Manjula Basant Rai is Founder and CEO of Spaanda, a sustainability and climate risk consultancy she launched in August 2020. A Chartered Accountant with nearly two decades of experience in finance, she developed her interest in environmental sustainability while working at Tesco. Originally from Mauritius, she earned a full scholarship to Cambridge University, an experience she credits with shaping her determined, dream-driven approach to building a business.
Spaanda works as a boutique consultancy with major British corporations, including FTSE 100 companies, helping them assess climate-related risks and build practical adaptation strategies. Rai emphasizes close, personalized client relationships alongside investment in her team's growth, describing passion as something that spreads naturally through an organization when leaders model it.
She advocates for leaders finding their own authentic style rather than copying conventional leadership models, drawing on lessons from her own experience as a mother in shaping how she leads her team.
