Meet our Start-up Advisory Board Members
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鈥� 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鈥� 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.
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鈥� 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鈥� experience and business ownership.
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.
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鈥� 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.