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Advisory Group
Janette Browne, Deputy Director, London Resilience
Janette is the Deputy Director of London Resilience, leading work to ensure the London Partnership is effective in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from emergencies. This includes building strong relationships with a wide range of diverse partners, from Category 1 and 2 responders, to the voluntary, community and faith sector and businesses. Janette also oversees the Counter Terrorism Preparedness Network, bringing international experts together to influence and develop the multi-agency arrangements of cities in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from terrorism.
Rick Cudworth, Board and Executive Director, Resilience First
Rick is a leading expert in organisational resilience, Executive Director at Resilience First, and founding partner of ResilienC. With over 20 years’ experience as a Partner at Deloitte and KPMG, he was also Chair of the British Standards Institution Technical Committee for Continuity and Resilience, where he has been influential in the development of British and International Standards in the field. He is a visiting professor at King’s College London and visiting fellow at Cranfield University School of Management. He was a contributor and co-editor of the National Preparedness Commission’s report: Resilience Reimagined: A Practical Guide for Organisations.
Matthew Fell, Director of Competitiveness, BusinessLDN
Matthew is responsible for a programme of work on competitiveness, including regulatory, fiscal and economic measures that support growth and make London a compelling destination for investment. He also leads BusinessLDN’s sustainability workstream.
Matthew has considerable experience in engaging with Government, regulators, and senior business leaders. Prior to joining BusinessLDN, Matthew was Chief Policy Director and interim Director-General at the CBI.
Matthew is also a Commissioner on the independent Low Pay Commission that advises the Government on the National Living Wage.
Hasanul Hoque, Operations Director, Camden Town Unlimited
Hasanul is an urbanist with extensive experience in place-making, business improvement, and community development. As Operations Director at Camden Town Unlimited, he has played a central role in establishing its sister BID, Euston Town, and its award-winning charitable arm, Camden Collective. Most recently, he has been instrumental in setting up the Camden Highline, one of London’s most ambitious urban regeneration projects. Hasanul oversees operations and finances across these organisations, ensuring their continued success as multi-award-winning drivers of innovation and social impact.
Sarah King, Regional Business & Stakeholder Manager, Federation of Small Businesses
Sarah King is a Regional Business & Stakeholder Manager for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), where she champions the needs and priorities of small firms across the London region. With a results driven approach and an extensive track record in managing complex processes and stakeholder relationships, Sarah works closely with business owners, local authorities, and partner organisations to strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of the small business community.
Robyn Knox, Director, VCS Emergencies Partnership
Robyn Knox MBE is the Director of the VCS Emergencies Partnership, a network of over 300 community and specialist organisations working together to strengthen resilience and response to emergencies. She leads the development and delivery of more community and person-centred preparedness and responses, ensuring that people are at the heart of the emergency cycle, from the start and throughout. Robyn’s background is in transformational change, leading major change programmes and initiatives in the private, public and charitable sectors in the UK, Australia, Iraq and Cambodia.
Vanesa Pérez Sánchez, Director, Small Business Service, Grow London Local
Vanesa has two decades of experience creating and delivering business growth support for entrepreneurs, for a wide range of organisations including universities, charities, corporates and government. This has given her a deep understanding of the capital’s business support ecosystem and entrepreneurs’ needs and challenges. More recently, Vanesa has been leading the Small Business Service Unit at London & Partners, including the Grow London Local service and the London roll out of the Made Smarter Digital Adoption programme.
Grow London Local is a free service that links entrepreneurs to business support and skills. Since January 2024 Grow London Local has reached 300,000+ and supported 27,000+ businesses.
Michael Wood BSc, CPP, West End Security Group
Michael is an experienced security professional, with expertise accumulated during both a successful career in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and subsequently as a risk management consultant working in the private sector.
Michael’s service in the police encompassed a range of diverse roles, culminating in the post of ‘Commander Security’, within the MPS Specialist Operations (SO) Business Group. In this capacity he developed and delivered the protective security policing plan for London, working with stakeholders to implement the risk management strategy to strengthen London’s protection against a terrorist attack and other threats.