Welcome to my journal.
Get an insight into my day-to-day work and my perspective on key issues.
Only Labour can deliver the stability businesses need
Under the Conservatives, entrepreneurs have lived with chaos, drama and – from time to time – farce. Stability will give business leaders confidence and with confidence comes growth.
How Labour can unleash our entrepreneurs and kick-start growth
Trickle-down economics has failed and continues to fail, and our economy has stopped growing. We are the only G7 nation to still have an economy smaller than it was pre-pandemic. And the IMF recently forecast that the UK will be among the worst performing economies in the G20 in 2023.
So what can Labour propose in order to avoid another decade of low growth and lots of inequality? ….
…. An entrepreneurial mindset places value in curiosity and innovation, constantly iterating for building growth and cultivating meaningful relationships, partnerships and collaborations.
Start-Up, Scale Up: A reason to believe a vibrant economy can return.
A vibrant economy is underpinned by a dynamic culture of innovation and flexible structures that support entrepreneurs with sources of investment capital, knowledge-flow and market opportunities. As a previous national Entrepreneur of the Year, I have seen first hand how ideas can be supported to become reality, how start up businesses can successfully scale and how both profits and improvements to lives can be created together.
Just IMAGINE if... 2022: Ideas to Solve Global Challenges
New Ideas. Where do they come from? When we have a new one, why hasn't anyone thought of it before? How is it that some develop into reality and others don't? Is it possible to solve global problems without new ideas becoming reality? I don't think so, and so they fascinate me.
Could your idea change the world?
In February 2019, our inaugural competition took place at the University of Reading, with ten finalists pitching their ideas to an audience of purpose-driven entrepreneurs and business leaders, who voted for Alexander, a young man from Peru, with an audacious idea to create a quinoa and tarwi based milk from the wild slopes of the Andes.
Just IMAGINE if - Business was Always a Force of Good
The phrase 'just imagine if' has stayed with me throughout my life. Imagine a world of gender and racial equality. Imagine a world free from businesses polluting our environment. Imagine if we could make a genuine impact to reduce childhood obesity.
It's these dreams that led me to establish 'just IMAGINE if...', an annual, university-hosted, business-focused, non-profit competition to address the UN's Sustainable Development Goals - the 2019 final was at the University of Reading in February.
Just IMAGINE if - Nothing was Impossible
Just IMAGINE if... is an innovation and social enterprise competition designed to find business ideas to help address our global problems
The three little words 'just imagine if...' have started endless sentences in my head, ever since I was a toddler.
Why It's Never a Bad Time to Pursue Export Opportunities
In turbulent economic times, it's tempting for entrepreneurs to batten down the hatches and stay put, lie low and wait for the storm to pass. Indeed, in times of uncertainty we must do all we can to prepare, plan and protect ourselves. And it's true we live in uncertain times. However, it's never been more vital that the UK's SME community sets its sights on the horizon, and actively pursues export opportunities with Europe and beyond.
Africa and Young People: Becoming Agents of Change
There are more people under the age of 20 in Africa, than anywhere else in the world, and the continent's population is set to double to two billion by 2050.
It is these young people that have the ideas, energy and creativity to make the world a better place - but only if they are given the opportunities to do so.
This week, I have been in Dublin for this year's One Young World Summit - a global forum for the world's future leaders.
High Risk, High Reward: How to Export Successfully
I started Ella's Kitchen in 2006 with the mission of improving children's lives by giving them a healthier relationship with food. Nearly ten years on, the business is now the UK's number one baby food brand and sold in over 40 territories worldwide.
I have always believed that business is the most important force for positive social change, and it became my ambition to create a company which could address the growing obesity epidemic among young people.
