Gillian Wilmot

With an executive career spanning over 30 years, Gillian Wilmot is the Founder & CEO of Board Mentoring, where she works with directors and CEO’s of leading UK and International companies including John Lewis, Waitrose, Direct Line, Aviva and Sainsburys to match business leaders with Mentors. Wilmot was listed in the Cranfield 100 Women to Watch in the 2014 Female FTSE Report, and won the 2014 NED Awards Unquoted/Private Equity category (Peel Hunt/Sunday Times). She has appeared on the BBC Radio 4 Today program and BBC News 24hr channel discussing gender pay issues, and also appeared on the BBC to discuss methods of reducing gambling-related harm during sporting events. Wilmot has also written for various business publications including Marketing Week and Professional Magazine.

Wilmot’s career began in retail when she took part in a graduate trainee scheme at Marks and Spencer, and a marketing management role at Boots soon followed. She launched the highly profitable, award winning Next Directory in the late 80’s in her role as Marketing Director, and her other career highlights include a successful transformation of Avon Cosmetics in the ‘90s and a turnaround role at Royal Mail where she converted a £180m loss to £36m profit, earning a nomination for a Veuve Cliquot award.
With a wealth of business and marketing experience under her belt, she founded Board Mentoring in 2018, with the strong belief that a high standard of mentoring can help deliver exceptional business and personal performance.

In 2012 she was appointed to the Industrial Development Advisory Board, and was chair of the UK’s National Coaching Foundation, UK Coaching for 3 years, promoting the education of sports coaches and community sports leaders,