering partnership) and the University lead on Prevent.
Kirsty joined CUBO Executive Board in March 2019, initially picking up the conference portfolio. Kirsty is now Chair and has represented CUBO on the Board of the Universities UK Accommodation Code of Practice since October 2018. Prior to joining Leicester, Kirsty was a Senior Project Manager at the Russell Partnership. In this role, Kirsty worked with well-known organisations such as the BBC and Goldman Sachs to improve their catering offer. She also worked with a number of universities, including Leicester. It was while working for Leicester as a consultant that Kirsty began the journey of transforming the University’s catering service, which led to her being offered a permanent role at the institution.
Her early career was spent in hotels including a spell as a Hotel Manager working for Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries. She also spent ten years at the University of Warwick, firstly as Catering Manager and then as Head of Catering Services. Kirsty is a former winner of a Caterer and Hotelkeeper Acorn Award and was named Cost Sector Caterer of the Year in 2001. She received her MBA from the University of Leicester in January 2017, having combined her studies with a very busy job.
Jan Capper joined College and University Business Officers (CUBO) as CEO in 2017. Previously she worked as executive director of the International Association of Languages Centres (IALC), a global network of accredited language centres, and in marketing and operational management roles in the travel industry. She studied languages, is a CIM-qualified marketer and has worked freelance as a writer and translator.
