Niraj Saraf

Founder

Niraj is an innovation leader with over 30 years’ experience of strategy and policy development, and programme management across public, private, and voluntary sector organisations in the UK and internationally. He is currently the COO at the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management having previously worked in consulting, start-ups, banking, sustainable development, and the Civil Service. He enjoys the thrills of entrepreneurship: he started his first business venture at the age of 13; helped launch another venture in 2005; and is an experienced start-up mentor. He also spent 7 years working at InnovateUK, the UK Government's innovation agency. His qualifications include an MBA from Imperial Business School, and an MSc in Sustainability and Responsibility from Ashridge Business School.

Clare Wildfire

Clare graduated with a mathematics degree and, following a brief stint in computer graphics at The Independent newspaper, she joined a small building services engineering firm in 1989 and has stayed with the profession ever since. She is now Global Practice Leader for Cities with a global engineering, management and development consultancy. She leads regeneration, low carbon and sustainable innovation projects. From her 30 years’ experience in the sector, Clare combines her practical understanding of construction and development drivers and processes at macro and micro levels with policy engagement, bringing insight into the technical, political, financial and behavioural aspects of sustainable development and low carbon living.

Her roles have included responsibilities in business development and work winning, project and contractual management, team leadership including resource and personnel issues.

Clare is also chair of her company’s global Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiative.

Martin Thomas

Martin Thomas is an ex-Unilever executive and a co-founder of Thomas & McElroy LLC. At Unilever, he headed the company’s global strategic planning activities and then had responsibility for several mergers, acquisitions, disposals and international ventures in various countries. His work was international, mainly at subsidiary executive board level, conducted in four languages and living consecutively on four continents.

Since 1999 he has been focusing on change management as call4change and has taken on consulting, directorships and operational assignments, mainly in UK organizations. 

His collaboration with Mark McElroy resulted in the MultiCapital Scorecard book; published by Chelsea Green in 2016. It sets out principles for measuring and managing sustainability performance. It is unique in also providing an implementation methodology.

Michael Winslow

Michael  is a successful Senior Executive with experience at board level in both Executive & Non Executive positions. Michael has broad international experience set against a record of achievement in a wide range of industry sectors. Michael's skills & expertise lie in negotiation, influencing & persuasion, as well as delivering significant success in developing and managing strategic partnerships and alliances, building global organisations' behaviours and managing across cultures. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Executive Business Coaching and currently works with a number of businesses to help them define their business strategies and value propositions. He has been Chairman at Bidwedge.com since 2018 and has seen the business concept develop from an initial ‘coffee shop’ conversation to where it is now.

John Machin

A plain-speaking Yorkshireman, with lifelong fascination about what makes individuals and organisations tick. Studied Management Science at Warwick University joining Thomson McLintock in London in 1979. Enjoyed a fascinating and varied professional services career working with and advising clients ranging from owner managed to large multinationals over 5 decades with KPMG, 25 years as partner. A seasoned Chartered Accountant and Certified Information Systems Auditor with a track record of building successful professional services and meaningful client relationships in order to help improve the business operations of organisations. Working with the “C Suite” on continuous improvement of systems and controls and implementation of innovative solutions, including Information Technology and Strategic Sourcing, were key aspects of his client work. Clients included BP, Barclays, Client Suisse, HSBC and The Bank of England. John is currently Acting Chair for Ashford & St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, President of NW Surrey Retirement Fellowship, a NED for CSH Surrey and Chairman of Puttenham Golf Club.

Amanda Nobbs, OBE

Amanda offers Chair, NED and Chief Executive experience across the public, private and charitable sectors.  A common thread throughout all her roles has been an ability to bring people together to make ambitious change possible.  She has a keen sense of the vision, tenacity, power to connect and courage needed for a business to succeed.  She is motivated by making a difference and enjoys mentoring and sharing leadership experience as a St George’s Leadership Fellow.  Amanda is currently a Local Government Boundary Commissioner for England, determining electoral arrangements for Councils, and is Chair of the Marine Conservation Society.  Her career has been enriched by variety from managing a small business to overseeing major infrastructure programmes and projects, running media campaigns, achieving legislative change, and serving in advisory roles for government.  Amanda has an MA from Cambridge, an MSc from UCL and was awarded an OBE in 2017 for services to Flood Risk Management and Environmental Protection.