Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Cambridge based Director operating in the Consulting space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Louise Patten
Non-Executive Director of Gallagher
Having started her career in corporate and investment banking, Louise moved into management consultancy and became board director for the Hilton Group. Since then she has served on a succession of multinational listed company boards for more than 20 years as a non-executive Director, senior independent director, chairman of remuneration committee and company chairman at companies including the retailers Marks & Spencer plc, GUS plc and Somerfield plc. Louise is currently a Non-Executive Director of the FTSE 100 property group Intu Properties plc, a senior advisor to Bain & Company and a Non-Executive Director to Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited. Louise’s highly recognised career in business with her extensive board and corporate governance experience brings Abcam the knowledge and proficiency required to support its strategic growth plans and, whilst doing this, ensures that the Abcam Board is led by a robust governance framework.
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About : Gallagher is an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm.
Lauren Nelson
VP & Research Director of Forrester Research
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About Forrester Research, Forrester Research: Forrester is a research and advisory firm that provides businesses with business and technology-related consulting services.
David Holden-White
Co-Founder & Managing Director of techspert.io
David Holden-White is the Co-Founder at techspert.io.
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About techspert.io: techspert.io is an AI-driven technology for identifying and sourcing specialist expertise, globally.
Graham Mills
Co-Founder & Managing Director of techspert.io
Graham Mills is the Co-Founder at techspert.io.
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About techspert.io: techspert.io is an AI-driven technology for identifying and sourcing specialist expertise, globally.
Daniel Cowell
Director of techspert.io
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About : techspert.io is an AI-driven technology for identifying and sourcing specialist expertise, globally.
Rupert Wood
Research Director of Analysys Mason
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About Analysys Mason: Analysys Mason is the leading management consultancy focused on telecoms, media and technology (TMT).
Gillian Davis
Commercialisation Director of University of Cambridge Enterprise
Gillian joined Cambridge Enterprise in February 2009 to work as part of the Physical Sciences team. She holds a BA in Natural Sciences from Oxford University and a doctorate in laser applications. Having spent 10 years as an R&D engineer, she moved into Hi-Tech business development in 1997, obtaining an MBA with the Open University in 1998. After running the subsidiary of the US company Noise Cancellation Technologies for 10 years, she took up the post of Commercial Director at Dolomite Microfluidics in 2007.
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About University of Cambridge Enterprise: Cambridge Enterprise helps the University of Cambridge’s researchers & academics to commercialise their ideas for the benefit of society.
Paul Seabright
Deputy Director of University of Cambridge Enterprise
Paul joined Cambridge Enterprise in April 2009 to take up the post as head of consultancy services and is responsible for both IT and business support. In 2010 he was a board member and director of Cambridge University Technical Services Limited (CUTS), a consultancy company wholly owned by Cambridge Enterprise Ltd. He has considerable experience of technology transfer in both the biotech and medtech sectors, a degree in biochemistry and a PhD in chemistry from Manchester. Paul was previously head of business development at Health Enterprise East where he was instrumental in building a successful technology transfer and consultancy organisation for the NHS in this region. Before this he was a technology manager at Cambridge Enterprise for more than 3 years and led its life science team. Paul also spent 5 years as a senior scientist with a Cambridge biotech company developing the its medtech business and has been a postdoctoral researcher with the MRC and the University of Cambridge.
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About University of Cambridge Enterprise: Cambridge Enterprise helps the University of Cambridge’s researchers & academics to commercialise their ideas for the benefit of society.
Kelly Courtney
Managing Director, WomenAchieve of The Achieve Institute
Kelly Courtney is a strategic advisor with over 20 years designing and launching new initiatives at the intersection of industry, government and academia. As Founder and President of Pipeline Management, Kelly has led high profile initiatives with major policy implications and has provided strategic counsel to C-level Fortune 500 executives, major universities, investors and federal, state, local and international government officials. Her current work includes developing and launching a new business unit for The Achieve Institute. WomenAchieve is designed to help companies optimize the performance of women leaders, retain talent and narrow the gender leadership gap. Previously, Kelly served in The White House and the United States Small Business Administration. She holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BA from the School for International Training.
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About The Achieve Institute: The Achieve Institute, our vision is to help people, teams and organizations experience their greatness through achievement.
Jon Harrop
Director of IDTechEx
Dr Jon Harrop BA MA MSci PhD (Cantab) has been a director of IDTechEx since 2012. He earned degrees in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge and has published peer-reviewed academic papers on physics, chemistry and biology in journals such as Physical Review with a focus on computational science. He has worked on emerging technologies ever since and consulted for a variety of companies. He has authored and co-authored dozens of books and reports over the past 20 years from New Intelligent Printing Techniques (1995) to 3D Printing (2020). Jon joined IDTechEx as a director in 2012 and currently specializes in 3D printing, internet of things and wearable technologies.
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About IDTechEx: IDTechEx is a consultancy that provides market research, business intelligence, and events on emerging technology to its clients.
Kimon Roussopoulos
Director and Technical Specialist of Kition Research
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About Kition Research: Kition Research is an engineering consulting firm that specializes in technology audits of proposed products and processes.
Elaine Chen
Founder and Managing Director of ConceptSpring
Elaine Chen is the Cummings Family Professor of the Practice in Entrepreneurship at Tufts University.
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About ConceptSpring, Tufts Entrepreneurship Center (TEC), Tufts University: We help organizations survive and thrive through innovation
Robert Brady
Director of Cambridge IP
Robert is chairman of Undo and treasurer of the Cambridge Angels investment group. Twenty years ago he left his academic position in Cambridge University to found Brady plc, which listed on the London Stock Exchange and is now the largest European supplier of software solutions for global commodity trading. Robert has a physics PhD from Trinity College, Cambridge University. He enjoys hiking and skiing.
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About Cambridge IP: Cambridge IP is a business intelligence provider that offers technology intelligence and innovation strategy products and services.
David Gill
Managing Director of St John’s Innovation Centre
David is Managing Director of St John’s Innovation Centre in Cambridge, the longest-established business incubator in Europe for technology ventures. He set up and ran the Innovation & Technology Unit at HSBC Bank in London (1997–2004) before serving as an Executive Director of a venture fund focused on early-stage, technology-based investments. Educated at Cambridge, he qualified as a barrister before working in corporate finance for US and UK banks. A Sloan Fellow at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California (2005), David is currently an Official Visitor at the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing, Non-Executive Chairman of Psonar Ltd (an angel-funded internet music startup), a Non-Executive Director of UK Business Incubation Ltd and a member of the Department for Business Access to Finance Expert Group. He was previously a Non-Executive Director of LINC (the Local Investment Networking Company Ltd), a predecessor organisation to the current British Business Angels Association, and of mo.jo (a pioneer crowdfunding website). David is also co-author of several studies on a country basis of innovation (2000–07) and of a review for the National Endowment for Science Technology & the Arts (NESTA) of the impact of business incubation on high-potential firms (2011).
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About Psonar, St John’s Innovation Centre: St John’s Innovation Centre provides early stage knowledge-based companies with tailored business services and flexible accommodation.
Bryn Williams
Director of London and Cambridge Executive Search
Bryn has 24 years line experience to VP level in commercial, operations and finance roles across Tech / Media / Comms VC-funded start-ups and blue chips including: Vodafone Internet Services; Virgin; Pinpoint Networks (Intel) and Universal. Before setting up London & Cambridge with Mads, Bryn headed up the Technology group within a group which includes the UK’s largest Executive Search firm. Bryn has a 1st Class Honors degree in Economics from King’s College, Cambridge University; a further degree in Marketing and is an Associate of the American Production & Inventory Control Society. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marketing and a qualified Chartered Accountant. He applies his hybrid market network and experience for EMEA and North American clients.
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About London and Cambridge Executive Search, London and Cambridge Executive Search: Technology Media Communications Search
Howard Chase
Non-executive Director & Founder of Enval
Howard has held the position of Professor of Biochemical Engineering at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Cambridge University since 2000. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers. In 2005, Howard and Carlos won the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs’ Business Creation Competition and founded Enval Ltd.
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About Enval, Institution of Chemical Engineering (IChemE), Royal Academy of Engineering: Enval, originally formed as a spin-out from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, is a privately funded
Franco Gonzalez
Managing Director of Franaldo
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About Franaldo: Franaldo is a new type of consultancy firm whose objective is the acceleration of transformations to sustainability.
Katie Bach
Managing Director of Good Jobs Institute
Katie Bach has spent most of her career focused on job creation, access, and quality. She is currently the Managing Director of the Good Jobs Institute, a non-profit dedicated to helping companies thrive by creating good jobs. Prior to joining the Good Jobs Institute, Katie was a Director of Global Strategy at Starbucks, where she led the development of the company’s annual strategic plan. Previously, she spent nearly five years in management consulting, primarily with McKinsey & Company, advising clients on organizational structure, human capital management, and strategy. While at McKinsey, Katie was also on the founding team of Generation, McKinsey’s global youth employment program. Katie has an undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of Oxford. She was valedictorian of her Master’s program in Global Politics at the London School of Economics and received her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. At MIT Sloan, she won a Siebel Scholarship, McKinsey Award, and Forte Fellowship, all for outstanding academic and leadership contributions.
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About Good Jobs Institute: Good Jobs Institute Their mission is to help companies thrive by creating good jobs.
David Alderson
Director of Cogentia Healthcare Consulting
David leads the Pricing and Strategic Market Access practice at Cogentia, a specialist market access and health economic consulting company. Over the last 25 years in the lifescienes industry, David has worked for GSK, Novartis, and Medimmune (Cambridge Antibody Technology), as well as Mundipharma and several market access consulting companies. Since 2009 David has been consulting in market access, leading projects and teams involved in payer research, pricing, strategic market access, value communication and proposition development, as well as advisory boards and training workshops. David has a MBA from Cranfield, and postgraduate Marketing Diploma (Chartered Institute of Marketing), and is also a Chartered Engineer (IMechE).
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About Cogentia Healthcare Consulting: Cogentia Healthcare Consulting, provides market access skills, knowledge and expertise to the pharmaceutical, biotech and device industries.
George Lynn
Finance Director of First Class Partnerships
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About First Class Partnerships: A strategic consultancy business which services the UK and international rail industries.
