Speakers

Helen, the Chief Solutions Officer at Heathrow Airport, is accountable for bringing transformational change to rebuild Heathrow after the COVID pandemic to give passengers the best airport service in the world. She leads a team combining the core elements of change – Process, People, Infrastructure, Procurement and Technology to define and deliver end to end solutions across the business. She sits on the Executive Committee at Heathrow to turn the Strategic Direction of the organisation into Change programmes and then into Operation for the benefit of our passengers.

Prior to this role, Helen was the Procurement Director responsible for the strategic sourcing and execution of all 3^rd party spend. The role, which looked after more than c£1bn of operational and capital spend, has focussed on new procurement strategies to streamline the supplier base, lock in core savings whilst maintaining long term value and relationships and identify strategic partnerships such that Heathrow’s long term ambitions around Sustainability, Diversity, Innovation and Technology can be achieved.

Helen has been with Heathrow for 12 years and has spent the majority of her time in construction, from Project Manager through to becoming accountable for Heathrow’s full £650m p.a. capital portfolio.

She is well known for her “low ego” approach to leadership – taking a down to earth communications style with her teams, happily supporting with the “doing” as well as the leading.

Outside of work, she is absorbed by her 4 year old son and as a result, she champions the mindset that everyone can have a successful career and family and that achieving a good work/life balance brings mental and physical benefits to both organisations and individuals.