Name
Enterprise Manager specialising in PGR Enterprise & Enterprise Skills
Entrepreneur in Residence
Between 2009 – 2023, Judith held a variety of senior executive roles within the British Business Bank, which is the UK’s national economic development bank. These culminated in her becoming CEO of its two commercial investment subsidiaries - British Business Investments (BBI) and British Patient Capital (BPC) – which boost debt and equity funding for high-growth UK small businesses. These companies have >£6bn of assets under management and almost 20,000 high-growth SMEs within their underlying portfolios.
Judith has worked extensively with HM Government, national membership organisations, business support networks and high growth small businesses. She is keen to support the diversity agenda and since 2022, has been a member of a government-initiated Taskforce for Women-Led High Growth Businesses.
Judith completed her MBA at Durham University Business School in 2002. Following her (semi) retirement in late 2023, Judith is keen to help develop the eco-system for high-growth businesses in her native North East.
Amer is currently the Chairman of a Latin America fintech, Klym and an adviser to the UAE’s S3 (launched by the International Holding Company) which is a global climate company announced at COP28. Amer is also a board member of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. Previously, Amer co-founded and was a Partner at an impact investment fund. Prior to that, Amer held a senior position at the World Bank Group and before that Amer had a long career as an investment banker at Standard Chartered, Lehman Brothers and Lazard.
Amer has served as an external expert on the working group for School Connectivity for the UN’s Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and was also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Infrastructure. Amer is a graduate of Durham University (Trevelyan College).
Edward is a co-founder of Atom bank where he leads the bank’s natural and social capital investments. He chair’s Newcastle-based venture capital firm Northstar Ventures and also Finpact CIC. He is a trustee of the Providence Learning Partnership Multi-Academy Trust, and a board director of the joint venture delivering a major regeneration project in York city centre for Homes England and Network Rail. He was previously the CEO of the North East LEP, a snr civil servant at HM Treasury and after a series of post-Doc roles he worked with the UN in Iraq in the late 1990s.
Edward was at Durham from 1988 to 1991 (Collingwood, Geography) and back again 1992-95 for his PhD (stable isotope fractionation in coastal ecosystems, with the Biological Sciences Dept at Uni of Miami). He also holds an LLM in Public International Law. Edward is now a Professor in Practice at Durham.
Jonathan was formerly chief executive of international healthcare software company Datix, which he joined in 1995 and grew into a successful and widely respected patient safety business.
Jonathan left Datix in 2018 to pursue his wider interests in patient safety and software. His roles have included chair of Trust Networks, a cloud-based cybersecurity startup that was subsequently acquired by Lyft. He founded the charity Patient Safety Learning to promote the sharing of best practice and to ensure that patient safety becomes a core purpose of healthcare, not just one of many competing priorities. He also gives advice and support to a number of startup companies and is an advisor to private equity firms.
Jonathan’s generous donation to the enterprise department at Durham enabled the creation of the Hazan Venture Lab, a purpose-built space dedicated to entrepreneurial activities on campus, giving students and graduates a positive and supportive environment where they can work on their ideas and businesses.
Luke Young is the CEO and Co-Founder of Alora, a groundbreaking ocean agriculture company specializing in growing rice in the oceans. Alora's inception was driven by a mission to combat world hunger, and it has since evolved into a pioneer of sustainable agricultural practices, reimagining our societies as hubs for sustainability, biodiversity, and climate adaptation.
Luke earned his MSc. from Durham University in the UK, where he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Scholarship. Luke created Alora in a sleepy town in North Yorkshire then was catapulted into the fast-paced startup lifestyle through the IndieBio accelerator program in San Francisco, later securing support from influential investors such as Toyota Ventures, The Grantham Foundation, and Mistletoe. Incorporating branches of Alora across the US, Canada, and now the UK, Luke has operated in several countries across the world.
Luke has been named as a Social Impact Hero by Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global magazine, earning recognition from respected publications like WIRED, Forbes, Agfunder, and the International Rice Research Institute.
Luke's inventive spirit shines through with his patents, which include a novel method for creating salt-tolerant crops using CRISPR technology and a revolutionary floating platform designed to facilitate crop growth on the ocean's surface while benefiting surrounding ecosystems.
In a world where climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable food production are paramount concerns, Luke and Alora are leading the way in reshaping the future of food through innovation, sustainability, and conscious decision-making.
Since graduating Durham (Hatfield) in 2001, Matt has spent a career in private capital markets, predominantly in VC, both in the US and Europe. In 2019 Matt launched Ada Ventures, which he co-founded, a UK-based seed-stage VC firm that has pioneered Inclusive Alpha investing. Ada has raised over £120M of AUM from institutional investors around the world and is a leading early-stage tech investor in Europe.
Dr Natasha Boulding is the CEO and co-founder of Low Carbon Materials, a climate tech company developing product-based solutions for the built environment in the race to Net Zero. She has many years of experience in academia, both in the UK and internationally, where she gained a Chemistry Master’s degree from the University of Warwick and a PhD from Durham University. Natasha has patents in the area of advanced materials and has raised grant funding and private investment upward of £5 million. She has been recognised by Forbes 30 under 30, and has led LCM to win numerous awards.
In 2022 LCM was announced as a finalist for the prestigious Earthshot Prize, a Society of Chemical Industry award and in 2020/21 she was announced as a winner of Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation award which highlights top female entrepreneurs in the UK.
Neil was the Chief Product Officer at Netflix for 18 years, spanning the first subscription through more than 130M subscribers. Neli was responsible for the design, implementation and operations of the technology. The Netflix journey was characterized with continuous change: first pioneering subscription for DVD rentals, then building personalization for content selection, to the big transition to Internet delivery, with a shift to cloud technology along the way. Then the addition of streaming devices (starting with game consoles), and the transition to international markets, with delivery of international content to local markets. Neil and his team pioneered and developed many of the techniques of AB testing and iterative product development to create a product used by more than 150M consumers on a regular basis.
Since Netflix, Neil has been involved in founding, funding, and advising a number of startups with strong social missions, including co-founding Curai Health (AI in primary care), funding and advising theator (surgical intelligence), 1Health.io (lab testing integration), Inside Tracker (personal wellness) and Cancer Commons and xCures (big data in Cancer treatment).
Most recently, Neil cofounded Vibrant Planet (nature-based solutions to climate change), and serves as head of product and member of the board of directors.
Neil serves on the board of directors (and compensation committee) for Roku, Inc., since 2017, and the board of directors for Sony Group Corporation (Tokyo) since 2023, and was a member of Logitech's board of directors (and compensation committee) from 2010 until 2022.
Neil holds an honorary D.Sc. and a B.Sc. (in computer science and electronics) from the University of Durham, U.K., and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Aberdeen, U.K.
Priya is a Venture Partner at Merian Ventures, investing in women-led innovation, an Advisor to Kheiron Medical Technologies and Gallos Technologies, a member of the Investment Governance Board at Future Planet Capital, a NED at Reach PLC, UK Research & Innovation, Herald Investment Trust, the Digital Catapult & GB Badminton and Adjunct Faculty at the Ashridge Hult Business School. She was previously GM for RocketSpace, launching their UK operations.
Priya used to be a career diplomat, most recently as British Consul General to San Francisco and previously in India and Spain. She sits on the Royal Academy of Engineering International Committee, Althea Foundation Board, Durham University. Business School International Advisory Board and Global Tech Advocates Advisory Board. She is a Trustee at TechSheCan. Priya was awarded an MBE in 2021 for services to international trade and women in innovation.
Steve is an entrepreneur and business strategist, and has over 22 years’ experience starting, building and selling companies. His businesses have spanned consulting, outsourcing, recruitment technology, on-line games and health supplements.
Until recently he was Co-Founder and Group COO of Xoomworks (now part of Accenture)– a niche technology consulting and software development business based in the UK, France, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria.
Prior to setting up his first company, Steve worked as a strategy consultant and IT project manager. Steve holds an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in Applied Physics from Durham University. He is an Honorary Professor of Entrepreneurship at Durham University and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. He is an active mentor and business advisor to several start-up companies, a mentor for Seedcamp and a mentor for Level 39.
Steve is a regular guest speaker on all facets of entrepreneurship at several European business schools including: Durham University Business School – UK; IESE – Spain; INSEAD – France; Barcelona Technology School – Spain. He also speaks regularly at universities and schools in the UK.
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