Our committee is elected annually by members and is made up of volunteer WiBA members from the West Midlands business community.

MARIE NEWTON, Chair

Marie is a Chartered Legal Executive in the Will, Trust and Estate Disputes team at Irwin Mitchell LLP where she advises and supports clients in difficult disputes often between family members, making them highly charged and emotional cases. Marie and the team at IM (the largest national contentious probate team outside of London) assist families with will validity challenges, Inheritance Act claims, contentious Court of Protection applications, professional negligence claims and disputes between or concerning executors, beneficiaries, attorneys, trusts and land.

Irwin Mitchell are a top tier Legal 500 firm and widely recognized as being a leading law firm offering a wide and diverse spectrum of legal services which focus on excellent client service.

Marie has previously been shortlisted for two categories at the National Paralegal Awards, being National Paralegal of the Year and Litigation Paralegal of the Year. Outside of work in addition to being a WIBA committee member Marie is a wife and mother to four children and a trustee for the charity Home-Start (Birmingham Central and South-West). She is also a keen fitness enthusiast.

Website: https://www.irwinmitchell.com/

Janette Rawlinson, Treasurer

Janette is Principal Consultant at Just Real Solutions, an independent consultancy established in 2005, following a 27 year corporate career at P&O in Europe including Commercial Manager (Italy) and West Midlands Regional Development Agency heading Inward investment development.

A qualified and experienced Non-Executive Director, from 2006-2021 Chair of Sandwell Community Healthcare Services, lay director at Sandwell Primary Care Trust, and award-winning Sandwell & West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group.

Her portfolio career includes local, national, and international health and cancer research and funding review board roles. A regular conference speaker, she is a former Chair of the Institute of Directors’ Women as Leaders group and a qualified Coach. She works across all sectors on governance, coaching, mentoring, team/board development, business development, cultural awareness, leadership training, independent project evaluations, and inclusion.

A WiBA member since 1999, committee member since 2003, 2005-6 Chair and Treasurer since 2005, Janette supports wiba’s aims of helping women at all stages of their working lives. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming and travel.

Website: www.justrealsolutions.com

Donna holmes, Secretary

Donna is a Partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP where she advises and supports clients in planning their future, their way - through Estate and personal tax planning, wills and powers of attorney. Donna supports families who have suffered a bereavement in dealing with the probate and estate administration process ensuring that people are able to concentrate on the important things in life – their families and loved ones – whist the legal bits of life are taken care of for them. Donna also acts for clients who are unable to manage their own financial affairs by being appointed as their Court of Protection Deputy and is a member of the Office of the Public Guardian Panel of Deputies of Last Resort.

Outside of work, Donna volunteers extensively for Girl Guiding UK, and runs a weekly Rainbow and Brownie group which keeps her on her toes – and up to date with the latest music!

Anthony Collins Solicitors is a law firm with a clear purpose to improve lives, communities and society and concentrates in legal delivery in 7 specialist sectors, providing a full width, client focused service.

Website: www.anthonycollins.com

Lucy caddick, MEMBER AT LARGE

Lucy Caddick is Director of Finance and Operations at Elmhurst Ballet School, the associate school of Birmingham Royal Ballet in Edgbaston, Birmingham. A life-long fan of ballet, Lucy was delighted to join Elmhurst in 2015 where she is the Senior Leader responsible for all business operations including finance, HR, administration, facilities, cleaning, catering and venue hire.

Having graduated from Manchester University with a First Class BA (HONS) degree in European Studies and Modern Languages in 2003, Lucy joined BDO LLP as a trainee, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW in 2006 and progressed to Senior Manager by 2012. During her 11 years with BDO, in addition to servicing audit clients, Lucy was involved in recruitment, business development, designing and delivering technical and personal skills training and CSR volunteering.

Lucy has been a WiBA member since 2010 and was has completed two separate terms as Chair in 2013-2015 and 2018-2020. Lucy is passionate about creating opportunities for women in business to develop and to shine and is proud of WiBA’s role in promoting women in the West Midlands over the past 30+ years.

In her spare time, in addition to spending time with her two children, Lucy enjoys going to gigs, listening to music, exercising, watching sport and socialising with family and friends.

Website: www.elmhurstballetschool.org

Saranne Moreno, MEMBER AT LARGE

Saranne Moreno is the Partnership Development Lead at Sands, the UK’s leading Baby loss Charity, working to develop meaningful corporate and strategic partnership across the UK, and raise awareness off the work of Sands and the impact of pregnancy and baby loss.

Passionate about Birmingham, with a background in business development, the charity sector and corporate partnerships, Saranne joined Sands in January 2022, following 7 years Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital Charity, where she gained a breadth of experience in strategic partnership management and leadership.

An active networker and relationship builder, Saranne joined WiBA in 2011 becoming an active committee member, serving as Vice Chair from 2013 – 2015 and Chair of WiBA from 2015 - 2017.

Saranne is a keen runner, a fan of fitness and wellbeing, enjoys travel and most importantly loves being Mom to her two young children.

Website: Sands.org.uk

LEANNE TYLER, MEMBER AT LARGE

Leanne is a Management Accountant at MiTek Industries Ltd. Mitek is a global company focused on providing software, services, engineered products, and automated solutions for the building industry worldwide and expanding ways to improve, design, make and build.

In her finance role, Leanne collaborates closely with various departments, gathering essential information, generating reports, budgets and forecasts. She has responsibility for accounting procedures, including fostering strong customer relationships, and implementing credit control management, with previous experience in payroll.

Beyond her finance duties, Leanne is an active member of the transformation team at MiTek, contributing her time and creativity to organise events that promote team bonding and support local charities. Recently, she completed training to become a Mental Health responder, reflecting her dedication to holistic well-being in both professional and personal spheres.

Outside of work Leanne channels her passion for community service as a dedicated fundraising volunteer for Mary Steven’s hospice (based in Oldswinford) which she has done for nearly 10 years, and although it can be very busy and hands on at events, it is definitely rewarding. In her leisure time, she enjoys keeping fit, socialising with friends, and spending time with family.

Leanne's commitment to personal and professional growth extends to her involvement with the Women in Business Association (WIBA). Since joining in 2023, she has embraced the organisation's ethos of women supporting women, serving as a committee member since 2024 and actively participating in a range of empowering events.

Website : www.mitek.co.uk

maureen summers, Administrator

Following a successful career in HR for a global logistics company, Maureen became WiBA’s virtual administrator in 2021. Maureen deals with general enquiries, memberships and event bookings and is contactable at enquiries@wiba.co.uk.