Introducing the Team
The Grand Union BID team are here to support BID members and colleagues right across Paddington. Between us we have backgrounds in social value and volunteering, events, marketing, planning, urban policy and business engagement.
Kay Buxton
Kay is a Chartered Town Planner and and a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. She has been with The Paddington Partnership since its launch in 1998, taking over as Chief Executive in 2002. With a background of over 20 years in urban policy and stakeholder engagement Kay has worked in the private, public and voluntary sectors, including in west London for Richmond Council, east London for Newham Council and the Docklands. Before joining The Paddington Partnership in 2003, Kay worked at Westminster Council.
Emily Parkes
Emily, our Head of Social Value, began her career in volunteer management over ten years ago and has undertaken roles supporting university students, jobseekers and company employees to volunteer. Emily has an Institute of Leadership and Management qualification in volunteer management, extensive experience working with community partners to establish meaningful volunteering activity and was seconded in her previous role to develop a corporate volunteer scheme for Oxfordshire. Emily is also a trained Geography teacher and has been able to draw on her classroom experiences to develop effective careers education programmes that raise aspirations and awareness amongst young people in Paddington of local opportunities.
Kyri Vassilas
Kyri joined The Paddington Partnership in September 2025 as Marketing and Events Manager. She previously spent four years at Better Bankside BID, working across communications, marketing and events. During her time there, she gained a strong understanding of the challenges faced by business communities and developed marketing strategies to help organisations reach and engage their key audiences. Her experience includes building brands from scratch, such as the Southwark Climate Collective, and shaping and delivering a wide range of wellness and social events for the local community. Kyri is excited to bring her knowledge of audience engagement and her wealth of event experience to Paddington, helping to make it an even better place for businesses and their employees.
Claire Godwin
Claire, our Partnerships Manager, joined The Paddington Partnership in January 2023. Over the last seven years Claire has worked across Westminster supporting a wide range of charities and community projects. During this time Claire has created strong community partnerships and is passionate about creating opportunities and events that reduce isolation, increase accessibility and create meaning. Claire is able to use learning from her employment with charities specifically supporting older people and adults with learning disabilities to widen the work the Partnership undertakes with members of our community who can be harder to reach.
Zoe Weir
Zoe, our second Partnerships Manager, joined The Paddington Partnership in September 2025. Over the last five years Zoe has worked within primary schools in both outer and inner London as a primary school teacher. During this time Zoe developed a passion for community engagement. Zoe is able to use her experiences in education to develop strategic and impactful programmes in local schools, community hubs and libraries that champion inclusion and reduce inequalities. Zoe has specific responsibility for our work with public sector organisations including the NHS and Westminster council services.
Emily Knight
Emily has two years of experience in marketing-focused roles and is excited to step into the world of events. With experience in both the construction and funeral industries, alongside her degree in Digital Media with Marketing, she has developed a strong understanding of brand and audience, using creative ideas to deliver effective campaigns. She is passionate about social value and events, building meaningful connections and is eager to apply her skills to create engaging, impactful experiences.
Ruth Sherski
Ruth, our Business Engagement Manger, plays a key role in connecting businesses, stakeholders and community partners. Having joined us in 2016 Ruth has a background in the office market, being in both sales and business development roles. Ruth is instrumental in ensuring that our BID member companies are engaged in our activities and can benefit from BID services.