Chairman, Founder

Claire Washington-Smith

With an early history of retail and publishing, running a successful magazine, Claire moved into the event industry working on live events almost 25 years ago. Moving into the Live events Industry, Claire discovered an opportunity to serve organisers and sales teams better on site. The rebook Concept was born.

Director, Founder

Donna Shaw

Donna has 30 years of Industry experience from almost every aspect of an event from inception, creation and through to delivery. She launched her own full service agency before similar existed providing all elements from stand design and build to professional staffing, logistics and POS born out of a strong sales base for a number of blue chip companies.

Director of Sales

Sunny Patel

Over 15 years Sunny has worked amongst some of the Industry’s Leading Organisers, UBM, Centaur, Informa, Ascential and ITE, her Knowledge and Expertise from sales to rebook planning offers a new dimension to Shinesmith.
As Director of Sales she is responsible for the expansion into new territories and driving excellence through consultation and helping organisers move forward digitally.

Academy Director

Ian Washington-Smith

Ian is one of the Directors of Shinesmith Academy and Founder of Cognitive Coaching, an organisation acquired by Shinesmith that seeks to improve the understanding of people their thinking and behaviour. Over the last three years with George Stylianou the two have developed unique approaches to support clients to realise potential through their people. He is a Behavioural Expert and Executive Coach, working at Board Level, Public and Private Sector. An experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the customer services industry. He is also a former Policing Senior Manager, skilled in Operations, Intelligence Management, and Corruption Prevention and Investigation.

Academy Director

George Stylianou

Since forming service and sales consultancy, KPi Management in 2005, George built an enviable client portfolio. However, he has devoted the last three years with colleague, Ian Washington-Smith to developing a practical mind/body approach, focused on addressing workplace wellness. This work has led George to appreciate that our thinking and distinct behavioural patterns determine the effectiveness of our working relationships in a manner, which instrumentally affects the bottom line. George’s extensive experience places him in a strong position to undertake his role as Shinesmith’s Academy Director, supporting the organisation in realising its genuinely ‘ground-breaking’ potential.

Resource Manager

Natasha Harper-Benson

Natasha has been in the industry for over 14 years. She manages the global talent and resourcing digital infrastructure. She also has extensive sales rebooking experience, and shares supporting the company in coaching
its people to reach their potential.

Operations Executive

Sammi Cook

Sammi is an Events Industry Professional who joined the company as an Operations Executive. She has an interest in sustainability and carbon literacy which has a strong influence in her approach to her role. She previously worked in Film, participating under Bafta. She is one of the company’s tech and digital experts and skilled website developer.

Non Executive Director

Simon Foster

Simon is a CEO and business leader in the Exhibition and Media Industry. Nearly 30 years ago he joined the industry and during that time has proudly led many global organisations, including UBM (now Informa) and more recently, Comexposium, where his primary focus was to lead an international transformation and deliver a sale of the business for the PE shareholders.
Apart from being a Non-Executive Director at Shinesmith, Simon is a Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) Board member and plays a valued role as Trustee on a Learning Trust that runs several state schools in Luton, UK.