With significant longstanding experience in the financial services industry, Alex also owns companies in recruitment, software and leisure.
Alex Mollart
Oplo
Mike Blackburn
Business consultant
Mike has extensive experience across a range of sectors with specific skills in strategy, business development, business transformation, customer experience, innovation, sales, marketing and relationship management.
Originally a sales director with BT, his experience developed to become a vice president of strategy and planning for BT Global Services during more than 15 years with the telecoms giant.
He has a proven track record of improving business performance in executive roles, ranging in size from £5m to £1.9bn pa.
In particular he can offer: strong strategic planning skills, with significant experience in business transformation and improvement. He also has outstanding experience in engaging varied and multiple stakeholders, particularly involving local and national government departments and leaders.
An experienced Non-Executive Chair and Non Executive Director, Mike currently sits on the Boards of the Science Museum Foundation and the Lowry Centre Trust. He is also the Chairman for the Institute of Directors in the North West.
Want to meet with Mike?
Alex has spent his career investing in and successfully growing entrepreneurial for-profit and non-profit organisations that seek to drive financial and/or social impact.
Alex Sloan
Excelerate Foundation
An entrepreneur in residence at Cambridge University, Alex was an early tech pioneer, finding success in IT security.
Alex Van Someren
Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd
A recruitment specialist, Alexandra’s business acumen proved sound when, following rejection on Dragon’s Den, Americans snapped up her company.
Alexandra Kelly
Hire Right
Companies obliged to enrol employees into pension schemes needed a one stop shop to enable it. So Andrew invented it and called it Smart Pension.
Andrew Evans
Smart Pension
Five times a CEO, Angie has long been part of the vanguard of people supporting businesses in the north west of the UK.
Angie Robinson
One Manchester
Anne is a Non-Executive Director at the On-Pack Recycling Label (OPRL) the leading recycling label in the UK.
Anne MacCaig
On-Pack Recycling Label
Tony is an award-winning recruitment entrepreneur with international experience in emerging markets such as Russia, China and India.
Anthony Goodwin
Antal International
Atul Pathak is one of the UK’s most successful franchise entrepreneurs, operating 43 McDonald’s with more than 3,500 staff.
Atul Pathak OBE
Appt Corporation Ltd
A publishing powerhouse and politician, Gail advised broadcaster Sky on CSR for a decade and is now active in the fashion and hotel sectors.
Baroness Gail Rebuck
Penguin Random House
Having run businesses in fashion and residential care, Sandip entered politics in 2006, working in both the Business and International Development departments.
Baroness Verma
UK Government
A committed environmentalist, Ben co-founded Menhaden Capital to invest in companies with a lighter environmental footprint.
Ben Goldsmith
Menhaden Capital
A passionate campaigner for digital privacy and ethics, Bill is also CEO of The Crisis Team, experts in incident response, cyber law, reputation management and social influence.
Bill Mew
The Crisis Team
Carrie is one of the co-founders of Mumsnet, the online discussion and advice forum that changed digital publishing forever.
Carrie Longton
Mumsnet
Cecilia Crossley is the founder of From Babies with Love, the award-winning social enterprise that donates 100% of its profits to orphaned and abandoned children around the world.
Cecilia Crossley
From Babies With Love
A regular face on television, interior design expert Celia’s eponymous company has been providing luxury interiors for 20 years.
Celia Sawyer
Celia Sawyer
Having co-founded a number of internet startups he consequently sold to recognised companies, Charles now works in private equity.
Charles Mindenhall
Blenheim Chalcot
An Expert interested in education, gender equality and social justice, Charly has experience scaling organisations from idea to reality.
Charly Young
The Girls Network
The co-founder of Made.com was a pioneer in offering online only made-to-order designer furniture at affordable prices.
Chloe Macintosh
https://kama.co/about
Having found success in the digital content world, Chris is also passionate about marine conservation.
Chris Gorell Barnes
Adjust Your Set
As the founder of crowdfunding platform Spacehive, Chris can advise on investment and local partnerships, as well as online messaging and digital presence.
Chris Gourlay
Spacehive
Chrissie started The White Company with £6,000 of her own money in 1994 but company turnover now runs into hundreds of millions.
Chrissie Rucker
The White Company
Claire Dove CBE has been an exceptional social enterprise leader for over 40 years. She was chair of Social Enterprise UK (SEUK). In 2018, Claire was appointed as the…
Claire Dove CBE
VCSE Crown Representative
Dan Cobley is an entrepreneur and investor in innovative tech startup businesses, focusing on financial services.
Dan Cobley
Blenheim Chalcot
The Chief Executive of investor network Pi Capital was an early entrepreneur who foresaw the popularity of gyms, setting up his own aged 17.
David Giampaolo
Pi Capital
A marketing maven and author of six books on branding, what else could David call his company but Brandgym? Genius.
David Taylor
The Brandgym
A digital media specialist, Denzyl worked for Apple to launch iTunes in the UK and continues to work in entertainment.
Denzyl Feigelson
PLATOON
Diana Hunter is a leading c-suite executive in the high-quality food and drink retail and wholesale sectors with over 25 years’ experience.
Diana Hunter
Conviviality
The former finance manager is now on the front line in the fight against food waste as the co-founder and CEO of veg box giant Oddbox.
Emilie Vanpoperinghe
Oddbox
Emma has more than 30 years of business experience to draw from, during which she led recognised companies in the UK and Canada.
Emma Fox
Berry Bros & Rudd
George Polk was a pioneer in free WiFi and now a committed investor focused on driving money towards environmentally sustainable projects.
George Polk
Vision Ridge Partners
An engineer and social tech specialist, Gi also chairs Freeformers, which teaches digital skills to company employees.
Gi Fernando
FreeFormers
An expert in investment with more than 25 years experience, Graham also has a passion for the natural world.
Graham Thomas
Stage Capital
Gregg Freishtat is a technology executive with over 30 years of experience leading innovative and transformative companies.
Gregg Freishtat
Solar Inventions
Successful in the luxury gift market, Harriet has successfully scaled her own company and also has extensive experience in communications.
Harriet Hastings
Biscuiteers
An early Apple employee who became very successful in digital publishing, Hugh now invests in online startups.
Hugh Chappell
LADbible Group
Iqbal Wahhab OBE is one of Britain’s top restaurateurs with a reputation for excellence through his restaurants Roast and The Cinnamon Club.
Iqbal Wahhab
The Purpose Restaurant Company
One of the UK’s most senior figures in tech, Jacqueline helps tech leaders to provide opportunities encouraging diversity and inclusion and is passionate about the ‘tech for good’ movement.
Jacqueline de Rojas
tech uk
James is the co-founder of StudentBeans, a lifestyle platform for university students, which offers the latest deals and discounts.
James Eder
Student Beans
Jenny is the founder and CEO of Consumer PR & Brand Consultancy agency Halpern.
Jenny Halpern Prince
Halpern Limited
Jeremy brands nations! The founder of Beautiful Destinations, his branding agency works with countries and cities worldwide.
Jeremy Jauncey
Beautiful Destinations
Jeremy is the man behind many of London’s most famous restaurants, including The Ivy, The Wolesley and the Belgo chain.
Jeremy King
Corbin & King
The ‘Jim’ in Jimmy’s Iced Coffee, Cregan has gone from delivering his own product to shops to being stocked in every major supermarket.
Jim Cregan
Jimmy’s Iced Coffee
An expert in transition services and resilience-building, Joan works with leaders, teams and organizations to help them learn to navigate change.
Joan Ball
WOMB Lab
One of our youngest experts, Joanne has been an entrepreneur since she was 15 and now runs campaigning inclusive shapewear company Nunude.
Joanne Baban Morales
Nunude
A strong advocate of social and environmental responsibility, Jochen is Director of Kering, the luxury goods brand.
Jochen Zeitz
The B Team
Once a celebrity hairstylist to the stars, John went on to create a range of hair care products that sold all around the world.
John Frieda
John Frieda Hair Care
A serial entrepreneur who has created companies worth several billion dollars, John now has investments in several well-known brands.
John Hunt
Archimedia
Extremely accomplished in the worlds of investment, media and philanthropy, Jonathan is also a very well connected networker.
Jonathan Goodwin
Alvarium
Josh Turner is the founder of multi award winning social enterprise Stand4 Socks, a leading brand changing the world one pair of socks at a time.
Josh Turner
Stand4 Socks
A website pioneer since 1994 when she established britishairways.com, Julia has since specialised in crowdfunding and sustainable businesses.
Julia Groves
British Business Bank
The man who changed lunch (and possibly breakfast) in British cities, Julian is the man behind Pret a Manger and itsu.
Julian Metcalfe
Itsu
Previously experienced in the banking and publishing worlds, Karen is the former CEO of one of the more successful social enterprise brands Belu water.
Karen Lynch
Belu Water Ltd
Katharina Sophia Volz is the CEO and founder of OccamzRazor, a startup using machine learning to find treatments for brain ageing related diseases.
Katharina Sophia Volz
OccamzRazor
An early pioneer in arguing for the value of digital skills, Kathryn is an advocate of coding and champions gender diversity in technology.
Kathryn Parsons
Decoded
Equal Education is a social enterprise that provides teacher assistance to children in care, giving them access to special educational tuition.
Kim Rihal
Equal Education
With expertise in cross border trade, Kishan also has experience in politics and international relations.
Kishan Devani
Liberal Democrats
An investment expert, Layton founded his own private equity firm and believes in the responsible stewardship of business and corporate citizenship.
Layton Tamberlin
Sullivan Street
An extremely accomplished mentor, Victor has extensive experience in health, social care, investment and governance.
Lord Victor Adebowale
Social Enterprise UK
Marie co-founded Goldfinger, creating sustainable furniture and educating people in craft and sustainable woodworking, and offering free training to the economically vulnerable.
Marie Cudennec Carlisle
Goldfinger
A former lawyer, Matt Newman is CAO and General Counsel at Starling Bank, responsible for overseeing all legal affairs at the bank.
Matt Newman
Starling Bank
Having successfully steered several fashion brands into profitable waters, Meg is now advising others how to do the same.
Meg Lustman
OC&C Consultants
With vast experience in communications, Michael is the EMEA CEO of global integrated communications agency Weber Shandwick.
Michael Frohlich
Weber Shandwick
Thinking he could do a better job of managing the 70 apartment block he lived in, Michael took over in 2008. He’s now taking care of 11,000 residents.
Michael Howard
urbanbubble
An experienced connector and communicator with a sales background, Mike has extensive experience of business development.
Mike Blackburn
IoD North West
The founder of the go-to brand for quality men’s shirts, Charles Tyrwhitt is now a fashion mainstay in cities everywhere, with 40 stores globally.
Nicholas Wheeler
Charles Tyrwhitt
Once a printer of radical magazines, Nigel joined the Big Issue in 1994 and is CEO of their investment arm Big Issue Invest.
Nigel Kershaw
Big Issue Invest
Serial entrepreneur Oke Eleazu is the CEO of Many Pets, a disruptive customer focused pet insurance products; and founder of Black in Business, helping people of colour, ‘arrive, survive…
Oke Eleazu
Many Pets
One of the 100 most connected men in Britain according to GQ, Oli has worked extensively promoting startups, both here and abroad.
Oli Barrett MBE
An experienced and successful fashion designer, Pamela was one of the founders of Kate Spade. Her social enterprise prinkshop has turned clothes into campaigns.
Pamela Bell
prinkshop
Panthea is a business consultant for public good. She is an Expert in strategy and partnerships and is astute in co-designing processes involving multiple stakeholders.
Panthea Lee
Reboot
One of Britain’s best-dressed men, Patrick runs several fashion businesses, including the social enterprise Community Clothing.
Patrick Grant
Etautz
A marketing guru for the new cyber age, Pranav finds connections between product, communication, and the consumer.
Pranav Yadav
Neuro Insight
Preyal is passionate about all things people, culture, and change-related. She is the founder of Wildfire and is challenging the profit-driven culture and business model of traditional consulting businesses.
Preyal Dewani
Wildfire
With long standing experience in financial technology, Richard is an active investor and mentor and is widely respected for his market expertise.
Richard Carter
Equiniti Credit Services
A true maverick, Richard boasts experience in the music, telecoms and blockchain sectors. He’s currently active in the CBD and tech space.
Richard Skaife
The Conscious Fund
With a career that takes in Big Brother and River Cottage, Rob Love, co-founder of Crowdfunder, has a reputation for being a knowledgeable businessman and social entrepreneur.
Rob Love
Crowdfunder
After building a creative agency with globally recognised clients and working with President Obama, Robert set up creative agency for good Matter Unlimited.
Robert Holzer
Matter Unlimited
A skilled musician who set out on a spiritual path and nearly became a philosopher before building a business reinventing musical instruments.
Roland Lamb
ROLI
Having grown up in private equity, Rowan went on to establish Virgin Money and online retailer Naked Wines; he’s now CEO of Majestic Wine.
Rowan Gormley
Majestic Wine, Naked Wines
Starting with one physical shop in 1987, Ruth co-founded what was to become Matchesfashion.com, a one-stop shop for designer clothing.
Ruth Chapman
Matches
Big on buildings, Ryan boasts considerable experience in real estate and is now busy transforming the home rental sector in the UK.
Ryan Prince
UNCLE
Having run her own communications company since 2002, Sandy made it an employee owned business in 2017 and is now focused on the next generation of talent.
Sandy Lindsay MBE
Tangerine PR
One of the first to see the potential in tech, Saul was part of the original executive team at Skype and now gets excited about seeding new ventures.
Saul Klein
Index Ventures
One of the first to see the opportunities in the mobile phone market, Charles founded Carphone Warehouse and broadband provider Talk Talk.
Sir Charles Dunstone
Carphone Warehouse
A keen environmentalist and advocate of social enterprise, Sir Tim Smit is most famous for creating Cornwall’s Eden Project.
Sir Tim Smit
The Eden Project
With 25 years experience to offer, Stephen Brown has overseen marketing for several recognised FTSE businesses.
Stephen Brown
Hammerson
As a creative director, Steve has won every marketing award going in the advertising sector and went on to make coding accessible for all.
Steve Henry
Decoded
A tech entrepreneur who disrupted the fashion business, Tom is now on the board of Verco, which helps companies achieve zero carbon emissions.
Tom Adeyoola
Metail
Cash rich but time poor, Zia craved meaningful experiences. So he used tech to create something that helped people in the same situation.
Zia Yusuf
Velocity Black
