Women in Leadership

Debbie is a passionate retailer with over 40 years’ experience working in the retail sector. She is a firm believer in co operative ethics and values and was appointed as Chief Executive of Central England Co operative in April 2019 one of the largest co operatives in the UK.

Debbie is also a Board member of the British Retail Consortium, Vice President of Euro Coops and a member of the advisory panel at Diversity in Retail.

Prior to taking on the role at Central England Co operative, Debbie was the UK Managing Director at SPAR She has also worked at The Co operative Group, Marks and Spencer and W H Smith.

Debbie is a great advocate in all aspects of inclusion She is also a champion of sustainability and a pioneer for Fairtrade Debbie has developed higher standards of animal welfare in the food industry and has implemented improvements in diet and health including food pack nutritional information She was heavily involved in recent campaigning resulting in a change to the law to better protect retail workers and instigated the launch of a Co operative International Development Fund to help move global communities out of poverty.

Debbie has taken part in charity bikes in support of the Mines Advisory Group for the last seven years and has recently completed her nineteenth consecutive London Marathon, this time, in support of Oxfam. Debbie was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for her outstanding contribution to business by the University of Birmingham in July 2022.

Angela Seymour-Jackson is a highly experienced Non Executive Director She currently sits on the board of 4 companies with a diverse portfolio from start ups to big multinational companies.

Angela joined the PageGroup board in 2017 and was appointed Chair in 2021.

Angela has previously held Executive Director roles with Aegon UK, RAC Motoring Services Limited and Aviva UK Limited, and was Senior Advisor to Lloyds Banking Group ( Prior to that Angela held senior marketing roles with Bluecycle com Limited, CGU Insurance plc, General Accident plc and the Norwich Union Insurance Group Angela has also served as a Non Executive Director of esure plc and Rentokil Initial plc She was Deputy Chairman, Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee of GoCompare com Group until February 2021 when GoCompare com Group was acquired by Future plc.

Angela also holds several additional board appointments including, Non Executive Director at Future plc and Janus Henderson Group plc, Non Executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Trustpilot Group plc Angela is also the Deputy Chair of Pikl a start up insurance business.

Alex is co Head of Shoosmiths’ Birmingham office one of the largest law firms in the city. She is also national head of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Litigation practice. Alex started her career at DLA Piper in 1995 before joining Shoosmiths as a partner in 2006 She is identified as a leader in her field of Dispute Resolution/Commercial Litigation by Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 She is also listed in The Legal 500 ‘Hall of Fame’.

Alex was chair of Birmingham Future 07 08 and Chair of BPS Birmingham 13 15. She was also professional financial services sector champion for the GBSLEP from 2013 2015 Alex has held roles on the Boards of Birmingham Forward, Birmingham Professional DiverCity and on steering groups for Aston University, BSEEN (Birmingham Skills for Enterprise Employability Network) and a number of charities including Marie Curie’s capital appeal resulting in a brand new state of the art hospice for the West Midlands being built in Solihull.

Alex was awarded the title ‘Inspiring Leader’ at the Birmingham Young Professional of the Year awards in 2019 and has very recently been named in The Lawyer’s ‘Hot 100 lawyers of 2021. In the Summer of 2022 Alex was appointed as a Board Trustee of United by 2022. Most importantly, Alex is also proud mum to a 6 year old son who loves Spiderman.

Deborah has more than 30 years’ experience in public services Prior to her appointment at Birmingham City Council, Deborah was Chief Executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority.

She was previously Local Government Advisor to the Ministerial Team at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, Head of Policy at Redcar and Cleveland Borough and Audit Commission's Best Value Service Lead Inspector for the London region.

Deborah also has extensive Chief Executives experience of all levels of Government (Regional, Metropolitan, Borough, District) which includes Chief Executive for St Edmundsbury Borough Council and East Suffolk Council, the East of England Regional Development Agency and Suffolk County Council. 

She was born and bred in Birmingham and attended the Loughborough University and the University of Birmingham Deborah has a degree in politics as well as a master’s degree in economics and a further master’s degree in management practice.

Deborah received an OBE in 2006 for services to local government She was recently high commended in the Chief Executive of the Year category at the Inclusive Companies Awards 2019.

She is a trustee of the Joseph Rowntree Trust and Joseph Rowntree Housing Foundation, and as a dedicated and passionate female advocate at the forefront of the public sector, Deborah recently won the First Women Award for Public Service.

Deborah is also a Commissioner for the Smart Government Commission and recently joined the Reform Advisory Board and Resolution Foundation as an advisor.

Deborah is listed in Local Government Chronicle’s 100 Most Influential in the Sector’.

Sheri joined PageGroup in December 2002 as a consultant for Michael Page Sales, Birmingham She then progressed to manager and associate director through successfully managing Birmingham, Leicester and Bristol.

In January 2015 after two maternity leaves, she moved across into the Diversity, Equity Inclusion team, working for the Global DE&I Director Since then, she has been promoted twice and is responsible for the internal DEI strategy for UK MEA and our externally facing UK DEI Client Solutions team.

Sheri’s passion and commitment to DE&I shows no boundaries PageGroup, therefore, don’t just lead in DE&I from an industry perspective but hold some of the most prestigious DE&I accolades, such as Disability Confident Leader, The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2020 2018 and are working towards Clear Assured Platinum This means, that at PageGroup DE&I isn’t just embedded in our culture, but also in every element of our service delivery.

Sarah is a Partner in Page Executive’s Finance practice and focuses on the interim executive market for the Midlands region.

Sarah graduated with a joint honours degree in Business and Spanish from the University of Hull, before beginning her professional career in recruitment.

Sarah started her career in financial recruitment joining a large recruitment business, then followed by a smaller boutique agency, both focusing on financial recruitment across the Midlands In 2008 Sarah joined Michael Page Finance in Birmingham where she specialised in interim finance roles, subsequently holding a number of leadership roles across the Midlands and the Northern Home Counties, before transferring to Page Executive in 2018.

Sarah is a passionate advocate of developing female talent in the Midlands, and supports the Midlands Page Executive Practice with several key Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, including Women in Leadership and prides herself on delivery and building long term relationships with both her candidates and delivering a quality, tailored service to her network.

Louise is an Associate Partner within Page Executive providing executive search and selection for board level appointments and director level recruitment in commercial, general operational management.

Louise joined PageGroup in 2008 specialising in the recruitment of FMCG Consumer professionals across the UK after 10 years under the Michael Page brand and under her success in the consumer market she has now transitioned to our Page Executive business within our Consumer channel focusing on Commercial, Operational, and Generalist roles in food non food manufacturers, across the North Midlands Louise's remit covers both permanent interim senior appointments.