Meet our Start-up Advisory Board
Alistair McNeil
Chief Operating Officer, Allye Energy
Advisory expertise: Engineering operations & scale-up governance. Supports engineering-led ventures with operational strategy, governance, risk management and sustainable scale-up, drawing on experience across automotive and battery energy systems.
Andy Breeze
Cybersecurity Consultant
Advisory expertise: Security, governance & risk. Supports early-stage startups to make practical cybersecurity, architecture and governance decisions that protect growth without slowing delivery.
Anderson Hirst
Founder, Selling Interactions
Advisory expertise: Sales strategy & commercial growth. Helps startups strengthen sales strategy through frontline sales experience, academic insight and 25 years’ consultancy and training across sectors and geographies.
Andra Jermundson
Strategic Finance Leader
Advisory expertise: Corporate finance & FP&A. Supports founders with strategic finance, planning, budgeting and performance insight, drawing on senior finance experience across Fortune Global 500 organisations.
Anna Nicklin
Head of Client Marketing, Wellhub
Advisory expertise: B2B marketing & growth strategy. Supports founders with marketing strategy, brand positioning and customer engagement, drawing on experience across wellbeing, tech, media and global B2B markets.
Chris Bailey
Chief Product & Technology Officer, Cognitant
Advisory expertise: Product, technology & regulated growth. Advises founders on product strategy, technical development, market positioning and growth, with expertise across healthtech, life sciences and genomics.
Chris Holt
Business Start-up Advisor
Advisory expertise: Business finance & founder support. Supports early-stage founders with practical insight into business finance, sales, customers, suppliers and team building, drawing on 40+ years’ experience.
Deborah Wood
Business Model & Value Proposition Specialist
Advisory expertise: Customer validation & offer design. Helps founders validate customer needs, design stronger offers and build sustainable business models, drawing on experience with 600+ startups and scaleups.
Dewi Ballard
Commercial Strategy Advisor
Advisory expertise: Chemical technology & scalable innovation. Supports founders to translate technical innovation into scalable commercial opportunities, drawing on chemical engineering, infrastructure and growth strategy experience.
Dr Ayesha Kotecha
Investment Officer, Family Office
Advisory expertise: Life sciences investment & healthcare ventures. Supports entrepreneurs in healthcare and life sciences with investment insight, venture capital experience and a strong understanding of quality business building.
Gisela Bajer-Pink
Founder, Human IP
Advisory expertise: Leadership, identity & founder courage. Supports founders to build self-awareness, confidence and courageous leadership, drawing on experience in senior leadership, coaching and business ownership.
Gaurav Chandel
Founder & Early-stage Investor
Advisory expertise: Venture building & early-stage investment. Supports founders with practical insight into building from scratch, early-stage investment and the 0 to 1 journey across wellness, FMCG and agri-tech ventures.
James Wallis
Founder, GrowthCFO
Advisory expertise: Finance, fundraising & commercial strategy. Supports startups with financial strategy, commercial planning and fundraising readiness, drawing on experience as a CFO, investor, founder and chartered accountant.
Matthew Draycott
Associate Professor, Birmingham City University
Advisory expertise: Entrepreneurship education & value communication. Helps founders communicate their value with clarity, confidence and impact, drawing on expertise in entrepreneurship education, coaching and company leadership.
Marcus Vallance
Founder, MVCP
Advisory expertise: Leadership, culture & business transformation. Supports founders and leadership teams to build agile, inclusive cultures, strengthen succession planning and unlock commercial growth through executive coaching.
Mike Lewis
Market Advisor, Enterprise Ireland
Advisory expertise: Digital, creative tech & market growth. Supports tech, digital and creative businesses with strategy, proposition development and growth, drawing on leadership experience with major technology brands.
Natasha Hall
Co-founder, Electric Motion
Advisory expertise: Startup scaling & operating models. Helps founders find product-market fit, prepare for fundraising and build scalable operating models, drawing on COO experience across global growth businesses.
Nayantara Kochhar
Entrepreneur & Business Coach
Advisory expertise: Consumer brands & hero product launch. Helps first-time founders launch focused consumer brands, drawing on experience building four brands across home decor, food, beauty and footwear.
Paulina Patrykowska
Founder & Director, SLT Media
Advisory expertise: Branding, digital marketing & execution. Supports founders with branding, digital marketing and practical growth strategies, drawing on 10+ years’ experience running a marketing agency.
Quentin Compton-Bishop
Co-founder & Chair, RolaTube Technology
Advisory expertise: Deep tech commercialisation & spinouts. Supports technology founders with commercialisation, spinouts and investment readiness, drawing on experience across university innovation and deep tech ventures.
Robyn Hey
Legal Director, HCR Wright Hassall
Advisory expertise: Commercial law & business risk. Supports founders and SMEs with commercial legal advice, business risk and practical decision-making, drawing on 20+ years’ experience and business ownership.
Samantha A.Mensah
Lawyer & Startup Advisor
Advisory expertise: Legal structuring & funding readiness. Helps early-stage founders structure, fund and scale ventures with strong legal foundations, commercial rigour and investor readiness.
Simon Rothwell
Angel Investor, Minerva Business Angels
Advisory expertise: Investment, entrepreneurship & founder resilience. Supports founders with investment insight, growth experience and practical lessons from building, scaling and exiting an award-winning technology business.
Uday Sankar
Strategic Account Director, Cognizant
Advisory expertise: Transformation & innovation strategy. Supports founders with enterprise transformation, innovation strategy, positioning and data-led decision-making, drawing on CxO advisory experience.
Vanessa Rungapamestry
Strategy Consultant & Venture Advisor
Advisory expertise: Life sciences & healthcare innovation. Supports life sciences and healthcare founders with market entry, investment readiness and growth strategy, translating complex innovation into clear value propositions.
Vernon Hogg
CEO, Founders Ascent
Advisory expertise: Access to finance & investment readiness. Helps early-stage ventures build confidence, validate markets and prepare for fundraising, drawing on 20+ years’ finance and business growth experience.
Vishal Rawal
Engineering Project Manager, Electrification
Advisory expertise: Product development & technical appraisal. Supports applied technology ventures with product development, technical feasibility and execution risk, drawing on engineering leadership and scale-up experience.
Will Larkin
Chief Operating Officer, HTMS.tech
Advisory expertise: Startup operations & venture scaling. Helps founders scale operations, raise capital and build the systems needed for sustainable growth, drawing on experience across banking and deep tech startups.
Interested in applying?
Start by checking the eligibility requirements and understand the selection criteria.
Interested in applying?
Start by checking the eligibility requirements and understand the selection criteria.
