The Workplace Leaders Top 50 class of 2026 were celebrated at a prestigious event at London's Hurlingham Club yesterday.
Organised by The Workplace Event, the Workplace Leaders Top 50 is a curated list of influential workplace leaders and changemakers. This years winners were celebrated at a full-day event that featured an engaging keynote from James Peach, a leading keynote speaker on scaling household brands, leadership, resilience and navigating change and who has helped build and grow some of the world’s most recognisable brands, including Vinted, Uber and Innocent Drinks.
Also on the agenda was an engaging panel discussion on redefining workplace performance through FM, data & AI, led by Krisztina Foster, Workplace Change Manager at Ashurst, and featuring Kasia Maynard, Head of Research & Editorial at WORKTECH Academy and Becky Turner, Workplace Psychologist at Claremont Group.
Guests were also treated to an update on the future WFM pipeline from Deborah Rowland, Director of Public Affairs for Sodexo and Joseph Beekman from Lloyds Banking Group.
Now in it's 4th year, the Top 50 list is nominated by fellow workplace and FM peers and is judged by an advisory council. This year's winners were presented with their commemorative trophy to honour their inclusion, before a special Contribution to the Industry award was presented to Deborah Rowland to celebrate her work on the Deborah Rowland Scholarship.
Chris Moriarty of Audiem and this year's Top 50 host said: "It was a real privilege to host the Workplace Leaders Top 50 2026. It’s one of the most unique and enjoyable events in the workplace calendar, so it was a genuine pleasure to help present the awards to this year’s very worthy winners.
"I also had the honour of seeing Deborah Rowland receive a richly deserved industry award. Deb was one of the first giants of the FM profession I met when I joined BIFM in 2014, and from that day to this she’s been relentlessly committed to giving back to the industry. A thoroughly deserving winner."
The full 2026 list of winners:
Chloe Baum, Director, Workplace PMO, LinkedIn
Harry Benham, Senior Inclusion Manager, QBE
Enrico Caruso, Director of Design, Interiors, HOK
Carin Charlton, Director Capital, Estates and Facilities Management, Cambridge University Hospital NHS
Chris Coath, Digital Transformation Director, NG Bailey
Loren Cooper-Gold, Workplace Strategist, Deloitte
Nick Cullen, Head of Property and Facilities Management, Warner Music Group
Chiv De La Hoyde, Senior Workplace Manager, Entain
Aileen Delea, FM Director, Knight Frank
Megan Dobstaff, Design Director and Principal, Gensler
Elaine Du Preez, Director of Workplace Design, Salesforce
Dominic Dugan, Creative Director, Oktra
Amelia Elliot, Head of Data, Insight and Improvement, ISS
Paul Evans, CEO, Carlise Support Services
Kellie Gilbert, Workplace & Real Estate Director, Corporate Services, Visa
Steve Gladwin, Director, Nodus Group
Claire Goody, Head of Workplace Health & Safety, Sage
David Grainger, Global Head of Property Operations, British Airways
Kuram Gwakyaa, Head of Sustainability, Mitie Group PLC
Joe Harris, Director of Business Development, Hubstar
Steve Henigan, Founder & CEO, HCG
Kathryn Horton, Business Director - Workplace FM, OCS
Saskia Lorrinson, International Director Workplace Planning, NBC Universal
Sonia Mangat, Head of Responsible Sourcing, Sodexo
Andy McDonald, International Digital Workplace Manager, Dr.Oetker
Chris Mills, Workplace Services Manager, Eversheds-Sutherland
Victoria Morris, People Director, Linaker
Zoe Moss, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Cast Group
Catherine Murphy, Director of Workpalce Experience, Mastercard
Line Ørnstrup, VP, Head of Workplace Experience, The LEGO Group
Jerry O'Sullivan, Facilities Manager, easyJet
Stacey Pix, Head of UK Workplace Relations, Tesco
Polly Plunket-Checkemian, Senior Director, Aletheia
Michelle Pollard-Smith, Head of Property, GAIL's Bakery
James Saunders, Global Projects Director - Workplace, Arcadis
Rob Short, Workplace User Insight Lead, HMRC
Vince Smith, Operation Director, Waste to Wonder Worldwide
Mark Southwell, Head of Workplace, RICS
Fiona Stewart, Director of Estates & Facilities, University of Salford
Sarah Tait, Senior Workplace Experience Lead, Lloyds Banking Group
George Toursoulopoulos, Partner, Synetec Ltd
Chloe Walker, Account Manager, Pareto
Sam Wharton, Senior Workplace Manager, Pinterest
Ben Willmott, Head of Public Policy and Practice, CIPD
Scott Wilson, Development Partner, VodafoneThree
Matthew Wiltshire, Operations Manager, Fox Moving and Storage
David Woodford, CEO, Hodges & Sons Ltd
Simon Wrenn, CEO, Kindred
Patrick Young, Strategic Client Director, Mitie Group PLC
Nicole Zack, Design Manager Workplace Strategist, Ted Moudis Associates
To learn more about the Workplace Leaders Top 50, see here: https://www.theworkplaceevent.com/workplace-leaders-top-50
