After Cambridge (undergrad & PhD in Geophysics), I founded a software company for oil firms, then spent 30+ years at Barclays. I rose through Operations and change management to COO of the UK Bank. My pivot came under CEO Ashok Vaswani's digital transformation mission. Leading this uncomfortable but revelatory change in the "mobile-first" era, I learned humility and listening, engaging customers and colleagues beyond transactions. This led to creating Digital Eagles, then Eagle Labs, focusing on emotional connection and community-building. I worked extensively with UK university innovation and startup ecosystems, learning from leaders like Sir John Timpson and Julian Richer about organisational culture. Now I hold multiple NED roles, co-founded ConceptionX, and serve as Visiting Professor at Huddersfield and an IET Fellow. SR&F builds on these experiences and my network of colleagues, customers, academics, and experts (the trusted Friends at our core).We believe we can help organisations grow through:

• Inspiring curious, customer-focused colleagues
• Building emotionally connected customer communities
• Navigating business growth challenges
• Improving listening to colleagues and customers

My experience, curiosity, and commitment to learning can help you maximise your organisation's potential.

Erica helps founders and funders navigate the critical thresholds where ownership, governance, and capital decisions shape the future of their organisations. As co-founder of Yoak, she focuses on keeping purpose alive as businesses grow and evolve - building models that endure without selling out. Erica's experience spans scaling start-ups, designing transformation programmes for global corporations, and advising early-stage ventures. Alongside this, she serves as a trustee or board member with organisations including Eden Project, CIVA & CIVA Invests, and AimHi Earth. She also helps steward one of the core work streams for the Earth Funding Lab, reimagining philanthropic money flows. What drives Erica is creating structures and partnerships that allow purposeful enterprises to thrive: organisations that stay true to their values while accessing the capital and governance they need to succeed. Erica has worked with organisations ranging from climate and regeneration initiatives to education, inclusion, finance and global corporations including Google, HSBC, and Amazon.

Mark leads the Retail and Commercial Banking Industry practice at Davies, where his focus is on helping clients develop and grow through strategic transformation. At Davies Consulting, he drives operational excellence aligned with innovative digital solutions, helping financial institutions redesign business models, implement intelligent automation, and deliver customer-centric digital experiences. Before establishing Grovelands, Mark was a Financial Services Partner at Deloitte, specialising in conduct regulation. At Grovelands, Mark built a firm with a clear purpose of challenging the status quo in the recruitment and business consulting industries by creating models designed for service receivers, rather than service providers. Mark's approach is unorthodox, pragmatic, and real, bringing a results-focused methodology to address the unique challenges of retail and business finance.

Jane is an HR Leader, Coach and Leadership Training facilitator with 30 years of experience in HR and training and development. She has a passion for developing people and supporting businesses through transformational change, serving as a trusted and commercial HR Director with significant experience working with Senior Board members as coach, mentor and trusted advisor. Most recently, Jane served as People and Culture Director for Barclays in Retail Banking, leading the bank through its transformation to a Digital Bank. She developed an empowered culture where colleagues were encouraged to challenge and generate new ideas, introducing a 'Colleague Council' which presented regularly to the Executive Committee and now represents 25,000 colleagues. Jane has a strong commercial background, having worked in Relationship and Business Banking Manager roles. She was one of the first women to complete the ACIB banking professional qualification in 1990 and completed her degree whilst working full time and raising a young family. Jane is extremely passionate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and currently mentors and supports a number of start-up businesses.

Javed has extensive banking experience spanning the Middle East, Europe and Asia, with a proven track record of leading major institutional transformations. Most notably, Javed led the transformation of BIBD (Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam) into a market leader, implementing a modern core banking platform, building technology leadership, and fundamentally improving processes and customer service. Under his leadership, BIBD was successfully rebranded and obtained a high credit rating, communicating the new service standard and growing stakeholder confidence. Javed's work demonstrates exceptional skill in balancing technological innovation with customer service excellence in complex, multi-market environments. He now works as an investor, director, business coach and mentor, helping organisations navigate transformation and achieve sustainable growth.

Andy was brought up on a mixed Devon farm, rearing cattle, sheep and making Gray's cider. After college and early work experience, he returned to M C Kelly as a director in 1990, eventually taking over as Managing Director. Under Andy's leadership, M C Kelly evolved to the current iteration of butchery and venison processing. The company now supplies top quality locally sourced meats to the hospitality industry and butchers throughout the southwest of England. Since 1999, Andy has successfully grown and diversified the business, allowing other interests to develop including The Farmer's Dog, Basils Dogfoods, and Exeter Volcanic Quarry. Elston Farm has been central to Andy's work since acquiring it in 2017. The farm operates using regenerative practices and is involved in several sustainable farming research projects. Andy's interests span from experimental agriculture to spearfishing, with a particular focus on landscape-scale sustainable practices.

Ellie is part of the Zinc VC leadership team, where they build new ventures from scratch to tackle pressing challenges in human and planetary health. She leads the design and launch of Inflection, Zinc's new offer for experienced, impact-first professionals at career turning points, supporting those seeking to redirect their talent toward urgent challenges through coaching, community, and real-world experimentation. Previously, Ellie ran The Good Lab, a cross-sector innovation lab co-founded by 12 of the UK's biggest charities to rethink fundraising through venturing, in partnership with Good Innovation. Earlier, she founded and exited semantic tech startup LikeCube, a semantic tech startup acquired by Time Out Group in 2011. Post-acquisition, she scaled digital products and shaped group strategy at the Innovation Director at Time Out Labs. Ellie is an exited founder, strategic operator, and talent-first leader with deep experience at the intersection of entrepreneurship, human development, and systems change. She works with C-suite leaders, first-time founders, and investors to help ideas and people grow - with energy, clarity, and commercial edge.

Gi is an experienced Chair, Entrepreneur and Engineer with a focus on building businesses that are valuable, profitable and have social good built-in. As an entrepreneur, Gi is interested in creating organisations that deliver commercial success whilst contributing positively to society. This dual focus on business value and social impact shapes his approach to building and advising companies. Gi's core specialties lie in Technology, Data, and Behaviour - areas where he brings deep expertise to help organisations innovate and grow. Gi has been recognised with an MBE for his contributions to business and social enterprise.

Andrew is a Senior Partner at Kearney, advising boards, CEOs and executive teams on strategy, innovation and enterprise-wide transformation. His work focuses on accelerating growth, strengthening resilience and creating long-term value for organisations navigating complex strategic choices. Since joining Kearney in 2013, Andrew has held several leadership roles, whilst serving on the firm's European Management Board. He is frequently engaged as a trusted adviser to CEOs and Chairs seeking clarity on strategic inflection points and complex decisions. Earlier in his career, Andrew founded Troika, which grew from a three-partner start-up into one of the UK's leading independent management consultancies, recognised as 'Best Small Management Consultancy of the Year' before being acquired by Navigant in 2007. Alongside his consulting career, Andrew serves as Chair of Arville Holdings, a leading technical textiles manufacturer.

Naqi is a Senior Propositions Manager at Barclays with nearly a decade of experience in financial services, specialising in accessible products and inclusive design. He holds a Masters in Systems Engineering from University College London. Born with Congenital Glaucoma and losing his sight at age 7, Naqi became the first person in Pakistan to sit GCSEs using a screen reader. He went on to study engineering at university despite widespread discouragement from educators and institutions, a journey that shaped his determination to break down barriers for others. Moving to London in 2015 for his Masters, Naqi discovered Metro Blind Sports, a charity opening adapted sports to people with visual impairment. After trying 15 different sports, he found blind tennis and has since regularly reached World #1 in the sport, alongside competing in marathons and goalball. Naqi combines his professional expertise in accessible banking with his lived experience as a disability advocate and motivational speaker, working to make the world more inclusive.

Alan specialises in transformation projects of all shapes and sizes. Whether it's a turnaround project, helping a bootstrapped founder unearth an opportunity to scale, or identifying ways to secure finance that allows an SME to grow and become more profitable - Alan sees all of these as meaningful transformations. Alan enjoys problem solving and tackles operational and strategic challenges equally well. He can work solo but also draws upon a constantly evolving network of professionals and organisations able to assist with skills, guidance, finance, technology and creativity. Alan is happy to serve as a sounding board, assist with developing strategy, convert strategy into action plans, manage projects, or provide connections to resources with particular skills - especially in building e-commerce solutions, restructuring businesses, or securing debt and equity finance. Scale is not a major issue for Alan. He works with small and large scale opportunities, but a real opportunity to make a real difference is important to him.

Charlie has 37 years of experience working on culture transformation and customer experience excellence at Barclays, where he developed deep expertise in the critical link between colleague and customer experience. Charlie understands both sides of the equation, recognising how colleague engagement and customer satisfaction are inextricably linked. His years in customer-facing roles provide genuine insight into what works in practice, whilst his strategic roles taught him how to scale solutions across organisations, measure their impact, and continuously improve them. What excites Charlie most is working with organisations that genuinely want to have the best possible colleague and customer experience - not just talk about it, but roll up their sleeves and do the work. He has built Colleague Councils, designed frameworks, implemented solutions, trained thousands of colleagues, presented to senior leaders, and measured results. Charlie is keen to find opportunities where he can apply his expertise.

Mark Van Weegen is a Board Advisor, Non-Executive Director, Investor and Mediator with more than 30 years of global experience at Board and C-suite level. He has partnered with executives across Fortune 500 companies and the public sector on strategy development & execution, large-scale transformation, organisational restructuring, governance design and leadership development. Mark brings a rigorous yet human-centred approach to complex, high-stakes environments, he is incisive, brings clarity, and does so in a no-nonsense manner. As a mediator, Mark is called upon at the highest levels to help organisations navigate differences of opinion and critical decisions. Alongside his advisory practice, he is actively engaged as an investor and board member in mature and start-/scale-up businesses, applying the same long-term thinking to the next generation of companies.

Brian Sharkey is Co-Head of Innovation Ecosystems at Barclays Innovation Banking, where he helps founders navigate the technology and innovation landscape and connect with the right people, resources and opportunities to grow. With nearly 20 years at Barclays, Brian brings deep organisational insight shaped by hands-on customer experience, ecosystem development, and long-term partnership building. Throughout his career, Brian has been at the heart of the UK innovation community, working closely with founders, accelerators, universities, tech clusters and industry partners to strengthen the conditions in which early-stage businesses can thrive. He is known for his ability to listen carefully, understand what founders need, and translate complex situations into practical next steps. Brian is passionate about supporting early-stage entrepreneurs and helping them build momentum, whether through strategic connections, ecosystem insight, or simple, honest guidance. His collaborative approach and genuine curiosity have made him a trusted partner across the innovation economy.

Following a successful executive career at Barclays Els has specialised in providing consultancy to major B2C firms in the UK and globally helping them to enhance the quality of support they provide to customers with more complex needs. Els is an experienced leader and strategic expert in customer service and effecting cultural change, with a proven track record of innovative thinking and collaboration to deliver change with real commercial and customer impact. Els has successfully led large scale transformation programmes, developing and operationalising new business strategies, enhancing processes, training and knowledge tools to respond to regulatory / customer issues, developing and utilising data analytics and insights to effect change. Els is Chair of the Bond Board, a charity tackling long term homelessness and she previously served as Non-Executive Director of H&T Group Plc and Cornerstone Mutual Services, the Credit Union Services company that delivered the government-funded Credit Union Expansion Project.

Barnaby Davis is the Chief Strategy and Information Officer for the Charities Aid Foundation. Learn more about him on his Linkedin page.

Philip is a Professor & Director of UK Financial Computing Centre at University College London. Learn more about him on his Linkedin page.

David is a leadership development expert with a first degree from Cambridge and an MBA from Warwick. His practice is built on a deceptively simple proposition: that understanding how the brain works is the most powerful tool available to leaders, teams and organisations. He is a trainer, coach, mentor and speaker at the forefront of applying neuroscience and behavioural science to drive real performance change. As Managing Director of First Ascent, which he acquired in 2006, David works with organisations from early-stage start-ups to multinational corporations across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. First Ascent programmes are grounded in the latest research, tailored to each client, and are focused on ensuring lasting behavioural change. He is UK and Ireland Director for Emergenetics International, whose brain science-based psychometric tools underpin much of his development work. David leads the training practice at St John’s Innovation Centre in Cambridge, where he personally supports high-growth businesses with their leadership and management development. He is a Senior Associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and a Chartered Director, certified by the Institute of Directors, where he served as voluntary Chair for the East of England. David also competes in ironman triathlons and extreme endurance events, where high performance demands resilience and a clear understanding of how mind and body work together under pressure.

Karen is a Professor and pioneer in human-centred digital innovation with 30 years of experience at the forefront of AI, behavioural research and emerging technology. Her expertise lies in integrating an understanding of human behaviour into the design of digital systems, creating technology that is ethically grounded, intuitive and built around the people who use it. Her record as an early adopter is exceptional: she built her first website and touchscreen interface in 1994, deployed one of the first AI systems in 1997, led an early transition from print to digital in 1999, and created a pioneering open online course in 2005 that has since reached over 22,000 learners. She has worked across gaming, digital health, education, financial services and defence, with clients including PlayStation, ITV, EDF, Accenture, EY and the NHS. Her applied research has delivered measurable impact at scale. As part of the UK Govt’s national 5G strategy, Karen led a £1.2 million 5G innovation testbed in Brighton and a £1.3 million data project with Gatwick Airport. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, her Impact Case Study evidenced £28 million of inward investment and placed her university second nationally for research power. Karen is Co-Director of The BRAINS Lab, a Non-Executive Director and Trustee of the UK Government’s £22 billion pension scheme, and the Founder of Human Centred Futures.

Nigel Howell is a Chair and Non-Executive Director with a strong track record of helping boards, leadership teams and organisations navigate transformation, manage risk and deliver sustainable growth. His executive career included roles as both Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer of private equity-backed businesses operating across multiple sectors. That combination of commercial leadership and financial rigour gives him an unusually rounded perspective in the boardroom, with hands-on experience across strategy, customer service, organic growth, acquisitions, digital transformation and successful exits. Nigel has mentored several tech start-up businesses and brings a candid, constructive perspective to founders and teams, acting as a trusted sounding board and critical friend as they navigate complexity and drive performance.

Jon is an experienced senior leader in building and scaling innovative businesses, with a specialist track record developing UK tech ecosystems that are internationally connected. Jon turns new and innovative ideas into action in complex (private, corporate and state) and regulated organisations/environments (banking, government). He has strong internal and external networks.

Charlie is the founder of The Foundation, which was established in 1999 and is a proudly independent management consultancy helping organisations achieve customer led success. Easy to say, harder to do. Charlie helps clients to see the world from the outside-in, exploring new perspectives to connect with what customers really value, and to find new and better ways to create it. Doing this well takes belief in a senior team – belief that inconvenient truths from customers matter, and that doing things quite differently can work in addressing them. By doing this well, organisations earn customers decisions that matter to them – to buy or not, to stay or not, to support or not – with focus and clarity. Which leads to them succeeding in ways that have strong foundations. Charlie co-wrote the book, The Customer Copernicus, published in 2021, describing how whole organisations can do this well over numbers of years, acting as customer pioneers, going first to make things better for the people they serve. They achieve extreme commercial success in these periods too, with examples including Tesco, easyJet, O2, Sky, AO and Handelsbanken. Charlie works with leaders of many types and sizes of organisation on achieving this kind of success, covering questions to do with the overall direction, purpose and belief of the top team, their 3-5 year strategy, their propositions and the way they manage their customers’ experiences, and their own culture and beliefs inside the organisation.