The Assembly of the Midlands King’s Awards Network

About the Event

Tuesday | 10 September | 2024 | Great Hall & Elgar Concert Hall | University of Birmingham

Watch highlights form the day

The inaugural Assembly of the Midlands King’s Awards Network brought together over 200 Midlands King’s Awards for Enterprise recipients, Lord Lieutenants, government representatives and business support organisations.

Taking place at the University of Birmingham on 10 September, the Assembly hosted a series of dynamic panel discussions and interviews with a diverse range of speakers to showcase their success and how the Midlands region continues to drive economic growth.

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The Assembly focused on six pivotal themes:

Business

Leveraging the ingenuity and insights of our business community to understand what makes successful Midlands businesses.

Investment

Attracting investment for business growth and thriving places.

International Trade

Learning from businesses that have achieved global trade growth despite significant challenges.

Innovation

How do we build partnerships to scale innovation, attract investment, and accelerate regional economic growth?

Sustainable Development

Utilising the net zero opportunity to spur innovation, investment and growth, addressing major societal challenges.

Promoting Opportunity

Fostering opportunity and supporting social mobility to ensure a thriving regional society and economy.

Speakers

Sir John Peace

Position: Chairman
Organisation: Midlands Engine

Anne Davies

Position: Journalist and Presentation Coach
Organisation: BBC

Minister Gareth Thomas

Position: MP
Organisation: Harrow West

Mark Briggs PLY

Position: Director of Partnerships
Organisation: Nimbus

Dr Eve Davies

Position: Chief Executive
Organisation: Protectapet

Tullis Matson

Position: Chief Executive
Organisation: Stallion AI Services

Paul Schaffer

Position: Chief Executive
Organisation: Plum Products

Emma Heathcote-James

Position: Chief Executive
Organisation: The Little Soap Company

David Horsefall

Position: Director of Property and Sustainability
Organisation: Webster and Horsefall

Josie Morris MBE DL

Position: Managing Director
Organisation: Wool Packaging Company

Richard Freeman

Position: CEO
Organisation: Zeeko

Tim Reid

Position: CEO
Organisation: UK Export Finance

Nikki Whitfield

Position: CEO
Organisation: Upperton Pharma Solutions

Professor Adam Tickell

Position: Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Organisation: University of Birmingham

Edwina Dunn OBE

Position: Founder & Chair
Organisation: The Female Lead

Ben Amanna

Position: Chief Executive
Organisation: BOXRAW

Jenny Tooth OBE

Position: Executive Chair
Organisation: UK Business Angels Association

Chris Tattersall

Position: Managing Director
Organisation: Wool Room Ltd

Dr Robin Elliott

Position: Principal Engineer
Organisation: Onyx Insight

Robert Stevens

Position: Managing Director
Organisation: Proteus Instruments

Charlotte Keenan

Position: Head of Corporate Engagement International and global head of 10,000 Women Organisation: Goldman Sachs

Jim Campbell OBE

Position: Founder
Organisation: SureScreen Diagnostics Derbyshire

Francoise Derksen

Position: Managing Director
Organisation: Midland Lead

Holly Hunter

Position: Head of Social Value and Marketing
Organisation: Nuneaton Signs

Tajinder Banwait MBE

Position: Founder & Managing Director
Organisation: Urban Apothecary London

Sarah Windrum

Position: Future Mobility Cluster Lead
Organisation: Horiba Mira

Dr Lisa Smith

Position: CEO
Organisation: Midlands Mindforge

Louis Taylor

Position: CEO
Organisation: British Business Bank

Exhibitors

Sir John Peace

Sir John Peace is Chairman of the Midlands Engine Partnership and Midlands Connect. Sir John is also the Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire and the Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University.

Sir John has had a long and distinguished business career covering the technology, financial services and retail sectors. He has been Chairman, Chief Executive and Founder of Experian plc, Chief Executive of GUS plc, Chairman of Standard Chartered plc, Chairman of Burberry plc, and is currently Chairman of Octo Telematics. 

Anne Davies

Anne Davies is the face of BBC East Midlands Today, presenting the regional evening news on a nightly basis. She is an experienced journalist and presentation coach both within and outside the BBC. Anne launched the ITV breakfast programme GMTV alongside Eamonn Holmes in 1993 and spent eight years there presenting the news as well asthe Newshour, the main programme, and Lorraine. She was a main presenter on Central News as well as the Travel Channel, has presented an environmental series on Central ITV, consumer affairs for Anglia, ITV daytime DIY and health and beauty shows, as well as producing and presenting a number of ITV fashion specials. She has worked on Panorama and Question Time and in local radio.

 

In 2016 Anne founded Fashanne, Fashion Designers of the Future Awards championing the design talent in our universities and promoting diversity on the catwalk. It is an annual event involving hundreds of third year university design students that goes from strength to strength.

 

Anne has recently become a Deputy Lieutenant for Leicestershire and has also been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University.

She is patron of several charities – LOROS hospice, Forever Stars and Rainbows Children and Young Peoples Hospice and always presents BBC Children In Need for the BBC in the East Midlands.

Gareth Thomas MP

As Minister for Services, Small Business and Exports, Gareth’s responsibilities include local growth, small businesses, scale-ups, export strategy, trade envoys, and access to finance for small businesses

Mark Briggs PLY

Mark Briggs PLY is the Director of Partnerships at Nimbus Disability and a celebrated Paralympian.

With an extensive background of working in strategic leadership and business across the public, private and voluntary sectors, Mark’s passion for supporting disabled people to reach their potential in sport, culture and personal lives makes him a key member of the strategic leadership team at Nimbus Disability. Mark has a broad network reach nationally and internationally, bringing organisations together and empowering solutions for business and disabled people alike..

Mark is the previous Captain of the GB men’s Para Ice Hockey squad, and was part of the 2006 Team that competed in the Torino Paralympics. He is Vice Chair of the Board of Portland College, in Nottinghamshire and one of the country’s leading specialist colleges, recently achieving Ofsted 5 x ‘Outstanding’ in 2023.

Dr. Eve Davies

Dr. Eve Davies, Founder & Communications Director, ProtectaPet Ltd. Dr. Eve Davies co-founded ProtectaPet with her partner, Simon, after their beloved family cat was tragically killed in a road traffic accident. Driven by a desire to provide cats with safe outdoor access and give owners peace of mind, they established ProtectaPet in 2014. While raising their four children, the couple has grown the business by reinvesting profits into team development, building an exemplary company culture, and pioneering innovative designs.

ProtectaPet has become an international leader in cat fencing solutions, earning the King’s Award for Innovation in 2023. Based in Staffordshire, the company distributes its meticulously designed feline welfare products from three UK depots, with European orders fulfilled from Rotterdam. Following the success of their French website, they have ambitious plans for further European expansion, including the launch of a Dutch and Belgian website later this year.

The company’s product range includes over fifty uniquely modular cat fencing components, enclosures (‘catios’), and balconies, with eight patents and more in progress. Eve envisions ProtectaPet becoming a global household name among cat owners, offering expert-designed solutions to keep beloved cats safe outdoors.

The University of Birmingham holds a special place in Eve’s heart, where she earned her PhD and participated in ‘The Talent Pool,’ an entrepreneurial training program for postgraduate students offered by the University’s Business School. Committed to elevating the UK and Staffordshire on the world stage, Eve volunteers as an Export Champion for the Department of Business and Trade and serves as Honorary Treasurer for the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce.

 

 

Tullis Matson

Tullis has practiced Artificial Insemination (AI) in stallions and freezing semen for over 30 years, forming Stallion AI Services Ltd in 2000, a world leading semen cryopreservation company, leading the field in animal reproduction and conservation.

In 2018 he set up Gemini Genetics, one of the UK’s first animal tissue banks and in 2019, Elite Kennel Fertility for canine AI.

Tullis set up the charity, Nature’s SAFE in 2020, with the bold ambition to transfer biotechnology from Stallion AI Services to the challenge of halting and reversing the decline of biodiversity. Nature’s SAFE is a living biobank on a mission to save animals from extinction by indefinitely preserving live cells from endangered species, one of the only living biobanks in Europe. In 2022, this work was honoured, when Stallion AI Services was awarded The Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2022 for Innovation.

Tullis has previously received the following awards and accolades:
• Fellowship of the Royal Agricultural Societies (FRAgS) award in the House of Lords for success in land-based industries, in 2019.
• Marsh Christian Award for Conservation in Genetic Biodiversity, sponsored by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
• Dyslexia award for Innovation 2019
• On a personal note, in 2020 Tullis accepted the commission of Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire to support the work of the Lord-Lieutenant of the county.
• Honorary Degree, Doctor of Technology, in 2022, from Nottingham Trent University in recognition of significant contribution to the development and application of technology in support of the assisted breeding of horses.
• The most recent award being the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce Business Awards – Company of the Year 2024.

Paul Schaffer

Paul is the Managing Director of Plum Products Ltd (Plum Play), the leaders in active outdoor play with offices in UK, Hong Kong and Sydney.

Plum Play is a leading supplier of children’s outdoor play equipment supplying everything from trampolines, sand pits and climbing frames to dolls houses and children’s kitchens. Plum’s customer base spans over 60 different countries and includes some of the leading high street multiples and specialist online retailers. Plum Play won the Queens Award in 2022 (the last year of the Queens Award) for International Trade and was named in the last Sunday Times SME Export Track 100.

Paul currently sits on both the SME council and East Midlands Council for the CBI and am a Non-Executive Director for Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce

Emma Heathcote-James

Rigidly believing the business of a business is to improve the world, Emma took her concept from the kitchen table to disrupt the soap market as her originally handmade Organic bars became the first organic, vegan and sustainable products to line the supermarket shelf – where they’ve remained the past fifteen years.

Now one of the fastest growing companies in the toiletries sector, constantly pushing boundaries and bringing out innovative products that create market trends having created four brands, all UK made (Organic, Naturals, Little Beast and Eco Warrior) that sit together, cross category and are listed nationwide in retailers including Waitrose, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s, Asda, Booths, Boots, Ocado and Amazon.

Part of an exciting growing group of companies reinventing business by pursuing purpose and not solely profit, the team is fully remote and based UK wide, coming together quarterly for Team Away Days in the North Cotswolds. Having met rigorous social and environmental standards which represent their commitment to environmental goals, they were Certified in 2020 as a BCorporation and declared a Carbon Negative business in 2022. The latest Eco Warrior range won the Queen’s Award for Innovation (2022) and UK Innovate Women in Innovation Award (2023).

Emma is constantly trying to champion sustainability in the sector, educating the major retailers, participating in Downing St Round Tables and Women & Enterprise APPG. She is committed to inspiring, celebrating and promoting female role models across all areas of society and the business community and is an ambassador for King’s Awards for Enterprise, Be the Business, Made in Britain and a proud early member of Buy Women Built.

David Horsefall

David Horsfall, Property Director, Webster and Horsfall Group and Director of Tyseley Energy Park. A Chartered Surveyor with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, David joined Webster & Horsfall in 2008 to lead the delivery of Tyseley Energy Park (TEP).

Since then, David has been working with industry, academics and local government, harnessing the vision, passion and innovation of stakeholders from across the region to create a first of a kind Energy Park that will deliver low and zero carbon power, transport, heat, waste and recycling solutions to underpin the transition to a low or zero carbon future.

Born out of Webster and Horsfall’s 300 year-old manufacturing business, TEP continues the theme of industrial innovation and seeks to create new systems and collaborative working opportunities that ensures Birmingham is the epicentre of the new green industrial revolution.

TEP and University of Birmingham (UoB) entered into a Collaboration Agreement in 2018 and are working together to make a world leading green technologies hub in Tyseley. TEP, UoB, Birmingham City Council and The Crown Estate have more recently entered into a Strategic Alliance to enable the delivery of Birmingham Energy Innovation Quarter across Tyseley.

In 2024 the Webster and Horsfall Group was awarded the Kings Award for Enterprise in the category of Sustainability.

 

Josie Morris MBE DL

Josie is MD at Woolcool, a 2nd Generation, family business founded in 2009. Designing and Manufacturing in the UK, they are leading innovators in their sector, producing insulated packaging using Sheep Wool, providing a sustainable alternative to Polystyrene. They have recently diversified their developments into Horticulture and Automotive.

Woolcool have twice been awarded the Queens Award, the first in Innovation in 2018 and the second more recently for Sustainable Development in 2022. Woolcool also achieved B Corp certification in 2020, promoting business as a force for good, an ethos the company is passionate about, ensuring that both people and planet are taking into account when making business decisions. Josie is a leading advocate for creativity, diversity and the development of strong cultures within businesses and its positive interaction with the wider society. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to Manufacturing and the Environment, and became a Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire in 2023.

She is involved in a number of local, national and international engagement groups including being part of the ICC & WTO SME Champion Groups, sitting on the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce Board, and as a DBT Export Champion. She also sits as a trustee for a number of charities in the area.

Richard Freeman

Richard is a mechanical engineer who has devoted many years to running different businesses in UK manufacturing industry. He first worked with Concentric Pumps Ltd, a supplier of components to the diesel engine industry, before moving to Rank Taylor Hobson the well-known metrology company as MD in the early ‘90s. Following this experience he co-founded Zeeko Ltd an innovative manufacturer of machines and instrumentation for the finishing of ultra-precision surfaces. Zeeko’s markets range from the manufacture of satellite optics, to the fabrication of large telescope mirrors, from compact camera optics to moulds for the production of mobile phone camera optics as well as endoscopes, artificial hip and knee joints and other precision applications. The business originally applied technology that emerged from research at University College London. Each of his companies has had an international customer base and in recent years Zeeko has been a 100% exporter.

Zeeko is extremely proud to be one of only five entrants this year to win two King’s Awards for Enterprise 2024. A chance discovery of a new technology that is extremely effective for the polishing and finishing of very hard materials allowing products such as turbine blades and orthopaedic implants to name only two, to be readily processed and a sharp upturn in these original specialist activities accompanied by the additional sales in the last 3 years of new machine platforms and tools for mainstream industrial use resulted in Zeeko receiving the King’s Award for Innovation and the King’s Award for Export Achievement.

Tim Reid

Tim is the Chief Executive of UK Export Finance, the UK’s export credit agency. He is also a Director General in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). Previously he was a Director General in the Department for International Trade, and a member of its Executive Committee and Management Board.

Tim joined UKEF in 2022 as Director of Business Group. He was previously at HSBC, where he spent 34 years in a variety of roles.

Tim has an international outlook and proven track record helping customers expand their business internationally. At HSBC, he managed businesses across Europe, the Americas and the Middle East and North Africa, and was most recently the Global Head of Transaction Banking for the bank’s Global Banking division.

Nikki Whitfield

Nikki has 30 years’ technical and operational leadership experience gained in both Pharmaceutical Companies and Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations. Working across a range of dosage forms with both small molecules and biologics, Nikki has successfully led drug development programmes from early phase pharmaceutical development through to late stage and pre-launch stages covering all aspects of the programmes including technical design, manufacturing, process scale-up, regulatory submission and clinical trial supply.


Upperton Pharma Solutions is a Nottingham-based contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) specialising in formulation development, clinical trial manufacturing and manufacturing services for a wide range of dosage forms, including oral solids, liquids, semi-solids, and inhalation products. Upperton won the King’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade in 2023 acknowledging Upperton’s outstanding contributions to international trade and its commitment to fostering global partnerships within the pharmaceutical industry.

Adam Tickell

Adam took up the post at the University of Birmingham in January 2022 after five years as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sussex. Prior to this, he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Transfer), and then Provost, at Birmingham and has also worked in leadership roles at the University of Bristol and Royal Holloway, University of London. Adam trained as an economic geographer at the University of Manchester, and, amongst other things, his research explored the political economy and regulation of finance, English regionalism, and the economic ‘common sense’.

Adam recently led a review, on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, that sought to reduce research bureaucracy in government and the wider sector. He is on the Board of Universities UK and the Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited and has served on a wide range of public bodies and charity boards.

Edwina Dunn OBE

Edwina Dunn is one of the most successful leaders in the data industry, with a career of delivering transformational business change. Dunnhumby revolutionised the world of retail and consumer goods when they pioneered Tesco Clubcard and other global loyalty programmes.

Edwina is the Founder & Chair of The Female Lead, an educational foundation celebrating the achievements and diversity of women who shape our world. The foundation uses data to understand the challenges women face and works with business and government to help create new models and policies for the workplace, all driven by a social platform with over 8 million followers. In 2019, Edwina received an OBE for her services to data and business in the UK. She is the former Chair of Starcount, where she helped forge a new era of consumer insight and technology, and the former Chair of the CDEI (Centre for Data Ethics & Innovation) and a former Board member of the Geospatial Commission.

Her book, When She’s in the Room, was published in February 2024.

Ben Amanna

Ben Amanna is the Founder and CEO of BOXRAW, a brand dedicated to the lifestyle of boxing. Since its inception in 2017, BOXRAW has become a staple in the boxing community, known for its innovative approach to apparel and equipment that cater to both professional fighters and enthusiasts.

Selling into 140+ countries each month, BOXRAW received the Queen’s award for International Trade and was listed as the 13th fastest growing company in the UK by the Times in 2022. The brand was the lead brand partner for the movie Creed 3 with Michael B Jordan and is organically worn by multiple world champions, celebrities and sports stars.


Ben is a listed Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree and Young Entrepreneur of the year with a vision to be the reason why the world got into boxing. Through the BOXRAW Foundation and Charity, Boxing is Love, he provides underprivileged youth with opportunities to learn and grow through boxing across the UK, USA and Africa.

Jenny Tooth OBE

Jenny Tooth OBE is Executive Chair of UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA), the trade body for angel and early-stage investment in the UK, which she established in 2012 and led as CEO until 2020. UKBAA supports and builds the angel and early-stage ecosystem across the UK with over 105 angel groups, representing more than 20,000 angels, together with VC funds, online platforms, accelerators, and a range of wider intermediary and stakeholder organisations at national and regional levels. Jenny has also been an angel investor for over 15 years and brings over 30 years of experience in supporting businesses to access investment.

Jenny is passionate about increasing diversity in investment and currently leads the UK Women Angel Investment Task Force and launched the Women Backing Women campaign in 2022 to enable more women across the UK to become angel investors. She works closely with the government on early-stage investment policy, is part of the Innovation Expert Group, and sits on a number of boards including the DBT Invest in Women Task Force, the DCMS Creative Growth Advisory Board, and the Mayor of London Life Sciences Advisory Board. On an international level, she sits on the Investment Board for the UK-India Government Neev II Impact Fund and is a founding Board Director of Business Angels Europe. She is also an Entrepreneurship Ambassador at Oxford Said Business School and an experienced speaker both in the UK and internationally. Jenny has an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours 2015 for her services to angel investment and small business.

Chris Tattersall

With a family history in Textiles it probably was destiny that I ended up working across different businesses with textiles at their heart. I started life with Osborne and Little in London heading up the Contracts division before moving to Relyon Beds in Somerset where I held a number of roles ultimately becoming Managing Director for my last three years. In 2012 I joined a fledgling business called Woolroom, the leading specialist in Wool Bedding, as Managing Director and minority shareholder and have developed this business into the leading natural sleep specialist in the UK with all products targeted at the sleep environment.

In 2018 Woolroom launched its North American website and over the next three years grew the business significantly warranting the creation of a wholly owned subsidiary and the development of distribution facilities in the US. This level of growth resulted in being awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise for International Trade in 2021. The business has continued to grow its international business with wool all sourced and traceable back to British Farms and the US is now the largest part of the business with two Distribution hubs. I am pleased to also announce the launch of Woolroom Canada on August 7th with a new distribution hub in Ottawa. The passion across the business is to utilise British Wool from British farms where feasible and to change the way people sleep across the world.

Dr Robin Elliott

Dr Robin Elliott is Principal Engineer for Data Analytics, responsible for working with owners and operators of onshore and offshore wind farms on various projects including the development and implementation of prognostic life models, reducing the cost of O&M and developing risk mitigating solutions. He is also supporting vibration condition monitoring services, software and hardware development. Robin has a PhD in mechanical engineering and is a Chartered Engineer.

ONYX Insight is the largest independent provider of predictive analytics solutions, with a combination of software, advanced sensing and engineering services to the wind industry. 7 out of top 10 wind asset owners trust ONYX solutions to deliver efficiency in wind operations across 19,000 turbines in 30 countries across the world. To date, ONYX has shipped over 10,000 advanced sensing units to the aftermarket, with further endorsement from GE who selected ONYX as the sole provider of Condition Monitoring solutions to its onshore platform.

ONYX has won two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in the categories of Innovation and International Trade in April 2021.

Dr Robin Elliot

Rob is the MD of Proteus Instruments and RS Hydro and has been working in the environmental monitoring sector since leaving university in 1994. Rob initially started RS Hydro in 1997 to tackle the environmental instrumentation market but in 2018 started Proteus Instruments with the sole aim to provide disruptive technology to help monitor and improve our rivers, bathing waters and oceans. Rob has always had a passion for water, whether its been working, playing or simply living near water. Water has simply always fascinated him in its ability to continually change our landscape and our lives. A keen (sadly ageing) athlete, Rob loves to run, cycle and go on adventure holidays. He lives in Worcestershire with his wife Lindsay and two children Holly & Oliver.

Proteus Instruments, a subsidiary of RS Hydro, is specifically tasked with providing disruptive optical technology to measure water quality parameters in our rivers, bathing waters and oceans. As we all know, pollution surrounds us but one of our biggest problems is that for the most part we have been very ineffective at measuring pollution and hence why it is only now that this topic has come to the afore. The group has a combined turnover of c. £4million per annum and employs 35 people from its base in Stoke Prior, Worcestershire. The companies work for a range of companies including all UK water companies, NGOs, international companies and organisations such as the UN and the UNDP. It received the Queens Award for enterprise for Innovation in 2022.

Charlotte Keenan

Charlotte Keenan leads the Goldman Sachs Office of Corporate Engagement’s international responsibilities, including 10,000 Small Businesses in the UK and France, the firm’s impact-driven work in India, and serves as global head of 10,000 Women.

Charlotte currently serves as chair of the Expert Advisory Council for the UK government’s Help to Grow: Management program for small businesses.

Before joining Goldman Sachs, Charlotte spent time in Investment Banking (JPMorgan Cazenove and Jefferies) and was Chief Executive of Tony Blair’s Foundation. She holds degrees from both Oxford and Columbia Universities, as well as being a Frank Knox Fellow at Harvard.

As part of the 10, 000 Small Businesses programme, Charlotte attended a City Summit in Birmingham which brought together business leaders, policymakers, and academics to discuss the immense growth in the Midlands region, how it was achieved and what can be done to accelerate it.

Jim Campbell

Jim Campbell OBE is the founder of SureScreen Diagnostics, a company that pioneered point of care testing and lateral flow development in the UK. Jim also founded SureScreen Scientifics, who specialise in laboratory investigations ranging from DNA screening to understanding the root cause of a metallurgy failure.

Jim has long been a champion for effective collaborations with universities, and has helped build networks between business and university institutions as well as sitting on university strategic boards and being awarded honorary Professor positions. Jim was awarded an OBE for his services to healthcare.

Francoise Derksen

Francoise Derksen and her partner Boudewijn Tuinenburg have led cultural, environmental and operational transformation at Midland Lead.

An independent, family-run manufacturer in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, Midland Lead has been recycling lead sheet since 1983. Producing around 15,000 tonnes of lead per year, supplying UK and global construction and healthcare sectors, Francoise and the senior team have transformed what was once a traditional manufacturing business through their people, processes and commitment to their community.

All products are made from 100% recycled lead; nothing in the production process goes to waste. Changes within the company have led to a reduction in carbon footprint by 34% and 210,000kWh of clean green energy has been generated through their 569 solar panels.

A proactive approach to the well-being and development of their team created a range of HR initiatives such as pay and progression structures, wellbeing plans including toolbox talks around nutrition, alcohol and drugs, sleep and 24/7 online (mental) health support, alongside free lead sheet and ancillaries to more than 20 colleges to train the next generation of roofers.

This commitment led to recognition from The King’s Award for Sustainable Development in 2024. By working together as a wider workforce, the company has transformed their practices, inspired their people and supported local communities.

With a clear focus on the future of Team Midland Lead, Francoise is more determined than ever that this is just the beginning.

Tajinder Banwait MBE

A successful beauty entrepreneur and business leader, Tajinder Banwait MBE has grown her fragrance lifestyle brand, Urban Apothecary London, into one of the UK’s most dynamic companies. As the perfumer-alchemist, she created this multi-million-pound business in 2012 from her kitchen table in Leicester.

This unique British brand manufactures and retails luxury home, bath and body products. Exporting began in 2018, and now, the modern apothecary collection can be found in 37 international markets.

Accolades include a 2022 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade for outstanding short-term growth in overseas sales by growing +167% in the 3 years prior to receiving the award and entering 30 countries. Early in 2024, recognising the positive impact of her work, Tajinder was awarded an MBE for services to Business and the Beauty Industry.

Tajinder has proven to be an influential advocate for international trade. As a Department for Business and Trade Midlands Export Champion, she is committed to inspiring fellow SME businesses to export.

Sarah Windrum

Sarah Windrum is a technology business founder and investor leading the development of MIRA Tech Park’s future mobility cluster at the heart of the Midlands. MIRA Tech Park is an 850-acre site on the Leicestershire and Warwickshire border home to 40 global tenants specialising in mobility research & development including battery electric and hydrogen technologies. Recent winners of The King’s Award for Sustainable Development, the Tech Park is home to a world-class blend of facilities and expertise at HORIBA MIRA from ASSURED CAV to the Cleantech Test Hub enabling the accelerated delivery of new technologies to market and supporting decarbonisation of transport at scale making all our journeys safer, cleaner, and smarter.

Sarah was formerly Chair of Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and still serves on the Midlands Engine Digital Board, the West Midlands Economic Growth and Innovation Boards, and is a Director for the Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. She is also a Regional Fellow at University of Warwick and a recent MSc graduate from Coventry University in Data Science.

Dr Lisa Smith

Dr Lisa Smith, CEO Midlands Mindforge: Lisa is an award-winning investor, advisor in sustainability for the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership, and a Harvard MBA graduate. Throughout her career, Lisa has been passionate about promoting sustainable business development, championing start-ups into growing and successful businesses while embedding inclusive and diverse leadership cultures across the organisations she has worked in. She has an established track record of success across these missions, having led teams at BTV, McKinsey and Unilever to enable effective business building and support inspiring entrepreneurs to fulfil the potential of their ideas.

Louis Taylor

Louis Taylor is CEO of the British Business Bank. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, for seven years. He also held roles as a Director General in the Department for International Trade, and a member of its Executive Committee and Management Board.

Before joining UKEF, Louis held a range of senior roles at Standard Chartered Bank, including from 2013 to 2015 as Chief Operating Officer of Group Treasury, based in London. Before that, he spent three years as the bank’s CEO for Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, based in Ho Chi Minh City.

His earlier career included eight years working for JP Morgan in debt capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, and five years in corporate development and strategy with two industrial companies, Cookson Group plc and BTR plc. He has an MA in Law from the University of Cambridge.