Sonia Thimmiah

Sonia Thimmiah is the Corporate Affairs Director for HEINEKEN UK. Her role includes providing strategic direction and effective delivery across Sustainability, Internal and External Communications and Public Affairs including stakeholder engagement. HEINEKEN is the UK's leading pub, cider and beer business. The company owns around 2,400 pubs as part of its Star Pubs business and employs around 2,100 people. Previously Sonia was the Senior Director for Global Sustainability at HEINEKEN Group. In this role, Sonia was responsible for orchestrating delivery of HEINEKEN's global Brew a Better World (BaBW) strategy to support execution across the environmental, social and responsible consumption goals; developing a new enhanced BaBW strategy; and engaging internally and externally with key stakeholders. Prior to moving to HEINEKEN, Sonia had more than two decades of experience working in sustainability and is passionate about advancing positive social and environmental impact in a way that helps businesses to thrive. She joined Heineken from Reckitt where she co-led the sustainability agenda and was the Head of Sustainable Brands and Customer Partnerships. Prior to Reckitt, Sonia had 19 years of sustainability consulting experience working with Accenture, PwC and Det Norske Veritas. She has worked across several industries and companies to develop ambitious and pragmatic sustainability strategies aligned with business priorities and working across organisations to embed sustainability operationalise delivery. She is active in external dialogues with investors, suppliers, NGOs and industry bodies.