Abram Tilling

Regional MD, NatWest

Abe is a banker with c 30 years with experience across Retail, Commercial & Corporate segments at senior levels, including e.g. MD Business Banking for NatWest & RBS.

He started work in Industrial West Yorkshire, then into the Dales, West Country, South of England, London before undertaking a number of national roles.

In March 2017 he took responsibility for RBS’s Corporate & Commercial Banking business in the Midlands & East of England.

RBS Corporate & Commercial Banking delivers a bespoke, relationship led service to SME & corporate clients from local centres situated in towns and cities across the UK.

Abe has undertaken Strategic Programmes with Oliver Wyman, PWC, Mckinseys, Bain & Co etc.  Sandpit experiences across a number of Tech opportunity currently in development.  Abe has also benefited from Sponsored Exec study programmes including at MIT, Boston, Mass USA and INSEAD, Royal Fontainebleau, France.

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Adam Dent

Managing Director, Cartway Consulting

Adam was a co-founder of Advent Communications and a fully qualified journalist with more than 20 years of experience.

He helped build the company to be one of the most respected agencies in the region, before it was acquired by London-based PLMR late last year. He is now retained as a consultant.

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Andy Street

Mayor of the West Midlands

Andy Street was elected as the first Mayor of the West Midlands on May 4th 2017, before winning a second term on May 10th 2021. His main focuses are transport, housing, skills, and jobs, and he is currently working to a plan to get 100,000 people across his region back into work following the coronavirus pandemic.

Before becoming Mayor, Andy combined a career at John Lewis, Britain’s most successful workers’ co-operative, with a host of high-profile economic development roles that involved working with local and national government. In total he spent more than 30 years at John Lewis, rising from trainee to managing director.

Additionally, he has been Lead Non-executive Director for the Department for Communities and Local Government as well as a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group.

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Anna Bright

Chief Executive, Sustainability West Midlands

Anna has been working in sustainability for 20 years and has a private sector background.

As Chief Executive at Sustainability West Midlands she has worked with businesses, local authorities, LEPs, the NHS and the West Midlands Combined Authority to help shape the way that they plan and mitigate for the impacts of climate change.

Anna is a Trustee for the Wildlife Trusts for Birmingham and the Black Country.

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Chris Blackwell

CEO, Purpose Led Performance

Chris is the CEO of Purpose Led Performance; a consultancy that brings purpose to business by working with leaders and leadership teams.  He is also the Co-Founder of the Purpose Collective, an international network of business leaders that wants to create a buzz about making work meaningful.

Chris disagrees with the prevalent view that business is a zero-sum game and that there is a conflict between being profit focused and purpose focused! Chris believes that purpose is THE vital ingredient to achieve high performance and sustained growth.

Prior to founding Purpose Led Performance Chris worked as a CEO and senior Executive and helped grow companies from £4m > £120m, and from £25m > £170m.

Chris is the Scale Up lead for Birmingham Tech and was the co-lead for the Birmingham Tech Scale Up programme in 2021.

Chris is a Fellow at the RSA (The Royal Society of For Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)

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Chris Weir

Technology Manager, Midlands Aerospace Alliance

Chris has over 30 years of engineering and senior leadership experience that has covered the full life-cycle of space and aerospace equipment systems, including satellite, airframe and aero-engine applications. He has led global teams covering the US, Europe and India, holding a wide range of roles that include Product Safety, Technical Leadership, Programme Management, Quality and Business Strategy.

Since retiring from Rolls-Royce in 2019, his company, Ara Hou, has supported business transformation activities in different market sectors and provides independent technical advice.

In 2021, he joined the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, where he supports the region's SMEs with Aerospace UP funding for innovation and is driving the net zero emissions agenda.

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Dr David J Hardman MBE

Strategic Partnership Adviser, Bruntwood SciTech

David’s career over the last twenty-five years has been in knowledge transfer. His expertise and interests have been directed at creating appropriate partnerships and infrastructures that promote the development and success of cross sectorial knowledge-based businesses as part of the UK science park movement.

This includes the Innovation Birmingham Campus, an urban focal point that builds on the legacy of Aston Science Park and promotes digital innovation and adoption across all sectors. In 2018, Innovation Birmingham became part of Bruntwood SciTech to create a focal point for a thriving innovation district in Birmingham.

During his time in Birmingham David developed and led the delivery of two business start-up and access to innovation programmes - Entrepreneurs for the Future and Serendip®. As part of the latter, David recognised the need to promote neurodiversity amongst the region’s innovators. This led to the Serendip Ideator, which launched in partnership with Digital Innov8ors in January 2022. David has since joined the Board of the Digital Innov8ors West Midlands Community Interest Company as Chairman.

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David Plumb

Chief Innovation Officer, University of Warwick

David is someone who generates disruptive ideas, and translates them into transformation, strategic change, business development and growth.

In his previous role he was Chief Digital Officer at O2, where he led a business unit which delivered over £2bn of new business whilst being part of the Telefonica O2 Executive board.

David is also an experienced Non Executive Director who has served on the board of major consumer businesses such as Tesco Mobile, and innovative digital businesses such as giffgaff and Weve. He is an accomplished innovation leader, with a track record of regeneration of traditional business models who has also consulted for companies like BP and Verizon.

Today David is Chief Innovation Officer for the University of Warwick, an investor in scale ups, provides consulting and works as a Non Executive Director.

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Dean Cook

Interim Director – Place, Levelling up and Regional Engagement UK, Innovate UK

Dean Cook is Head of Regional Engagement for Innovate UK, the national innovation agency, and a council of UKRI. He leads a team of regional managers responsible for developing Innovate UK’s Place R&D strategy for England and who have developed strong relationships with local and devolved authorities and regional business leaders. He is also the Associate Programme Director for the UKRI ‘Strength in Places Fund’. Prior to this, Dean was Innovate UK’s regional manager for Yorkshire, Humber and the North East and with a technical background in agriculture and food, originally joined Innovate UK in 2014 as an innovation lead for that sector.  

With over 30 years practical experience in research commercialisation, he was formerly at Defra’s ‘Food and Environment Research Agency’ in York, where his early career was as an applied biologist before moving into various roles within the agency’s commercial and science management teams. Dean is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and an MBA graduate of the University of Warwick. Originally from the South of England, Dean has lived in York for 25 years and has represented Innovate UK on a number of Local Enterprise Partnership innovation-boards across the North. Dean has a strong interest in innovation clusters and brings a business voice to UKRI working groups on Place based R&D.

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Emma Jones

Founder of Enterprise Nation, Business Expert and Author

Emma was called upon to be one of the high profile co-founders of national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain. She ran the private sector-funded and Government-backed campaign as CEO from 2011 to 2014. During that time UK start-up figures boomed and hit more than half a million new company registrations in 2014 for the first time.

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Emma Riley

Production Executive, Optomen Television; Host Broadcasting Training Initiative (HBTI) Director Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Emma Riley is a television Production Executive based in the Midlands, and Sunset+Vine's Director for their HBTI - Host Broadcast Training Initiative. Sunset+Vine is the Host Broadcaster of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the HBTI is their ambitious tv entry level training scheme to find, recruit and train more than 150 runners, loggers, camera assistants and more to work on the Games this Summer. Part of their investment is to offer more than 200 work experience days and ensure a minimum of 50% of the trainees are from underrepresented backgrounds. 

Outside of the HBTI, Emma manages Optomen Television’s Birmingham productions including BBC2’s primetime series Great British Menu that is produced in the Midlands. She has first-hand experience of recruiting in the region, and the challenges faced for a growing midlands tv industry in retaining talent and investment. 

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Gaynor Matthews

myNexus ESI: Co-Founder; WOW HOW: Founder; Counter Culture Group: Investor/NED

I’m a serial entrepreneur, investor & NED who has been working with and advising start-ups for over 30 years. I know all too well the many highs & lows of the start-up journey.  My forte is within technology; I’m privileged to have worked with some amazing, disruptive companies in this space.

One of my strengths is being able to recognise a great idea, then bring it to life, which is why I have been able to facilitate so many investors and entrepreneurs in making their dreams a reality.

The road to success rarely goes directly from A to B, but meanders and can even change direction completely.  Such a path has led to where I am now, co-creator of myNexus Entrepreneurs Skills Index Challenge, business simulation that identifies skills and capabilities; founder of WOW HOW augmented reality makeup app; and more recently Investor/NED for Counter Culture Store, online beauty shop for UK ethical & sustainable brands.

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Henry Whorwood

Head of Research & Consultancy, Beauhurst

Henry leads Beauhurst’s Research & Consultancy team. He is an expert on business finance and has worked on briefs for clients including the British Business Bank, HM Treasury, BEIS and Innovate UK.

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In his work at Beauhurst he provides provide research and insight to help professionals discover and track the UK’s high-growth companies. Beauhurst provides data and alerts on the most ambitious businesses in Britain. It is used by leading organisations from across the world of finance, professional services, higher education and government to better understand the high-growth economy. Beauhurst regularly produce reports based on our data, examining a diverse range of topics from investment trends to mapping the UK’s scaleups; from FinTech to BioTech.

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Ian Vickers

CEO at Metcloud

In 2017, Ian launched the METCLOUD brand. The organisation has gone on to be recognised as one of the most secure cybersecurity platforms in the UK and has won dozens of internationally recognised awards for innovation. METCLOUD recently raised £1 Million `seed’ funding from Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) and is collaborating with Birmingham City University on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership to continue development of a world leading cybersecurity platform harnessing AI/ML and Data analytics.

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Advocacy
Ian was appointed a Founding Member and Chair of the West Midlands Cyber Resilience Centre (WMCRC). The CRC is a UK Government backed initiative establishing ten regional Cyber Resilience Centres working in collaboration with NCSC, Police Cyber Teams (RCCU), Businesses and Academia.

In addition, Ian is a member of the Microsoft Partner Advisory Council, which is made-up of twenty global Microsoft Partners. In May 2020, Ian became a member of The World Economic Forum’s Global Innovators Community (Invitation only membership).

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Jagvir Purewal

Senior Associate, Patent Attorney, Forresters

“I work with a range of clients and organisations in terms of size and technologies. I advise entrepreneurs, start-ups, research organisations, SMEs and multinational companies. 

My background is in physics so I can work with most technologies. I have professional experience in fields such as nuclear and naval marine valves, oil field technologies, aerospace, wearable technology, additive layer and advanced manufacture, medical devices, domestic consumer products, fuel cells and quantum technology. 

I have particular expertise in obtaining effective patent and design protection, freedom to operate, IP strategy, IP audits, patent landscaping and enforcing IP rights.”

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Joel Lavery

Strategic Lead Major Sporting Events, West Midlands Growth Company

Joel has 25 years experience working in the sport, leisure, culture and major events sectors at city, region and national level and is a passionate advocate for the value and impact of sport and culture on people, places and their prosperity. He is also a former British Heavyweight Taekwondo Champion and member of the Great Britain Taekwondo team.

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Following an early career in Local Government Leisure Services and corporate roles in culture and community services management, Joel became Head of Partnerships and Major Events at British Cycling leading the successful partnership with Sky, growing cycling participation with the award-winning Skyride initiative. Following London 2012 and Rio 2016, and 2 million more people cycling, Joel played a key role in establishing the ground-breaking ‘societal partnership’ with HSBC UK and events like Tour of Britain, Track and BMX World Cups.

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He is now Strategic Lead for Major Sporting Events for the West Midlands Growth Company, part of the Birmingham 2022 Business and Tourism Programme investment to boost trade, tourism and investment.

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Jon Swinbourne 

CEO, B13 Technology

Jon is the CEO of B13 Technology. With extensive experience of starting lean start-ups, Jon is happy to guide companies and entrepreneurs through the software development process. Jon's commercial acumen helps businesses achieve outstanding solutions in the most cost-effective way to meet their requirements and growth objectives.

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John Cooke

Founder & Director, Element-C

John Cooke worked at both IBM and Microsoft in a variety of roles before co-founding his first start-up InfoBasis. He went on to build InfoBasis in the UK and US before selling to a NASADQ listed business in 2008.John then headed up Business Development in the UK and Ireland for Vistage International, the world's largest CEO coaching organisation.

Here he gained qualifications in executive coaching and led John to support the e4f incubator at Innovation Birmingham and with University of Birmingham Enterprise. Through Element-C, John has worked with over 100 founders of businesses ranging from apps to safety glove manufacturing, assisting with strategic planning, investment readiness, commercialisation and helping with business introductions.

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Julie Nugent

Director of Skills and Productivity, West Midlands Combined Authority

Dr Julie Nugent has extensive experience in the productivity and skills sector having held a range of senior roles across government and the further education sector. She has particular expertise in financing further education and has led on developing new funding systems for the Skills Funding Agency and the Learning and Skills Council. Julie has worked in the Black Country and in Birmingham which has provided her with a keen understanding of the importance of skills in improving economic competitiveness and people’s life chances.

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Most recently Julie led on the West Midlands negotiations with Government securing the first Skills Deal in the country with additional investment of £100 million to develop the regions skills.

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Karen Newman

Founder and Director, BOM (Birmingham Open Media)

Karen is the Founder and Director of BOM (Birmingham Open Media), which she established in 2014. BOM is a centre for art, technology and science dedicated to creative innovation with purpose. They explore how technology can be used as a tool for change, to make society a better place. BOM's interests and expertise are in neurodiversity and technology, how technology can help disadvantaged communities, and how it can be used to address environmental problems.

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Karen is the driving force behind BOM’s creative vision and mission. She is passionate about how technology can unlock the creative potential of future innovators (particularly unassuming disruptors), and how it can offer solutions to global challenges.

Prior to BOM, Karen was Curator at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) and Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, as well as a contributing curator to Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 and Liverpool Biennial 2006 – 2012.

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Kiran Mehta

Investment Manager, Mercia Asset Management PLC

Kiran is an Investment Manager at Mercia, focussing on investing into some of the Midlands most high growth businesses. Alongside originating and transacting new investments, Kiran sits on multiple portfolio company Boards across a range of sectors, including: SaaS, IoT and DeepTech.

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Michael Small

Business Engagement Manager, AMCASH

Mike is Business Engagement Manager within AMCASH, based at the University of Birmingham’s School of Metallurgy and Materials.  Focussed on materials, AMCASH delivers short-term support to enable West Midlands-based SMEs to improve, or create new, products and processes.  AMCASH provides access to the University of Birmingham’s materials science expertise and state-of-art facilities.

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Mike joined the AMCASH team following ten years in the group marketing department of HVAC giant, BDR Thermea Group.  Mike has held management positions in leading companies across a range of industries, including polymers and building products. His roles have involved both working for, and supporting, SMEs within UK- and EU-funded projects.

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Mike Wright

Experienced Chair, NED and Advisor roles, FTSE and North American listed businesses

Mike has experienced a diverse, international portfolio of chair, NED, and advisor roles in FTSE and North American listed businesses, and in leading Education, Sports, and Arts organisations in the UK. He continues to be a member of several of these Boards.

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Mike has extensive experience of representing the advanced manufacturing sector to national and regional government through leading roles in the Automotive Investment Organisation, the CBI and EEF (now Make UK).

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His last executive role in automotive was as Executive Director of Jaguar Land Rover, retiring in 2016 having served on the management board for 12 years in a variety of roles with worldwide responsibility. He has extensive international experience having operated under 3 different international owners, led projects in a number of overseas markets and was based in Germany for 4yrs.

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He started his automotive career in 1975 after graduating with BSc from Aston University.

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Nicola Turner

Director of Legacy, Birmingham 2022
Commonwealth Games

Nicola Turner MBE is Director of Legacy for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the largest sports and culture event ever to be staged in the West Midlands.

Nicola’s job is to ensure the people, businesses and institutions in the region directly benefit from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. She is responsible for aligning and galvanising the Games partners to create a lasting legacy. She leads the planning and delivery of all legacy programmes including jobs and skills, volunteering, venues, participation of schools and young people, improving physical activity and wellbeing, civic pride and community cohesion.

Details can be browsed on the website. 

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Neil Whittaker

Incubation Manager, Energy Systems Catapult

Experienced Business Leader and Commercial Director who has led divisions of FTSE 250 businesses and developed a series of privately funded Green Technology businesses focused on the EV and Energy storage sectors.

Neil joined the Catapult in 2019 as an Incubation Manager responsible for supporting the development of the Catapult’s Incubation and Acceleration platform. Since joining, Neil has been leading a market study to recommend the needs for Innovators in the energy sector, and has recently help established both a national incubation programme sponsored by BEIS, and a regional one based on the Tyseley Energy Park sponsored by HSBC & the University of Birmingham.

Before joining ESC, Neil has worked for iDNO’s, Rolls Royce, Williams F1, and private equity firms in the UK specialising in bringing new and innovative products to market. He has been involved in numerous research and product commercialisation programmes related to developing Low Carbon Vehicles, EVs, and Energy storage devices.

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Omair Mahmood

Director, Phos Cycle

Omair has proven in various companies his attention to detail with regards to financial and economic forecasts. 

Through his network, supply of EFEP has been located across UK and Europe which assists the project in forecasting growth and ROI.

5 Years’ experience as director of Cylinder Disposal Solutions (A leading player in the fire extinguisher disposal industry in the UK).

Successfully built and sold a digital app company in Dubai, named Washplus.

9 years’ experience as a company director in the Energy & Telecoms Industry.

3 years’ experience as business mentor on the ‘NatWest Entrepreneurial Spark’ program.

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Pam Sheemar

Talent Pilot Lead D&I, NatWest; Director, Birmingham.Tech

Pam has a wealth of experience in the NatWest Group, holding various roles including Local Director for North and South Wales in Retail and Entrepreneur Development Manager in Birmingham championing Enterprise, supporting entrepreneurs to start, scale and succeed with their businesses. Pam’s current role in Corporate, Commercial and Coverage where she is proud to be undertaking, leading and developing a new immersive Career Acceleration Pilot programme to support championing diversity and Inclusion.

Pam is a proud Board Director for Birmingham.Tech for entrepreneur engagement ensuring that we inspire, celebrate, and collaborate in Tech and is a Magistrate / J.P and an Executive Board Member for the Asian Chamber of Commerce supporting SMEs.

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Dr Pam Waddell OBE

Director, Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands

Dr Pam Waddell is the founding Director of the Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands (IAWM), a regional partnership working to stimulate science and technology-based innovation to improve prosperity and wellbeing across the West Midlands. IAWM’s objectives are to build a vibrant innovation ecosystem for the West Midlands and to catalyse collaborative activity focussed on demand-led innovation. 

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Pam is a recognised authority in the role of innovation as a driver for economic growth and improved public services, with extensive experience of leading, building and supporting strong innovation networks across diverse sectors and types of institution, and in partnership and project building, including winning of major project funds. She has led strategy and operation plans for delivery, both in her current role and from her 16 years in the Research Support team at the University of Birmingham. Pam was one of the architects of the West Midlands Innovation Programme on which IAWM works closely with the WM Combined Authority.

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Phil Parry

Business Development Lead, Aerospace HFQ®

Phil Parry has over 30 years’ experience in Aerospace & Defence Manufacturing Operations. Business Development lead for Aerospace HFQ® applications in UK and Europe. Specialist in helping Aerospace companies develop and implement suitable applications for the use of HFQ®.

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Paul Hodgkinson

Associate Director for Programme and Project Delivery, Keele University

An economic regeneration specialist who plays a pivotal role in the design, development, delivery and closure of externally funded programmes and projects.

As Associate Director for Programme and Project Delivery at Keele University Paul co-led the development and implementation of the New Keele Deal. The Deal represents £70million of investment by a range of organisations to exploit the potential of Keele University’s world-leading research and facilities.

Paul’s background includes delivery of circa £0.5bn of externally funded grant programmes and projects across the Midlands Region supporting building and transport infrastructure, low carbon, employment and skills and business support.   Paul was heavily involved in the design and development of the £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

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Rich Westman

CEO & Founder, Kaido

Rich is the CEO and Founder of Birmingham based scale-up Kaido. Since its inception in 2016, Rich has raised over £600,000 of funding from a host of private and public sector organisations including the NHS. In 2021 companies including HSBC, Google and the Department of Health and Social Care used Kaido to foster happier, healthier employees and better connected teams and with impressive results.

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Prior to founding Kaido Rich worked as a Sports Scientist at Leicester Tigers, Worcester Warriors and the Lawn Tennis Association, supporting age group athletes with their fitness and nutrition. Rich studied Sports Science and Business at Loughborough University and in 2019 was awarded Birmingham Young Professional of the Year for Technology & Innovation at the prestigious BYPY awards.

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Ryan Cartwright

British Business Bank, 

UK Network Senior Manager, West Midlands

Ryan represents the UK Network across the West Midlands and engages closely with business finance stakeholders in the region. As part of his role, Ryan also supports the delivery of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund across the region.

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Prior to joining the Bank, Ryan spent nine years with NatWest and RBS as a Commercial Relationship Manager, as a Business Growth Advisor for the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce & Growth Hub, and for a private funder providing cashflow finance to smaller businesses.

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Sarah Webb

Partner, VWV

Sarah has particular expertise in intellectual property and has decades of experience supporting clients across all of their commercial and IP needs and trading activities. She works alongside clients at the heart of the business to help contribute to their success rather than providing standalone legal support, a role she has undertaken with clients across a range of sectors including sports and leisure, manufacturing and engineering, technology and the Higher Education sector.

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More recently Sarah has worked very closely with IP centric University spinouts and start-up companies, providing guidance to these organisations at varying stages of their evolution, on identifying, protecting and managing their core intellectual property rights to retain maximum value in their IP assets. She frequently advises on the most effective strategies for ownership and also exploitation of IP rights via licensing and sponsorship arrangements as well as contractual joint ventures. Sarah also regularly guides clients through the preparatory steps required in relation their underlying IPR in readiness for investment rounds.

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Sarah Windrum

Board Director, Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP)

Sarah is a Business Founder and Investor in the West Midlands technology sector. She founded and sold a successful ICT project management business and is now investing in exciting new projects including Your Wellspace - a workplace well-being digital start-up - and Secure Workflows - a blockchain multi-agency platform. Her entrepreneurial success was recognised in 2021 when she was awarded the Nachural Business Woman of the Year.

Sarah has been a Board Director for the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) since 2016 driving the development of digital creative clusters with national and regional stakeholders. She became CWLEP Chair in April 2021 leading the public private partnership to implement the Strategic Reset Framework and transition to delivering on the Net Zero and Levelling-Up ambitions of Central Government. She is also a member of the Midlands Engine Digital Board and the West Midlands Combined Authority Innovation Board supporting digital transformation and securing investment to improve economic and social outcomes across the region.

Passionate about future digital talent, Sarah is on the Industry Advisory Board at Warwickshire College, has worked closely with UKIE’s Digital Schoolhouse programme, and was an Industry Partner for the Institute of Coding with Coventry University. She is also an Enterprise Advisor at Campion School and a current student herself studying an MSc in AI and Data Science.

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Spencer Welch

Commercial Director, Holosphere VR

Spencer is a veteran of multiple start-ups with 20+ years’ experience in IT, Cyber Security, Mobile telecommunications, and media industries. His solid international, technical and commercial background with start-up and global technology companies and fluency in French, Italian and Spanish give him a proven track record in technical consultancy, global team management and business development.

Spencer has experience managing global teams of solutions consultants and architects, acting as a conduit between internal Product Engineering, Sales and Marketing teams as well as high value customers. He has successfully launched next-generation Virtual and Augmented reality technologies, Cyber Security & Threat Intelligence solutions and cutting-edge Big Data analytics.

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Steve May-Russell

CEO, Smallfry

A business owner, strategist and seasoned speaker, Steve inspires and empowers business leaders to become the best version of themselves. Focusing on strategic design innovation methodologies Steve works with ambitious companies to develop meaningful innovation strategies that strike a line through plain, bland and mediocrity, helping them transforming good ideas into great products and services.

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Steve has been fortunate to study consumer marketing under renowned 1980’s marketing guru Philip Kotler at the JL Kellogg Graduate Management School in Chicago.  Not only instrumental in the creation of a strategic product development methodology and Innovation strategy for Smallfry, his expertise and knowledge has supported numerous businesses and Universities around the world. Notably Boots, Lloyds Pharmacies, P&G, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, Marks & Spencer and Imperial College London and has led to some of the industry’s most successful innovations. 

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As previously elected chair of the British Industrial Design Association, Steve has represented the creative industries on the UK Trade & Investment’s bi-lateral partnerships in the Far East and is regularly invited to speak to international audiences on Innovation and using Design to develop brands.  He also gives his time to academic institutions, proving lectures to Cambridge University and both Cranfield and Warwick Business School MBA students.

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Susanne Coles

Head of Investment & Business Development, Innovate UK KTN

Susanne is Head of Investment & Business Development at Innovate UK KTN and works across the business and with public and private sector clients and partners on value creation via innovation programmes for positive change.  

As part of Innovate UK KTN, Susanne works to create powerful connections between investors and innovative companies to drive positive change for economic, societal and environmental benefit both in the UK and globally using our deep sector and technology expertise. Innovate UK KTN believes a better-connected innovation ecosystem is a stronger ecosystem, which is paramount in realising the ambitions for net zero, global innovation, levelling up, and for a more diverse and inclusive innovation ecosystem.

German by birth, Susanne holds a PhD in Chemistry and has over 12 years of experience in collaborative R&D & Innovation including funding; project and programme management at national and international level; stakeholder management; expert consulting; business development; change management and business transformation.

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