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– Certificate in Company Secretarial Practice and Share Registration Practice
– Corporate Governance
– Company Law
Neill McWilliams
Neill is the CGI Programme Leader at KCB and the lead tutor for the Corporate Governance module. Neill started his career in the Education Department at the CGI (ICSA) in 1989 working primarily within examinations and qualifications. He left CGI in 2000 and founded an e-learning business which grew to become the leading e-learning company in its field, before it was acquired by a leading software provider in 2019. Since this time Neill has focused on a career in academia and is currently undertaking a PhD at Henley Business School focused on Corporate Governance. He is a member of the CGI Global Professional Standards Committee, ensuring that the standards of the CGI qualifications are maintained across all global divisions. He is also an advisor to CGI on qualifications and learning resources. Neill is a Fellow of CGI and holds an MBA from Henley Business School.
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– Interpreting Financial & Accounting Information
K. Sivanandan (Siva)
Siva has taught CGI Financial Accounting modules since 1987. He is a full-time lecturer with many years experience teaching Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Financial Management and Financial Risk Management across MBA programmes and professional courses, including CIMA, ACCA and CGI. He has also lectured for Heriot-Watt University in Dubai and Morocco. His other academic achievements include high level non-business related qualifications in language and literature. Siva is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has an MBA in Finance from Heriot-Watt University.
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– Risk Management
Alessandro Sironi
Alessandro has been the lead lecturer for Risk Management at KCB since the module was introduced in September 2019. He has a number of years experience in risk management, business continuity, incident management and planning as an Emergency Preparedness Resilience Response Manager across two major NHS trusts in London. He was previously an improvement specialist in an NHS Trust based in North-West London. Alessandro has an MSc in Business, a Post-Graduate Degree in Emergency Planning and Certifications in Emergency Response in Hospitals.
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– Company Compliance And Administration
Michelle Clewer
Michelle has lectured the Company Compliance and Administration module at KCB since 2020. She has a wealth of experience at a senior level covering all aspects of the Company Compliance and Administration module, having worked in FTSE 100 organisations, large privately owned businesses, and not-for-profit organisations. Michelle is currently the Head of Governance at the British Library, the national library of the UK. This role includes being the Board Secretary and responsibility for the governance, compliance, copyright, and public policy teams. Michelle is a Fellow of the CGI.
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– Development of Strategy
– Risk Management
Buff Cooper
Buff joined KCB in 2023 and his first cohort had a 100% pass rate with 70% achieving a Merit or Distinction grade. Buff is an experienced lecturer in the fields of accounting, finance and strategy. For many years, he has written and presented on ACCA & CIMA examination courses as well as tailored financial and strategy courses for businesses such as Renault Cars, Anglo Technology and Kyocera. Buff has had a long and diverse career in Accounting and Finance, having held senior roles in practice, financial services, education and training, and industry. His career started with a provincial medium sized practice, and he went on to complete his ACCA training with a top 10 firm where he specialised in insolvency. Post qualification he took several senior roles with large corporates specialising in the redesign and implementation of new accounting and information systems. His passion for quality and simple to use systems led him to launch his own Bookkeeping program for SME’s which to date has sold over 5,000 copies. As well as being a Chartered Certified accountant, Buff also holds Chartered Financial Planner status of the Chartered Insurance Institute. During his time in financial services, he specialised in risk management of large and diverse investment portfolios holding the Institutes Advanced Diploma in Investment Planning. For the last 15 years he has run his consultancy business with a focus on supporting SME clients in devising and implementing strategy, risk management and finance.
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– Boardroom Dynamics
Marcos Castro
Marcos is a tutor for the CGI Boardroom Dynamics module. He has over 20 years experience as a Company Secretarial professional, with a career spanning both listed and private companies, including RBS/ NatWest, The London Metal Exchange, Burberry, Barclay, Euromoney and Tritax. Marcos is a previous winner of the CGI Company Secretary of the Year award and his team at the London Metal Exchange have been previous winners of the CGI Company Secretarial team of the year. Marcos is a Fellow of CGI and a former student of KCB.
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– Interpreting Financial & Accounting Information
Edgar Rainer
Ed is a tutor for the CGI Interpreting Financial & Accounting Information module. He has over 15 years of lecturing experience at leading international universities, coupled with significant industry experience. Ed brings this unique blend of academic knowledge and practical insight into all his programmes. Ed has studied at prestigious European universities in Great Britain, Switzerland, and Austria, and holds a Postgraduate MBA in Finance and Business Administration, as well as an MBA and Bachelor’s degree in Social and Economic Science. He is a CPA (Australia) and a fellow of CGI.
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– Certificate in Company Secretarial Practice and Share Registration Practice
Helen Hopkins
Helen is a tutor on the CGI Certificate in Company Secretarial Practice and Share Registration Practice. She brings a wealth of experience working for over 35 years in share registration specialising in employee share plan administration. Helen is currently Client Technical Director, Share Plans for Link Group.
For the last 10 years Helen has continued her academic studies part-time and recently completed a Master of Research (MRes) in Management with Birkbeck, University of London obtaining the prize for the Best Overall Student in Management. She is also currently studying for a Graduate Diploma in Economics.Helen is an Associate of the CGI, on the ProShare Advisory Panel and a member of the QCA Share Schemes Expert Group.
Helen is delighted that having completed the Certificate Course herself in 1990, she is now able to pass on her experience to the current students.
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Ian Pirie
Founder, Trustee
On graduating from Oxford University, Ian became a lecturer. In 1982, having recognised a gap in the HE sector for professional Business Management qualifications, comparable to those available in Accountancy and Law, he established Kensington College of Business. Ian introduced courses for the CGI qualifications in 1992. In 2003, Ian established the college in Brunei, which today provides BTEC, undergraduate degrees and masters programmes. The college celebrated its 40 year anniversary in 2022 making it one of the longest established independent colleges of higher education in the UK. To ensure the continuity of the college and its mission, in 2022 it was converted into a charity in 2022 focusing on the development of corporate governance qualifications.
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Lauren Devine
CGI Programme Manager
Lauren joined KCB in 2001 as a General Administrator before progressing to Examination Manager, overseeing the assessment process for KCB’s range of qualifications. This includes the CGI Certificate in Company Secretarial Practice and Share Registration Practice. Since 2016, Lauren has assumed responsibility for the administration of the range of CGI programmes offered at KCB. This involves supporting prospective and enrolled students, lecturers and liaising with the CGIUKI. In her spare time, Lauren’s passion is travelling. She also enjoys keeping fit by playing in a local netball league and attending classes at the gym.
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Dr Lawrence Watson
Trustee
After teaching posts at Durham and Birmingham City Universities, Lawrence became a member of the start-up staff team at Buckingham University, the UK’s first chartered university to operate independently of government finance. There he served for sixteen years as one of the administrative deans. Subsequently, he joined Northumbria University helping the institution to become one of the most internationally active of all UK universities, before moving on to form his own consultancy company. Lawrence sits on the Quality and Standards Committee of the UK national agency for comparability of qualifications (UK NARIC/ENIC). He has been involved with the UK government approved Accreditation Service for International Colleges and Universities (ASIC) since its inception in 2006 which now carries out accreditation work in around 75 countries. He serves ASIC as its Chief Inspector and as Qualifications Adviser. He is also the current chair of the Education Committee of Learning Resource Network, an Ofqual-regulated UK awarding body and 2020 recipient of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
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Salma Zainul
Trustee
Salma joined Kensington College of Business shortly after its inception in 1982 and has been a key part of its growth and development ever since. As the Academic Director of the college, she is responsible for overall quality assurance, working closely with the Principal, Programme Leaders, Academic and Administration Staff and stakeholders for the colleges in both London and Brunei. Since 1986, Salma has also been instrumental in the development of the CGI programmes. Salma is a Trustee of the KCB Charitable Trust working to deliver the advancement of professionalism in corporate governance globally, through education and research.
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Jay Mukherjee
Operations Manager
Jay joined KCB in 2008 to manage its IT operations. In 2010, he became responsible for managing all the operations across KCB, delivering continual improvements across its programmes. When the operations were at a standstill due to the Covid lockdown, Jay was instrumental in introducing the online delivery model, which continues to be used across CGI programmes. Jay’s role involves supporting Tutors in delivering their programme and resources via KCBs Learning Management System. Jay also supports students in their use of the KCB Learning Management System. Outside work, Jay is associated with a charity providing educational support and skills development programmes for underprivileged children.
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Shivakanth Elluri
Administration & Finance Manager
Shiva joined KCB in 2010 to manage student data and provide reports to HESA, NSS, Graduate Outcomes and Unistats. Since this time, his responsibilities have extended to include maintaining the student management system, managing student engagement platforms, and collaborating with colleagues and lecturers on enrolments and learning resources. Shiva holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Systems Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science. Outside of work, he enjoys staying active by playing cricket, football and going to the gym.
Neill McWilliams
CGI Programme Leader
Neill is the CGI Programme Leader at KCB and the lead tutor for the Corporate Governance module. Neill started his career in the Education Department at the CGI (ICSA) in 1989 working primarily within examinations and qualifications. He left CGI in 2000 and founded an e-learning business which grew to become the leading e-learning company in its field, before it was acquired by a leading software provider in 2019. Since this time Neill has focused on a career in academia and is currently undertaking a PhD at Henley Business School focused on Corporate Governance. He is a member of the CGI Global Professional Standards Committee, ensuring that the standards of the CGI qualifications are maintained across all global divisions. He is also an advisor to CGI on qualifications and learning resources. Neill is a Fellow of CGI and holds an MBA from Henley Business School.
