Claire Hewitt

Claire's commercial background is in marketing and innovation. Her marketing experience focussed primarily in the retail sector, where product and brand differentiation are key to success. She worked for Marks and Spencer, Masterfoods, the Arcadia Group and eventually BAA, where she was the group's retail marketing director, co-responsible for turning airports very profitably into shopping malls.

She developed her innovation credentials with Synectics, a global innovation consultancy, facilitating creative breakthrough thinking with client teams, to generate fresh strategies, products and processes to grow their businesses. She specialised in the field of consumer insight-led innovation, developing new ways of interpreting consumer drivers and motivators, as a means of creating radical new platforms for growth.

Her expertise is in creative facilitation and problem-solving; getting to consumer insights as springboards for innovation; working creatively with customers (B2B and B2C) and client teams to generate breakthrough solutions. Her style is very experiential and highly interactive, based in workshop-style frameworks for learning.

She has worked with global clients in all sectors: fmcg, professional services and manufacturing, including Unilever, Glaxo SmithKline, Coca Cola, Nestle, M&S, Deloitte, PWC, Ernst and Young, IMI, ICI.

At Henley Business School , Claire is currently working with Shell, managing their 'Communications Academy at Henley'. Also, the Post Office, working with the board and senior leadership teams, as well as LCH Clearnet, working with their director population. Claire also delivers the Innovation elective for the MBA and and she leads the Henley Innovation Praxium.