Masterclass: Securing your next round of funding is sponsored by IDS Group and Garbutt+Elliott
Passionate about keeping the sector’s brightest tech ventures – and talent – in the Leeds City Region, our experienced panellists will take questions from the audience:
Peter Hindle-Marsh – Non-Executive Director, IDS Group
Commercially focussed business leader who has worked internationally, in public and private companies, with PE investors, entrepreneurs and ambitious CEOs.
Over the last 15+ years I have bought and sold various companies, raised and invested over £150m of private and institutional capital and conceived, implemented and driven strategic and operational change in retail, manufacturing, technology, financial services, B2B and B2C organisations.
Inquisitive and technically adept I excel in fast paced, change dominated environments and thrive when challenged to use my experience and strategic, commercial and analytic skills to deliver sustainable operational and strategic results.
Simon Palmer – Partner, Garbutt+Elliott
After working as a Partner in a top 30 Accounting Practice. Simon Palmer joined Garbutt + Elliott as Partner in 2014. Recognised in the industry as the “Rock n Roll” accountant, Simon has been nurturing and providing “great ideas” since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1990. He advises a wide range of individuals and companies within the Yorkshire business community across sectors including manufacturing, IT, digital and creative as well as leisure. His particular specialism is in the digital sector and he is a founding director of Leeds Digital Festival.
Melissa Hendry – Founder & Managing Director, Ddroidd
Melissa has more than 15 years’ experience in senior leadership roles within the IT, telecommunications and digital sectors, where she has played a significant role in driving key strategic growth, operational direction as well as the implementation and monitoring of core processes, policies and partner relationships with some of the UK’s biggest names.
In 2020, Melissa Co-founded digital transformation agency ddroidd. With offices, in Leeds, UK and Cluj-Napoca, Romania, ddroidd employs more than 92 staff, delivering digital transformation projects for clients and agency partners.
Nick Halliday – Founder, eviFile
A serial entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in digital businesses worldwide, Nick has a proven track record of delivering strategic software solutions that provide a competitive edge.
He understands the difficulties that prevent technical visions ever getting off the ground, the growing pains that come with SaaS business growth, and the downfalls of poorly-executed integration projects that jeopardise long-term system delivery or, worse still, compliance.
eviFile is a digital evidence standard for field data collection and reporting, that preserves and authenticates a visible chain of digital evidence – essential for protecting the quality of your work and for making commercial decisions to ensure continuous improvements can be made from the ground up!
Currently used in rail (Network Rail OLE), power (Drax Non Destructive Testing), Infrastructure (VolkerRail & John F Hunt), construction (MACE), utilities (United Utilities), drainage, asbestos and highways.
eviFile’s specialities include Digitisation, Automation, Progressive Assurance, Quality Assurance, Mobile data collection, Workflow Management, Field data collection, Project Management, Asset Tracking, BIM Tool and Digital Twin.
Dr Simon Jones – Dean Business and Law, Buckinghamshire New University
Simon is a successful Senior HE Leader with over 25 years’ university academic experience nationally and internationally, leading multidisciplinary departments across a diverse range of subject areas. Simon fearlessly leads complex change agendas based around financial drivers, governance and international relationships, focused on designing and delivering high-quality Student Experiences.
Currently, Simon is Dean of Business and Law at Buckinghamshire New University, but was Associate Dean (Business and Law) at Leeds Beckett (2012-15). Simon is a member of the Worshipful Company of Educators (City of London), Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. As a Chartered Geographer, Simon’s experience in the university sector is very broad, and geographically spread across the UK and the world
For over 10 years, Simon has been a QAA reviewer in England and Wales, reviewing university systems and governance nationally and internationally. Simon has also been an External Examiner for several institutions, and engaged in Non-Executive Directorships influencing policy debate in post-18 education among external stakeholders.
It is Simon’s real pleasure to return to Leeds, and participate in the Leeds Digital Festival, appreciating the quality of the region’s business-to-business connectivity, city ambition and to wander down memory lane…