Board of trustees

Business Disability Forum has an active board of trustees who are passionate about improving the life experiences of disabled people in the workplace and as consumers. The board provides oversight and strategic leadership and several of our current board members have lived experience of disability, which informs their work. The board includes a former senior civil servant, a charity leader and campaigner, and representatives from across our membership.

• Honorary President: Sir Ian Cheshire.
• Founder of Business Disability Forum and Honorary Vice President: Susan Scott-Parker OBE.
• Chair: Steve Ingham CBE, former CEO of Page Group.
• Company Secretary: Ben Kelly

Business Disability Forum is a company limited by guarantee with charitable objects. Our charity registration number is 1018463. Our company is registered in England, registered number 2603700. Our registered address is Business Disability Forum, Nutmeg House, 60 Gainsford Street, London SE1 2NY.

Steve Ingham CBE, Chair

Steve Ingham CBE was, until December 2022, the CEO of PageGroup, the FTSE 200 global recruitment business. As CEO he expanded the company’s operations from 18 countries to 37 and quadrupled gross and operating profit (to over £1billion and £200m).

In March 2019 Steve had a near fatal skiing accident and is now a permanent wheelchair user. Whilst prior to his accident he was a big advocate and driving force for improving EDI within Page, his accident gave him new motivation to do more.

He now hopes to focus on improving attitudes towards disability in the workplace and to shine a light on hidden talent pools. In addition to Business Disabiity Forum, Steve is on the Board of three other charities: The Back Up Trust, Whizz Kidz and Wings for Life.

In June 2022, he was awarded a CBE on the Queen’s Birthday Awards, for achievements in business and for people with disabilities. As part of his belief that business and sport can make a huge difference in disabled peoples’ lives he joined the board of ParalympicGB in May 2023.

Rebecca Hitchings, Vice Chair

General Merchandise Business Unit Director, Boots UK&I

Rebecca is a highly accomplished senior leader with 8 years of extensive experience operating at board level in a variety of roles within a highly complex, values led, FTSE 100 business. A seasoned executive with P&L responsibility and a proven track record of success in leading transformational change that has delivered outstanding business performance. A critical thinker who demonstrates commercial acumen, tenacity, and drive; Rebecca is recognised for her straightforward leadership style that has allowed her to inspire her team to deliver excellent results whilst maintaining a culture based on honesty, trust and professional integrity.

In her career, Rebecca has gained experience across of formats of retailing, from High Street to pure online players. Having joined Sainsbury’s 8 years ago, she has held several roles, the most current being Trading Director for Tu and Habitat. Responsible for £2.5bn turnover, trading across Sainsbury’s. Rebecca joined Boots as General Merchandise Business Unit Director in May 2023.

Janet Hill CBE

Former Programme Director, Civil Service Disability Inclusion Team, Cabinet Office

Before retiring in 2020 Janet was a career Civil Servant who spent her first 10 years in operations before moving onto a series of corporate and policy/strategy roles.

Roles included: Corporate Finance; Housing Benefit Reform; leading a series of Private Pension Transformation White Papers; designing a National New Deal for Disabled People and a Flexible New Deal Programme for Jobseekers. Publication of 6 cross-Government White Papers to drive integration of the National Skills & Employment Systems followed and then work on a new cross-Government Social Justice Strategy.

Latterly Janet’s role working on Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) strategy involved overseeing the development of cross-Government initiatives such as piloting a new Corporate Workplace Adjustment Service, expanding the D&I learning portfolio and developing a new Positive Action Talent & Inclusion Pathway – ‘Levelling the Playing Field’. Finally, she supported Sir Philip Rutnam, who was Permanent Secretary at Home Office and Civil Service Disability Champion, in the delivery of an ambitious vision to create a disability confident culture to help position the Civil Service as the UK’s most inclusive employer.

Janet has also been a volunteer Ex-Offender Exec’ Coach with St Giles Trust, a Trustee of enei, a founding member of the Executive Board of RIDI (Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative), Non-Executive Director Vercida.com.

Janet is currently:

• Trustee of Business Disability Forum where she serves as Chair of the Policy Committee
• Non-Executive Advisor, Ambitious About Autism ‘Employ Autism’ Impact Group
• Non-Exec’ Advisor, Metropolitan Police Diversity & Inclusion Board, Member of the Met’s Operations Diamond & Drayfurn
• Associate Fellow of St George’s House Windsor Castle
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Iain Wilkie

50 Million Voices, PathMaker Consulting & Sherwood PSF Consulting

Iain, who stammers, brings extensive leadership experience of helping to change disability culture in the workplace.

He is the chair and founder of 50 Million Voices, a global campaign to transform the world of work for people who stammer. He has co-created several mentoring schemes for executives with disabilities and is a regular speaker internationally on unlocking the talent of people with disabilities at work.

Iain is also an accredited executive coach. His coaching focusses on working with quieter senior leaders in business and in professional services firms. He is the founder of PathMaker Consulting, a member of Sherwood PSF Consulting and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (England & Wales).

As a former partner at EY, including as a member of the firm’s UK & Ireland Leadership Team, Iain was the senior sponsor for the firm’s disability and mental health networks. In 2017, the firm awarded him a life-time impact award for his leadership in this role.

In 2014, Iain was the first winner of BDF’s Senior Executive award for his leadership for stammering in the workplace.

Victoria Cleland

Executive Director for Banking, Payments and Innovation, Bank of England

Victoria Cleland is the Executive Director for Payments. She leads the teams responsible for: 

– the operation and strategic development of the Bank’s payment systems. This includes (i) the UK’s real‐time gross settlement (RTGS) service – the critical backbone of payments in the UK, settling over £720bn of sterling payments and securities transactions each working day; and (ii) the wholesale payments system CHAPS.  

– the major Programme to renew the Bank’s RTGS infrastructure, ensuring it is fit for the future payments landscape.  

– the Bank’s policy approach to payments, in particular in relation to their RTGS and CHAPS operations, and international work to enhance cross-border payments. 

Victoria is a member of the Bank for International Settlement’s Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI). This includes acting as Deputy Chair for the CPMI’s Programme Co-ordination Board, which oversees delivery of the CPMI-led elements of the G20 Roadmap to enhance cross-border payments.  

Victoria is also a member of the Bank of England’s RTGS/CHAPS Board, which provides strategic leadership for the Bank’s RTGS infrastructure and CHAPS high-value payment system. 

Victoria has held several senior positions in a range of areas at the Bank of England. Most recent have included Executive Director for Banking, Payments and Innovation and Chief Cashier, where she was responsible for banknotes (from design to distribution) and led their work on digital currencies. 

Before that she was Deputy Head of the Special Resolution Unit, and previously Private Secretary to the Deputy Governor. Her previous roles also included overseeing payment and settlement systems, financing small businesses and graduate recruitment. 

Victoria has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Imperial College London.

Dr Shaun Davis

Belron International

Currently Group Safety, Health and Wellbeing Director at Belron International, Shaun previously worked at Royal Mail Group, where he led an organisation-wide attendance improvement programme as part of a broader wellbeing and health promotion agenda, with particular attention being paid to mental health, musculoskeletal issues and issues affecting an ageing workforce.

Shaun has also worked in the construction, refurbishment, infrastructure and waste management sectors and led organisations to achieve significant improvements in performance – most notably achieving ISO:9001, ISO:14001, OHSAS:18001 and ISO:45001 alongside British Safety Council ‘Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit’ across two FTSE listed organisations. Shaun has led culture change programmes and achieved a variety of awards and accolades for the organisations he has worked in.

Ian Callaghan

Finance Director for Group Corporate Treasury (GCT), Lloyds Banking Group

Ian Callaghan is currently the Finance Director for Group Corporate Treasury (GCT) at Lloyds Banking Group.

Ian’s team is responsible for co-ordinating and consolidating GCTs monthly reporting of balance sheets, P&L and regulatory reporting. The team is also responsible for planning and forecasting and contributing to group-wide stress testing exercises, and supporting the business with financial analysis for strategic business activities.

Ian trained as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and has worked across Investment and Commercial Banking for 20+ years in a number of Senior Finance roles. Ian is an active Trustee of Mind in Mid Herts.

Angela Whitty

CEO, Ampito Group

Angela is the CEO of Ampito Group, a leading provider of technology solutions, cloud services, digital media and marketing. She previously spent nearly 30 years at Cisco, most recently as Managing Director responsible for Cisco’s UKI Partner Organisation.

Angela is known for her decisiveness, clear-minded customer focus and proven track record as a leader with the ability to build and run diverse teams.

In recent years she has indulged her passion for talent development spending time coaching and mentoring future industry leaders both internally and across the wider business.

Paul Smyth MBE

Director of Digital Accessibility for Barclays Bank

Paul is the Director of Digital Accessibility for Barclays Bank. As the founder and leader of their accessibility programmes, Paul was tasked with identifying, anticipating and addressing technological barriers faced by disabled customers and colleagues.  

Barclays has a longstanding commitment to accessible customer service and inclusive workplaces, with an ambition to become the most accessible and inclusive company.  

He’s responsible for embedding accessibility into their products, services and culture. This requires ensuring that digital services are designed for each of us so that they work for all of us. 

As someone who’s visually impaired himself, Paul recognises how accessible technology can enable and empower disabled people to work, bank and reach their full potential. He’s a thought leader, public speaker and advisor to disability charities and UK Government 

Rachel Blackett

Head of Engagement, Health & Wellbeing at Royal Mail Group

Rachel is the Head of Engagement, Health & Wellbeing at Royal Mail Group where she has had a long and varied career working across a range of business disciplines. 

As a senior HR professional, she leads on a huge programme of activity focussed on improving the work experience for all colleagues, specifically through supporting great workplace relationships that are inclusive and focus on the person not just the employee. As the parent of a disabled child, she has first-hand experience of how challenging it is to get the right support to foster both independence and inclusion. She is actively involved in how we create career pathways for young disabled people through education and opportunity. 

Hannah Mallett

Buying & Design Director for Home & Furniture at Sainsbury’s Argos

Hannah is currently the Buying & Design Director for Home & Furniture at Sainsbury’s Argos, owning the product proposition across all their brands and channels, and leading a team of 80+ talented design and buying colleagues.

She’s had the opportunity to lead most non-food product categories across General Merchandise in her career including Clothing, and also sponsors their sustainability initiatives aligned to our corporate targets.

Hannah grew up in the Northwest of the UK, near Liverpool. She went on to study Sports Science at Sheffield Hallam University, following on with a Postgrad in Chester with a focus on Sports Nutrition.

Hannah lives by her personal values of trust and transparency and always shows up with positive energy.

Ed Stainton

Managing Director of BT’s Government business

Ed is the Managing Director of BT’s Government business, where his responsibilities encompass defence, justice, civil government. Since 2017, he has been at the helm of this important organisation which forms the backbone of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure. Their work ranges from supporting frontline police officers to safeguarding the nation against cyber threats and delivering critical technology for the public sector.

Ed is a champion for neurodiversity and leads the Business Neurodiversity Network at BT. His passion stems from personal experiences with dyslexia, driving him to enhance opportunities for others in the workplace.

Before taking the reins at BT’s Government business, Ed served as the Sales Director for BT Ventures, a division dedicated to fostering new businesses and markets while staying true to the core capabilities of BT. His approach involves combining the company’s strengths with the nimbleness and innovation of a startup, ultimately nurturing these ventures into self-sustaining businesses.

Prior to joining BT, Ed accumulated nine years of experience at EE/Orange, where he led the Major & Multinational Business division, showcasing his longstanding commitment to telecommunications, technology, and innovation.

If you require this content in a different format, contact enquiries@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk.