Team

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Inaugural Chairman, Dr Lord Michael Hastings CBE

Lord Hastings CBE is the former Global Head of Citizenship for KPMG International; he was previously the BBC's Head of Public Affairs and is the Chancellor of Regents University London and Professor of Leadership at the Stephen R Covey Institute, Utah State University.

Lord Hastings was a trustee of the Vodafone Group Foundation for 11 years and served for 9 years on the Board for Responsible and Sustainable Business at British Telecom and as a Commissioner of the Commission for Racial Equality for 9 years. He serves as a Governor of the Vodafone/Safaricom MPESA Academy in Nairobi, Kenya and is Chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Black Business Association and is currently Chair of Trustees for SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies).

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Shelley Bishton, Head of DEI New UK

With over 20 years of experience across Media, Marketing, Partnerships, PR, Advertising, and DE&I, Shelley Bishton Shelley has built a celebrated career championing innovation, transformation, and equity. Known for being a formidable negotiator and a solutions-focused strategist, Shelley excels in stakeholder management, building partnerships, and driving transformative change.

A multi-award-winning leader in the field of DE&I, Shelley's work has earned widespread recognition for advancing equity and representation across industries. As Head of DE&I at News UK, Shelley achieved significant progress in workforce diversity, increasing female representation from 36% to 46% and ethnic minority representation from 9% to 12%. This was driven by initiatives like employing 95 apprentices from underrepresented groups on two-year contracts and collaborating with organisations such as the Black Collective Media in Sport, The Raheem Sterling Foundation, and The Black Business Week. Shelley also secured sponsorship and media for the pivotal Black Pound Report, championing economic equity for Black communities.

Motivated by a commitment to justice and the future of her two boys, Shelley is passionate about improving outcomes for marginalised groups, particularly Black communities. A visionary and collaborative leader, Shelley's career is defined by empowering teams, driving innovation, and delivering measurable impact across industries and society. Shelley is a multi-Award DEI expert voted


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Ruby Aryiku Trustee

Ruby Aryiku, Co-Founder of VAMP, a leading Digital Talent and PR Agency Established in 2017 as the first agency solely focussed on the representation and development of Black digital talent in the UK, a group regarded as pioneers of the industry. Vamp also manages influencers uplifting and growing engagement across their social platforms. Clients include Disney, Universal Pictures, E-One, Warner Bros., BBC, Missguided, Benefit Cosmetics, Sony Music, Warner Music, Channel 4, Boohoo and more.

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Darren Miller

Founder and interim CEO of Black British Initiative and a fervent believer in the intrinsic benefits of a fair and equitable society with a focus on racial justice.

A pioneering entrepreneur, renowned innovator and brand, building specialist with over 20 years experience, spanning the luxury interior sectors to, prestige and ground breaking seminal events, such as Functional Art at the Saatchi Gallery, in association with Yamaha, Wallpaper Magazine and Luxury Cave, a multidisciplinary exhibition held at the Design Museum, showing the finest curated items from brands such as Aston Martin, Dyson, Thomas Heatherwick and Fabergé.

Darren is also founder of multi-award nominated podcast series 'BBI You're On Mute' a platform featuring world class leaders with national and global influence using their status as a force for good.

In addition, Darren also conceived BBI's Mini MBA in partnership with SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London), a qualification designed to empower early stage Black entrepreneurs, ensuring they understand business best practice.

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Andrew Xeni

CEO & Founder of Fabacus & Nobody's Child. Forging his own path since 2004, Andrew is a passionate, retail and technology entrepreneur, founding multiple businesses including Fabacus, 2019 Drapers Young Fashion Brand of the Year; Nobody’s Child, 2020 Best Performance Marketing Award winner; Soreto, Climax Music Group and Misfit Fashions. After half a lifetime learning, he is now CEO of start-up Fabacus, focused on using his experience to help solve the problems he encountered along the way. Pursuing his aspirations in bite size chunks, today Fabacus is transforming the licensing and retail industries through the power of data, with their proprietary technology solution, Xelacore.

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Chris Brook-Carter, Chief Executive Retail Trust

Chris has been a passionate supporter, advocate and champion of UK retail across his entire career.

Prior to joining the Retail Trust in May 2020, Chris was the Managing Director and Senior Vice President of Retail Week — the most influential media brand in UK retail — and the World Retail Congress, the single biggest gathering of global retail's leadership each year. Chris led these brands, as editor in chief or more recently as MD and SVP for ten years, transforming the business from a weekly print title, into a digital-first information and global events brand that continues to sit at the heart of global retail by delivering on its mission to inform, connect and inspire the leaders that continue to colour this great sector.

Before he joined Retail Week, Chris was a pioneer in the age of digital information, launching his first online news service in 1999 for the FMCG sector. He has edited and led a number of intelligence and information media brands in industries as diverse as agriculture and automotive but has specialised in media brands that serve consumer-facing industries all his professional life.

Chris is a passionate campaigner for the positive impact of retail on the UK economy as well as a leader in the fight for diversity in business, having been recognised by both the Women's Business Council and Management Today as an agent of change by fighting for gender equality in business leadership. He has a passion for sport, music and whisky and in 2009 was inducted into the Keepers of the Quaich for services to the Scotch industry. In 2016, under his editorship, Retail Week was named Business Media Brand of the year.