MBA Guest Speaker Series

Jim is responsible for delivering robust brand strategies and appropriate creative solutions designed to help clients achieve their strategic ambitions. He has worked on major branding and communications projects for all sorts of clients in the public and private sectors. These include Balfour Beatty, Capita, P&O Cruises, Hermes, the NHS, Allied Irish Bank, Christian Salvesen, the British Council and more than 20 UK colleges and universities. He’s also held senior academic posts, running postgraduate graphic design at Central Saint Martins and visual communication at Ravensbourne College. He is a Visiting Professor of design at University of the Arts London and was a board member for The Centre for Creative Business (a joint venture between UAL and the London Business School).

Fran joined the London Borough of Hillingdon as Deputy Chief Executive in July 2008.  She also has responsibility for Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Legal Services, Democratic Services, Policy, Performance & Partnerships, Audit & Planning Enforcement and Communications. She has 20 years experience in the public sector and was previously the Director of Policy & Performance at Westminster City Council. After completing her PhD in the field of learning disabilities, she initially went into academic research, working on a Welsh Office project and then as a Research Fellow for the University of Kent.

Experienced marketer with a passion for brands and branding, with both the consumer and business audiences. Joined Xerox in March 2007 as Head of Brand and Marketing Communications for Europe, responsible for all brand marketing activities including advertising, media, direct marketing, collateral and sponsorships; led the Xerox brand relaunch in Europe in 2008. Prior to joining Xerox, 10 years at Intel Corporation, with various European level brand, advertising, media and marketing roles, the most recent being head of Interactive Marketing in Europe. David helped launch the new Intel branding in Europe in 2006. Early career included 6 years in Retail Marketing Agencies, followed by sales and marketing roles at Dell and Compaq Computers. Talk covered the reasons why Xerox changed the brand in 2008, look at some of the strategic decisions that were involved, and how Xerox have implemented the brand changes across the business.

Mr Brian Painting is a 11 year veteran of Microsoft, 8 of which have been in the Health team here. His role is that of “Account Manager” managing the relationships between Microsoft and the NHS in Wales and the 76 Trusts in London, a role he has held for the last 4 years. His talk covered the models of interaction between citizens, computers and healthcare and related shifts in the market, the changing landscape of the future, and how does that change need to be reflected by both Consumers and Industry.

Executive Director and Founder of Iraq Energy Institute (Advisor to Iraq's Oil & Gas Parliamentary Committee) Mr. Jawad has over 16 years of extensive commercial experience in E&P Business Development coupled with e-Govt. Process Management implementation. Luay served in executive capacities as Director, Senior Consultant, and Commercial Advisor working for various blue chip international companies such as Crescent Petroleum, Dana Gas, Shell International, British Gas, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, Anderson Consulting, ING Bank, Egg Bank, and Prudential Insurance. As a Shell Group Advisor, Luay played a key role in delivering the Shell E&P Strategy for Iraq 2004-2008, and as Iraq Country Director for Crescent Petroleum he was the focal points on in-country projects delivery and commercial activities. He is also the Editor in Chief of various research papers and publications including Energy & Development series. Being an advisor to the Iraqi Oil & Gas Parliamentarian Committee, he delivered various seminars, courses and one-to-one sessions to over 100 Iraqi MPs and senior Govt. Officials, and provided testimonies at key Government & Parliamentarian Conferences, and participated as panellists at various UN & EU symposiums on Fiscal Federalism, Oil Revenue Sharing and Constitutional Legal Framework. Academically, Luay holds a BSc Honors degree in Business Information Technology (Kingston, UK, 1993), a researcher on 'Iraq Petroleum Industry, Sustainable Development, and Policy Formulation'; and fully trained in E&P Business Development and Project Management at various commercial academies.

Jim Northover is co-founder and Chairman of LloydNorthover. The company was started in 1975 and now has offices in London, Barcelona, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong, with a worldwide turnover of £8.5million. The current focus of the business is brand strategy and experience design, working with clients in both the public and private sectors. Jim trained as a designer and believes design thinking is a valuable resource when tackling brand strategy problems creatively. He has been responsible for opening up LN’s operations in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and working on brand strategy and management assignments around the world. LloydNorthover was one of the first consultancies to build brand strategists and researchers into their teams, combining these skills with creative talent to deliver more effective branding programmes. Currently working on projects in the technology and financial sectors, he has also been developing an interest in place branding, infrastructure and regeneration projects, looking at how recent global changes will influence the way we see brands and relate to them. Jim is on the advisory boards of the University of the Arts London Information Environments Research Unit, and Zero One, the creative learning lab for digital media. He contributes to publications, seminars and conferences globally.