HELEN EMSLEY

Executive director, Global GMC & Buick design

YORKSHIRE-BORN Helen Emsley has risen through the ranks at General Motors since joining Opel’s design team in 1989. She initially specialised in colour and trim, but her work on some key interiors saw her brought to the US to work on the Corvette cabin. Since then her career has accelerated; in 2013 she took on a 70-strong team as executive director of pick-up division GMC’S design studio. And in late 2016 her role was expanded to manage 40-odd more designers at Buick as it enjoys around four fifths of its sales in China.