Guest Speakers and Judges
As well as the exciting pitching, the Final and Awards will also feature a keynote from a great guest speaker which, in the past, has included TV Dragon and Retail Entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, Professor Chris Evans, Head of Google Startups Marta Krupinska, Gareth Williams of Skyscanner, Illustrator and Author Johanna Basford, Duncan Logan of RocketSpace and BrewDog founder James Watt.
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Hosts
Pitching Room 1 Host
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Pitching Room 2 Host
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Judging Panel - Pitching Room 1
Sheila Flavell CBE
President of techUK
(Judge)
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Sheila Flavell CBE is President of techUK, a member of the UK Government's Digital Skills Council, Chief Operating Officer and an Executive Board Director of FDM Group.
She has spent 32 years operating within the international IT space. As a 'woman returner' who has had to overcome several challenges in her working life, she is passionate about enhancing diversity, equality, fairness and inclusivity within today's workplace.
She believes in tech as a viable and successful career path for all. In response to this, she has set up the FDM Returners Programme, which has grown to become the leading destination of choice for people looking to return to work within the IT sector.
As a prominent female tech leader, Sheila understands the importance of being a strong role model and mentor for women looking to progress their career in tech. Her business experience has been key in driving FDM Group's global expansion programme.
Sheila continues to advise Government committees on improving the digital skills shortage and gender pay gap in the UK. She is also immensely proud of FDM's achievement in attaining a zero gender pay gap every year since reporting was introduced.
She was awarded 'Commander of the Order of the British Empire' in the 2020 New Year's Honours list, for services to gender equality in technology and services to graduate and returners' employment.
Andy Lothian
CEO of Insights
(Judge)
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Alongside his father Andi, Andy founded Insights nearly three decades ago. Together, they've realised their dream of establishing a charitable Foundation, extending Insights' social purpose to areas of need.
As CEO of the Insights Group, Andy leads the organisation in fulfilling its purpose of fostering understanding and positive change worldwide. Under his leadership, Insights has expanded into over 40 countries with ambitious growth plans.
Contributing to communities in need means everything to Andy, and as a Trustee of the Insights Foundation, he is driven by the transformative impact the Insights global community can make in the world's communities in need.
Marie Owen
Founder of LS Productions
(Judge)
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Marie Owen founded LS Productions in 2006, with the aim of showcasing the creative possibilities available in the UK and beyond to the world’s leading production companies, TV studios and brands. Today, LS Productions is a global production partner, specialising in film and television, commercials, music videos, fashion, and sports campaigns. With an enviable client roster including: Aston Martin, Adidas, HBO, Netflix, and Ralph Lauren, Marie has also overseen projects featuring A-list talent like Meryl Streep, Harry Styles, Cristiano Ronado, Chris Evans and Ed Sheeran.
Marie is a true champion of growth and innovation with a passionate belief in building a values-led brand. She strongly believes in treating people on and off camera with fairness and breaking down industry barriers.
Marie has infused LS with a pioneering spirit, and evident in every aspect of the business is the dynamic and progressive internal culture, bold and fresh communication style, commitment to championing underrepresented industry talent, and authenticity as a truly female-led business
Roan Lavery
Co-founder & CEO of FreeAgent
(Judge)
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Roan is the co-founder and CEO of FreeAgent, an online accounting software company based in Edinburgh. Over the past 15 years Roan has helped build FreeAgent from a weekend side project to one of the leading software companies in the UK, with over 130,000 customers.
Roan’s career has charted an unconventional path from design to product to CEO, with a common thread throughout that companies live or die on their ability to build products that solve real customer problems through exceptional user experiences.
As CEO, Roan oversees the whole company and is responsible for its strategic vision of helping small businesses nail their daily admin, relax about tax and run healthier, happier businesses.
Judging Panel - Pitching Room 2
Fraser Thornton
Non-Executive Director
(Judge)
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Fraser has held many senior leadership and board positions throughout his career, in both private and public companies.
Having worked in the international drinks industry for the last 30 years, he offers a vast range of experience in stakeholder engagement; spanning political, commercial and public interest groups.
He has extensive management experience across sales, brand marketing, strategy development and finance.
Raised in Glasgow, Fraser graduated from the University of Stirling before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in Glasgow in 1993.
Between 1996 and 2021, Fraser held multiple executive leadership positions in international businesses working across several regions of the world. He was a council member of the Scotch Whisky Association for 15 years until 2021.
Since 2021 Fraser has held several non-executive positions and he is currently Interim Chair of Scottish Golf.
Nicola Douglas
Executive Director - Sustainable Investment
(Judge)
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Nicola has extensive experience leading investments in a range of sectors and industries, with a focus on SNIB’s Innovation mission and scalable tech.
Prior to her appointment at SNIB in January 2021, Nicola worked for over 15 years in investment, SME debt and economic development.
She held senior roles with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Nicola is also passionate about broader support for entrepreneurship and scaling businesses and has worked closely with world-leading organisations, such as MIT, The London Stock Exchange and INSTEAD supporting C-suite leaders.
She is also an advocate of building gender diversity within the finance community, working with others to create networking and learning events to support and connect female businesses and investors.
Richard Lennox
Founding Partner at Original Angle
(Judge)
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Richard is a highly adaptable operator leader, with proven c-suite experience of accelerating hyper-growth in the internet economy. He takes a pragmatic and versatile approach, blending the three key drivers of Purpose, People and Technology to deliver sustainable innovation and achieve critical objectives.
Richard joined Current Health as Chief Operating Officer in 2019 with the company on the cusp of launching its care-at home product into the market having just achieved initial regulatory clearance. He led the organisation through significant delivery and scaling, overseeing all day-to-day business operations including Product Development. In 2021 Current Health was acquired by Best Buy Health for $400m in a deal that was, at the time, the 2nd largest medical technology exit in Europe.
Prior to Current Health, Richard spent over 8 years as a visible and trusted senior leader at Skyscanner. He was instrumental in accelerating growth to more than 60 million global monthly active users; 950+ employees in 10+ offices worldwide and culminating in the £1.5billion acquisition by Ctrip in November 2016.
Eve Hanks
CEO & Founder of MI:RNA Diagnostics
(Judge)
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CEO and Founder Dr Eve Hanks has over 12 years of experience as a veterinary surgeon and is a thought leader in microRNAs having studied, researched and published in this area for nine years. She is an innovator and entrepreneur and she used her clinical background for the conception, development and implementation of MI:RNAs pioneering technology.
As a female founder, she grew the business from the ground up and now leads a gender balanced team of global experts, retaining overall responsibility for strategy, investment and fundraising. In recognition of her achievements, Eve received the Impact award from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
More recently, Eve has also been recognised in the USA for her outstanding contributions to the animal health industry, being awarded the Feather in Her Cap accolade for her exceptional career achievements and her tireless efforts to inspire the next generation of women leaders in animal health.
Speaker
Oli Norman
Founder and CEO of itison and itison venues
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Oli is the founder and CEO of itison and itison venues.
Oli founded itison in 2010 on a mission to help local businesses connect with more customers. Today, itison speaks to 1.5 million members and connects them with over 5,000 businesses.
At itison, life is all about the experience. Oli creates those experiences through itison’s major events team, producing and directing events for over 300,000 ticket holders annually to the likes of GlasGLOW and Elfingrove.
Oli also owns and operates itison venues, some of Glasgow’s leading hospitality businesses, including Brel, Sloans and Maggie’s Rock n Rodeo.
Oli is passionate about creating fun work environments, growing teams and businesses and ensuring itison is a force for good in our local communities having created itison us which donates thousands of experiences and donates millions to local charities. Itison has a team of over 250 and is a Sunday Times top 100 employer.