Eton Bridge Podcast

In this episode of CxO Stories, Jean-Pierre Green speaks with Reto Sahli, Group Chief Digital & Information Officer at HAVI and Managing Director of the HAVI TechHUB, about his route to the C-suite and what it takes to lead technology transformation at global scale.

Reto's career has unfolded in three distinct chapters: twelve years in hospitality management, a move into management consulting at PwC, and then technology - more than 20 roles across 16 years at Kraft and Mondelez, followed by Group CDIO positions at Asahi Europe & International and now HAVI. He reflects on the myth of the linear career, the case for treating your own path as a strategic undertaking rather than something handed to you, and the value of patience and sponsorship along the way.

The conversation explores the turnaround Reto inherited at HAVI, why he started with the organisation before the strategy, and the rigorous location analysis behind HAVI's global technology hubs, including the Lisbon TechHUB, grown from a barely populated serviced office to around 260 positions and heading toward 400. He also makes the case for the CDIO's seat at the executive committee table, predicts consolidation across CIO, CDO and chief AI roles, and shares a clear warning on AI investment: strategy first, spend second.

A candid and practical discussion on transformation, building capability from the ground up, and why, after decades of change at global scale, it still comes down to the people.

In this episode of the Transformation Stories Podcast, hosts Ben Cowan and Nick Berman from Eton Bridge Partners are joined by M&A leaders Kevin Paterson and David Boyd to unpack a key topic in business transformation: M&A integration and value creation.

In this episode of CxO Stories, Ross Dawson speaks with Louise Welch, Supply Chain & Transformation Leader and board member, about her career journey and leadership experience at the C-suite level.

Starting her supply chain career at PlayStation, Louise went on to lead large-scale global transformation programmes, including systems, integrations and operating model change across people, processes and systems. She shares the decisions, risks and turning points that shaped her path, and reflects on the importance of curiosity, relationships and staying open to opportunities.

The conversation explores what it takes to lead complex supply chain organisations, the transition from specialist to senior leader, and how to build impact at enterprise and board level. Louise also discusses mentorship, diversity of thought, and her experience as a senior female leader.

A practical and insightful discussion on leadership, transformation and building a career path in today’s evolving business landscape.

David Smith, Economics Editor of The Sunday Times joins Mark Craddock, Partner and Head of Finance Executive Search at Eton Bridge Partners, to unpack the key takeaways from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Autumn Budget on Friday 28th November 2025 – exploring what it means for you, your business, and the wider economy.

The theme for this year’s Inclusion Week is ‘Impact Matters’ which centres around understanding, identifying and measuring impact on marginalised groups and taking actions that make for genuine, sustainable change that matters. In this episode hosted by our Chief People Officer, CJ Bedford, talks to Michelle Boothroyd and Simon Fanshawe about their experiences of introducing ED&I strategies – the benefits, impact and lessons learned - and the critical importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) in today’s world of work. CJ is personally involved in DE&I strategies at Eton Bridge Partners and is focussed on ensuring that we build an inclusive culture, have a diverse workforce whilst developing services for our clients that ensure that they are getting the diverse candidates that they need to bring the best talent into their business. This is linked to our purpose; to put talented people at the heart of business. Michelle, accomplished CHRO and FTSE leader, is currently the Chief People Officer at Grainger Plc. She brings a wealth of expertise in progressive HR leadership, underscored by her dedication to pioneering DE&I initiatives. Her focus on creating an inclusive workforce is driven by a belief in empowering individuals to express their ideas authentically and thrive as their true selves. Simon, Partner at Diversity by Design and experienced Chair and Non-Executive Director, was one of the six co-founders in 1989 of the lesbian and gay equality campaign Stonewall - a key influencer in the strategy to create legal equality for lesbians and gays, which was completed by the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act in 2014. He is also an author, and has recently been carrying out research exploring the disconnect between the original intentions of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and their current implementation; revealing how DEI efforts have shifted from creating inclusion, to becoming rigid and divisive, largely due to a lack of strategic guidance and accountability from senior leadership. Find out more about Inclusion Week here: https://www.inclusiveemployers.co.uk/

In this series, we dive deep into the world of business transformation and change, exploring the challenges and triumphs of real people who have worked on the front line of incredible transformations and achieved outstanding results, whilst learning many valuable lessons they learned along the way.

Episode 3: Delivering successful finance transformation

Our highly experienced Business Consulting team work closely with our clients as ‘one team’ to deliver better and more sustainable business results through transformation.

In our latest Q&A, Matt Dunn talks to Kunjal Haria and Mitul Patel, both part of Eton Bridge Partners’ Business Consulting team, about their extensive experience in delivering successful finance transformation, and some of the lessons learned along the way.

Kunjal Haria has been delivering Finance Transformation for over 20 years and has worked with Eton Bridge for 10 of those years. An ACA accountant, he spent the first half of his career at Ernst & Young, IBM and Accenture. He’s currently leading a global finance SSC/GBS and ERP programme for Eton Bridge Consulting.

Mitul Patel has over 20 years’ experience delivering Finance Transformation. A qualified Accountant he’s delivered complex finance transformation and ERP for global clients including Takeda, Westcon, and Cushman & Wakefield. He was an Executive Director at UBS and a Management Consultant at Ernst & Young.

Mitul has worked with Eton Bridge for 6 years, most recently leading an international GBS restructuring programme and implementing a Finance TOM for a global EB Consulting client.

Welcome to the very first episode of a new podcast series for Eton Bridge Partners, exploring the secrets behind successfully navigating leading the people side of significant change with Sarah Scannella, Partner within the Human Resources Search Practice at Eton Bridge Partners.

As an executive search, interim management and consulting firm, we very much put people at the heart of business, taking great care to build trusted long-term relationships with clients, candidates and our employees alike. Our passion for people means we are very fortunate to be able to work alongside some of the most inspiring business leaders who bring unique perspectives on the world of work. This presents us with a great opportunity to share their insights and learnings, to contribute to making the world of work even more human.

In this podcast series, we'll be chatting to a number of senior leaders from many walks of life who will be sharing the real secrets to successfully navigating big change and how they led the people side of it. 

In this episode, we shine a spotlight on social mobility.

Helping to improve social mobility is hugely important. We believe that every person, irrespective of their background, should be able to achieve their full potential.

For those who are new to the subject, social mobility refers to change in a person's socio-economic situation, either in relation to their parents and wider family (inter-generational mobility) or throughout their lifetime (intra-generational mobility).

Social mobility is linked to equality of opportunity: the extent to which people have the same chances to do well in life regardless of the socio-economic background of their parents, their gender, age, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, birthplace, or other circumstances beyond their control.

Research has shown that people from disadvantaged backgrounds have fewer opportunities to climb the socio-economic ladder. In European OECD countries, children with the greatest socio-economic disadvantage grow up to earn as much as 20% less as adults than those with more favourable childhoods. Across OECD countries, it takes nearly five generations for children from low-income families to approach the average income in their country.

In addition, round 65% of working-age OECD citizens worry they won't be as financially secure as their parents; an almost equal share fear their children will be even less secure. We also know that people who are most concerned about their chances in life are also less happy and feel less represented in politics.

Which brings us to the podcast; Olivia Sharp, Partner within the Executive Search, Human Resources Practice at Eton Bridge Partners, talks with Daniel Kasmir and Rob Bray, to discuss how the corporate world can promote and secure equality of opportunity.

Daniel Kasmir is Chief People and Procurement Officer at TalkTalk and has been with the company since 2019. Before that, he gained extensive experience in HR at a number of organisations including Shell, Manpower, FNZ, Xchanging and BDO. He’s worked in Private Equity as both an adviser and within portfolio companies for General Atlantic, JC Flowers and Bain Capital. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees at Lowry Arts Centre and is Chairman Remuneration Committee at YouView TV Limited as well as the Chairman of Employment Board at HMP (His Majesty's Prison service).

We are also joined by Rob Bray. Having worked in HR for 20+ years, including for some of the world’s best known consumer brands, most recently as Chief People Officer for Nandos in UK&I, A member of the board of directors at Nando’s, Rob led the people and social impact strategy across their UK& I restaurants and head office for more than 22k people.  Since he joined Nando’s, they have been regularly voted one of the best places to work in the private sector and the number one employer in the hospitality industry. Rob is hugely passionate about growing people and organisations, and has a particular interest in inclusion and environment, as well as youth employment.

In this series, we dive deep into the world of business transformation and change, exploring the challenges and triumphs of real people who have worked on the front line of incredible transformations and achieved outstanding results, whilst learning many valuable lessons they learned along the way.

Episode 2: How can we really influence culture and people to deliver truly transformative outcomes?

In this episode, Matt Dunn, Business Consulting Partner at Eton Bridge Partners, talks to Brad Skinner and Kevin Paterson and who are part of our Business Consulting team, about their extensive experience in delivering successful transformation and some of the lessons learned along the way.

Kevin Paterson has worked with Eton Bridge for over 10 years. Having spent the early part of his career in Senior HR roles, he went on to run large scale transformation for Vodafone, Dixons Carphone and Costa Coffee. He’s currently leading a complex integration for a European retailer as part of EBP’s Business Consulting team.

Brad Skinner is a long standing partner of Eton Bridge. He’s currently Group HR Director of BMI Group.  He has over 20 years’ experience of driving large scale transformation for businesses including Barclays and SAB Miller.

In this second episode of Transformation from the front line, we'll be discussing our experiences and thoughts on how to really energise your people and use your culture to deliver long lasting transformation outcomes.

Here’s a quick taster of the topics we’ll be talking through:

Matt Dunn talks to some of the Business Consulting team about their extensive experience in delivering successful transformation and some of the lessons learned along the way.

Kevin Paterson has worked with Eton Bridge for over 10 years. Having spent the early part of his career in Senior HR roles, he went on to run large scale transformation for Vodafone, Dixons Carphone and Costa Coffee. He’s currently leading a complex integration for a European retailer as part of EBP’s Business Consulting team.

Tracy Kingswood has spent over 30 years leading retail transformation with 18 years in Asda 14 years with Dixons/ DSG. She’s currently building and leading the Transformation Management Office for one of EBP Business Consulting’s retail clients.