Karen is the founder and MD of @Boomster Consulting which she created in March 2019. She is a business transformation professional with over 30 years of change, project delivery and operational experience. She has an extensive background in leading large change and project teams in a FTSE 100 company delivering sustainable cultural change. She has a deep passion and understanding of what it takes to create a culture of continuous improvement and has built a strong track record in being able to engage, empower and unlock the potential of teams to deliver results.

She has a reputation for injecting energy, creating movement and unlocking the motivation in others to confidently own and realise the change potential using simple tools and methods. She naturally captivates the hearts and minds of many along the way with her infectious style and approach.

Karen is President and non-executive director of the British Quality Foundation an independent and not-for-profit organisation. Over the last 3 years Karen has led the transformation of the BQF with strong focus on creating a valuable asset for members to leverage and share best practice, improve their performance and achieve sustainable excellence.

Melinda Johnson has been the Chief Operating Officer at Ofgem since August 2023, and her main priorities are to improve the Corporate Services that enable Ofgem’s day-to-day regulatory and scheme delivery activities and to transform Ofgem into a dynamic, inclusive and high-performing organisation with a strong reputation as an employer of choice.

Before joining Ofgem, Melinda Johnson was the Commercial Director at the Department of Health and Social Care. She led the Health Family Commercial function comprising 20 organisations; she was responsible for six companies owned by the DHSC and sponsored the NHS Business Services Authority. Melinda was previously Group Commercial Services Director at the Department for Transport (DfT), which included Property, Digital, Security and Information; before that, she was Deputy Finance and Commercial Director at the Department for Education. Before joining the civil service, Melinda had a 17-year career in commercial roles in the broader public and private sectors.

Melinda is passionate about the Places for Growth agenda, particularly its link to Social Mobility. She championed the DfT Hastings office for five years, created the Government Commercial Northern Hub and was a Head of Place (in the Midlands) for 14 months before moving to Glasgow, where she was part of the leadership team creating and promoting the Cabinet Office 2nd headquarters in Glasgow.

Melinda is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) and a Chartered Procurement Professional; she holds an MBA and a BSc Hons in Psychology and has a postgraduate qualification in Marketing and Communications. She is a Non-Executive Director of the British Quality Foundation and GS1UK.

Laila is a seasoned leader in change and transformation, with 21 years of experience in the HR solutions industry. Her driving force lies in her purpose of “daring people to be better,” which she exemplifies in her leadership, strategic approach, and performance.

Laila holds a degree in accounting from Birmingham City University and is affiliated with the ACCA. Based locally, she has spearheaded various functions, working for The Adecco Group, including Finance Shared Services, Change, IT, and digital services.

Having served as a board member in the UK and Ireland, Laila transitioned to a global role within the organisation, spearheading Digital Transformation initiatives across 60 countries for colleagues, candidates, and clients.

Currently, Laila serves as the Head of Finance Shared Services Transformation at DLA Piper, leveraging her extensive experience in driving change and innovation.

Additionally, she continues to contribute as a council member for Birmingham Newman University and remains an active member of the Change Management Institute.

Gary Kildare is an experienced global business executive in the technology and professional services industry. He has lived and worked around the world, leading teams, and working with clients. He was the Chief HR Officer for Europe and Global Head of Labour Relations for the IBM Corporation based in New York and Madrid; CHRO for IBM’s consulting business based in Paris, CHRO for Global Technology Services, based in New York; and also Vice President of HR for Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. He was a member of IBMs Senior Executive Leadership Group appointed by the CEO to provide global leadership and stewardship for $150B NYSE Corporation, with 500,000 employees in 178 countries across key strategic areas to accelerate growth.

Now in his non-executive portfolio career, Gary holds positions as NED and Chair of the People Committee at The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (MOD); NED at The British Quality Foundation, Lay-member of the Legal Services Board and Chair of Remuneration Committee (MOJ); NED for The UK Insolvency Service (Department of Business & Trade); Independent Non-Executive and member of The Public Interest Committee for Crowe LLP a leading Audit, Tax and Advisory Services Firm; Member of The Court of Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, Visiting Professor in Business for Edinburgh Napier University, Board Advisor and Mentor for Criticaleye Network of Leaders.

He has previously served as a Non-Executive Director for Education Scotland, as a member of the Scottish Government’s Education Study, a Non-Executive Director for the National Skills Academy (Financial Services), a Non-Executive advisor to HMRC; an Independent member of The British Council Business Change Committee; a member of the CBI Business Council for Scotland.

Gary is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a GlobalScot.

Patrick retired from HSBC in late 2021 after a 34 year career in corporate and investment banking in London, New York and Toronto. Senior executive roles included: Vice Chairman, Global Banking; Global Head of Corporate Banking; CEO Global Banking & Markets, Americas; Global Head of Credit & Lending; Head of European Client Coverage; Head of Investment Banking, Canada.

He currently Chairs the Risk & Investment Committee of the Board Of BQF. He is also the founder of Delfina Advisory Ltd, which provides advisory services to businesses in the financial services industry. Current roles include: member of the Advisory Board, Kyriba Inc, a leading cloud based treasury and risk management platform and member of the Advisory Board, Freston Ventures, a growth equity investor. Prior Board experience includes: Vice Chairman, the UK ASEAN Business Council, London; Board member, The Institute of International Bankers, New York, NY; Board member, Council of the Americas, New York, NY.

Patrick is a graduate of the University of Manchester and an Associate of the London Institute of Banking & Finance.

Alan coaches service sector organisations, internationally and in the UK, to deliver values-driven service for sustained performance. He is a published author and speaker who has worked on projects in more than thirty countries delivering measurable business impact across a balanced scorecard and gaining recognition with industry awards.

With more than 20 years senior leadership experience in customer service-based businesses, Alan has a track record of success in devising holistic SERVICEBRAND strategies and then using deep operational experience to turn the creative thinking into sustainable, practical reality. He is passionate about the importance of employees at the point of service delivery and their role in delivering remarkable customer experience. He thrives on leading the transformation of service, culture and behaviour and is an expert facilitator of experiential learning workshops.

The topic of values is central to Alan’s work and he has been involved in the creation, development and delivery of various initiatives such as World Values Day, the 31Practices approach, the ValuesJam card game, the Global Poetry Showcase and the Art of Values Showcase.

Alan graduated in Hotel & Catering Administration. He is the Founder of the Global Values Alliance, co-founder of The 4th Dimension, Past President of the Meetings Industry Association, a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and was a global train the trainer for the Marriott International Spirit to Serve programme.