Sheela is the Founder & CEO of Opsion, a consultancy providing interim or part-time COO resource to CEOs of high-growth SMEs. She has over 15 years of experience working in the financial services industry, including as a COO for major investment banks in the City of London. She graduated in 2004 with a D.Phil. in Clinical Medicine from Worcester College, Oxford.
David Taylor – Deputy Chair
David is a business communications specialist with over 25 years’ experience of the media, gained from a career in journalism, media relations, PR, marketing, social media training, and digital consultancy.
Alex Gajic – CEO & Board Member
After travelling and living abroad, Alex worked in social care for a number of years before joining the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea within the then Economic Development Department.
Fran Minogue – Board Member
Fran Minogue is the Managing Partner of Clarity, an international executive search firm specialising in the retail, consumer, leisure, and hospitality sectors.
Simon Goldhill – Board Member
Following an initial 20+ years career as a practicing solicitor in the London market, Simon then embarked on an entrepreneurial path, creating two successful businesses in the legal market, taking them both from initial concept, through start-up and into sustainable growth.
Carole Pyke – Board Member
Carole lives at the intersection of hugs (hug is an acronym for hearing, understanding, giving back value), words and storytelling. Otherwise known as The Personal Brand Storyteller, Carole is an idea catalyst and marketing strategist with 20+ years in marketing and event management and holds two degrees in marketing.
Helen Fowweather – Finance Director & Board Member
Helen is a qualified chartered accountant who has spent the last 25 years working as a Finance Director in both the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.
Kumar Gaurav – Board Member
Kumar has worked in Information Technology for going on 17 years now. He is working as a Solutions Architect with one of the big fours in London, UK and has extensive hands-on leadership experience working with many organisations across diverse sectors
Stephen Hoier – Board Member
Stephen Hoier is an economic development and transport planning consultant. He led the London Channel Tunnel Group team which successfully campaigned to re-route the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now HS1) through Stratford as a catalyst to the regeneration of East London.
Christina MacKinnon – Board Member
Christina is an accountant with nearly 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry. She has been responsible for the operations functions for much of that time and supported trading desks. In the last two years she moved back into …
Maria Stammers – Deputy CEO & Senior Business Advisor
Maria has 20 years’ experience as a General Business Advisor. She has helped over 3,000 pre-start and existing businesses. Her areas of expertise are in the creative sector.
Marianna Kisandraki – Marketing Communication Manager
Marianna comes from sunny Athens, in Greece, and she has a passion, experience and background on digital marketing. She has worked for the largest Digital Advertising agencies in Greece for both global and local clients as well as on the client-side gained experience in branding and product development.
Sandra Camalo – Receptionist
Sandra started as a volunteer and joined the PBC team as a Receptionist shortly after. She has experience in admin, retail and catering but after having children stayed at home for few years.
Stuart Woodrow – North Kensington Business Champion
Having gained vast experience over a long and successful banking career working with both small businesses and SME’s, Stuart has now established my own consultancy. His principal focus is on assisting businesses with their debt requirements including invoice finance and …
Jenni Henry – HR/Office Manager
Jenni has been working at the Portobello Business Centre since September 2000. In 2002 she studied for her Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management and graduated in June 2004, she is now fully CIPD qualified.
Rakar Hadi – Programme Manager
Rakar joined PBC in February 2021 as Programme Manager. He has previously worked in managing and co-ordinating humanitarian aid projects in Iraq and Syria. Rakar has recently returned to the UK after 2 years to channel his desire to help …
Gina Zanfir – Marketing Communication Coordinator
A curious person by nature, Gina has a passion for all things digital. She has worked in the hospitality industry for several years and she loves sharing her expertise in marketing, event management, and sales. Gina is the Marketing Communication …