Our Trustees
Simon Bevan is non-executive Chair of Unifrutti Group, a Trustee of the Churchill Fellowship and Head of Partner Matters at Grant Thornton UK LLP. Simon is a qualified coach and has over three decades’ experience of auditing, and working with the stakeholders of, successful high growth businesses, especially in the professional services sector. He has been a partner and held senior leadership and governance roles in two large accounting firms and therefore brings finance, leadership and governance experience to his role with the Board. Simon became a Trustee on 30 November 2011 and was Treasurer until becoming Interim Chair in August 2022. Simon is a member of the Board Effectiveness and Nomination Sub-Committee and the Finance Sub-Committee.
David Smeed is an executive level businessman with extensive experience of Strategic Business Development, throughout Europe, in Healthcare, Property and Property Services. He is bilingual in French and English. He is currently a Director at a Public Health Consultancy, PHAST CIC, with a focus on business development and operations. In the past, his roles have included Director of Development at UME Investment Ltd, a specialized Healthcare PFI investor, Managing Director at Bank of America Corporate Finance London and Managing Director of SCIC UK Ltd a French State-owned property services group. David’s key competencies are in Finance, Business Development, and Management and he became a Trustee on 8 June 2016. David is a member of the Property, Finance and Board Effectiveness Sub-Committees and became Vice Chair on Chris Elliott’s retirement from the Board in March 2018.
Dr Savitha Pushparajah is a GP Partner in the Bromley by Bow Health Partnership, which has a close working relationship with the Bromley by Bow Centre and operates three GP surgeries and a Walk-in Centre in Tower Hamlets. She has 15 years’ experience of providing healthcare to local patients and works closely with the communities living in Tower Hamlets. Savitha has a good understanding of the health inequalities and social needs of this community and brings this knowledge to the Board, which she joined as a Trustee on 26 March 2009. Savitha is a member of the Board Effectiveness and Nomination Sub-Committee and joined the Finance Sub-Committee during the year.
Michael Gould retired as a Lloyd’s insurance broker in 2000, since which time he has been a volunteer for Thames North Synod of the United Reformed Church. His main involvement on their behalf has been in respect of property and finance and he brings this knowledge, along with governance and insurance experience, to the Centre. Mike is a Nominee of the United Reformed Church, became a Trustee on 29 March 2012, and is a member of the Property SubCommittee.
Paul Brickell trained as a scientist and was Professor of Molecular Hematology at the Institute of Child Health at Great Ormond Street Hospital, University College London, where he ran a childhood cancer research department. He changed career to contribute to regeneration in his “home town” of east London, first as Director of Regeneration and Chief Executive of the Bromley by Bow Centre and then as Chief Executive of Leaside Regeneration. Paul now works for the London Legacy Development Corporation, which leads the development of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and is Chair of Poplar HARCA.
Obafemi Shokoya was born and brought up in the area surrounding the Bromley-by-Bow Centre. He has worked as an NHS hospital pharmacist for more than twenty years, during which time he studied for an MBA. Working as a Chief Pharmacist for over a decade in the latter part of his NHS career, he has implemented transformational change and ‘turned around’ three progressively larger and more complex acute provider hospital pharmacy departments. Undertaking a variety of senior roles in a number of NHS trusts around the country has afforded him the opportunity of being directly involved in and exposed to, many complex cultures across different sectors of the health and care system. Obafemi collaborates closely with the King’s Fund in developing his personal ‘collective leadership’ and ‘systems leadership’ practices. For many years he has been interested in digital healthcare delivery and how technology can be used as a tool to leverage innovation and transformational change across health and care systems to improve outcomes.
Rachel Smith is co-founder and COO of ExchangeWire, which publishes an advertising and marketing technology publication, and co-founded Wirecorp, which includes two other technology titles, and provides strategic oversight to the company’s global operations. She has provided advice to a number of technology companies. Prior to this, Rachel spent ten years in the public sector working with management and politicians at a local and national level, in the UK and Australia. This included responsibility for corporate customer services, community engagement, public/private partnerships, voluntary and community sector services, media, communications and PR. She became a Trustee on 16 April 2019.
Proud local resident, Abdul Mannan grew up in Bromley by Bow and has gone on to make many contributions to the area both professionally and as a volunteer. Currently a Tower Hamlets councillor in Bromley by Bow and Chair of Housing and Regeneration, Abdul also runs his own college and exam centre for ICQ and NCFE boards. During the pandemic, he became a member of the Island Network in Docklands, helping to pack and distribute over 55,000 food parcels. The group’s work has been recognised by Canary Wharf Group and DLR who carry their name plate on their trains.
