The Innovating Together–Universities in the North East (In-TUNE) partnership, has been launched by Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland Universities, alongside technology innovation catalyst CPI, to deliver two business support programmes which aim to strengthen the North East economy. One of these is Arrow.Working in the Arrow team within the University’s Business Development and Enterprise directorate, I co-ordinate, project manage and deliver a portfolio of collaborations between Newcastle University, businesses, and external partners.Growing a business brings a variety of challenges, but you don’t have to do it all alone. We can provide a range of support to help you take your next steps. Through our Arrow programme, we can equip you with the tools you need to succeed on your innovation journey by giving you access to researchers, expertise and facilities from across four of the North East’s universities.

I've run my own business since 2008. I’ve worked with and supported what must be ~500 founders, and have been involved in delivering:- ~12 intakes of the DigitalCity Accelerator in Middlesbrough (workshops + coaching)- Workshops on several intakes for Teesside Launchpad's Startup FUEL programme- Raising Finance and Pitching for Investment workshops for Durham City Incubator (DCI)- Lean Innovation workshop for an Oilfield Services Company- Business Model Canvas workshop for Ignite Pre-Accelerator- Creative Fuse North East - innovation pilot focused on wellbeing for entrepreneurs- Creative Fuse North East - supporting cultural, craft and creative businesses in rural Northumberland- Culture change workshop for a County Council in North East England- Innovation, product management, and commercial awareness workshops for this same Council- Lecturing on startup disciplines for Northumbria, Newcastle and Teesside UniversitiesI also coach team Leads and frontline workers for Automattic, a US company credited with running 40% of global websites. I also coach a founder in the electric vehicle battery space, and a founder creating a software solution for datacentres.Prior to the LEP (below), I was a coach on the publicly funded Digital Futures programme. I worked with nearly 60 founders to address their varying challenges relating to: business models and market demand; team building (and founder break-ups); product strategy; marketplace creation etc..Outcomes from programme of which DCI a part include: £3.3m value to participants; 74% of participants experiencing growth; 67% of participants creating new products / services; and 133% increase in number of startups in Co. Durham. One of the graduate companies has gone on to fundraise $2.57m.

Second-in-command on this innovation scouting accelerator bringing together 10 global retail tech companies with board members / chief digital officers of Asda, B&Q, Boots, Marks and Spencer, and EnableAll. Partnering with trade paper Retail Week, the 5 retail panellists shared their key innovation challenges to prospect for fresh solutions. As Program Lead, my role included:- Briefing applicants to the programme, scoring their suitability, and organising their onboarding- Coordinating with the retailers, setting up systems to capture their innovation challenges, and arranging videocall briefings about our programme and with the 10 retail tech companies- Sharing these innovation challenges with the retail tech companies, setting up systems to capture the tech companies’ responses, assisting them to finalise them, and collating and sharing these responses for each retailer- Arranging a videocall pitching competition wherein the tech companies had 5 minutes to showcase themselves and the retailers then scored these pitches to decide who would get to present at Retail Week’s Innovation Summit- Organising and running 3 retail tech companies to pitch themselves at the final session of the Innovation Summit, and collating judges’ scoring in real time to decide the winnerA number of the tech companies then went on to work directly with the retailers to test their solutions.

I worked 4 days a week for the North East LEP on our High Potential Startups accelerator programme, which ran between Autumn 2019 and December 2021 and remotely during the pandemic. Our goal was to create businesses who would create jobs, be suitable for scaleup, and turn over £1m after 3 years of trading. As subject-matter expert on startup best practice, I worked alongside our chosen provider to quality-assure their delivery of a programme of workshops and coaching. This included in-person delivery in 2019, and their successful pivot to Zoom videocalls as the pandemic unfolded.My responsibilities included:- Longlisting participants for the 6 intakes and to manage stakeholder relationships- I spoke with several hundred applicants, passing stronger candidates to our internal panel and signposting others to more appropriate business support - Looking after the ~95 participants with relevant signposting, investor relations activity, and pastoral care - Arranging and leading monthly videocalls during lockdowns to bring the participants from different intakes together, and brief them about related opportunitiesOutcomes (as per June 2022) include 99 jobs, 58 businesses generating £2.7m turnover, and a £750k fundraise. 2 companies participated in Dragon’s Den, 1 of which went on to a £210k crowdraise.I was part of the LEP’s COVID-19 “Restart and Recovery” grants process in 2020, and also recruited and facilitated a Peer Network of local business leaders. These people I brought together have since continued to meet after my facilitation finished.

2 North East tech leaders - Bob Paton and Charlie Hoult – wanted to set up an organisation to champion the enterprise IT capability in our Region. Charlie commissioned me first to compile a report detailed the IT sector here, and I subsequently became Dynamo’s Head of Engagement. Together with Bob, Charlie and an Advisory Board, I was instrumental in turning Dynamo from a social meetup into a sustainable organisation which thrives to this day and has recently merged with Sunderland Software City.Achievements:- I incorporated Dynamo as a social enterprise- Established a network of contacts, and set up multiple topic-based workstreams- Implemented financial management processes and systems, along with information-sharing tools and processes- I recruited 3 interns, worked with colleagues to set up several conferences, awards dinners, and networking events- I co-created the Membership programme and signed up the first members.

Together with the founder, I set up this startup programme based in Middlesbrough. We recruited 10 tech teams from around Europe to take part in an early accelerator, based at Teesside University and drawing upon international best practice such as Lean Startup, Business Model Canvas, product management and much more.

Happiest was a digital startup seeking to build the wellbeing of users through the principles of positive psychology. We pivoted to our aim of: "building a location-aware loyalty rewards platform connecting businesses and consumers."My role was to use web analytics and listening tools to monitor our marketspace; conduct market analyses to inform our strategy; and pull together materials to engage commercially with investors and partners.My previous role was as Community Manager, responsible for building & nurturing our community, coordinating our social media activities, & facilitating our path to social business.

## Key highlight was working on HMRC accountLeading a team of 8, I was responsible for managing information handled by the account,namely:- management reports and reporting databases- three intranets, and - maximising use of a dashboard-based solution to track business unit performanceMy Boss also tasked me with setting up a team to roll out a centralised electronic document and records management solution. The biggest challenge was to face down the owner of the existing solution who was lobbying internally for his solution, even though it was clearly not fit for purpose. To overcome this inertia: I recognised the need for a clearly superior solution. I:- Commissioned the writing of a business benefits case which was hailed as the best the Account Director had ever seen; - Recruited and established the team of 10 to set up and roll out the solution; and - Coordinated with the Client's lead Systems Integrator to agree collaborative use of the relevant software.## Other highlightsIn October 2005, as part of a team, I used my data analysis expertise to enable the integration of Fujitsu Spain into the Fujitsu Services group. My Spanish language skills helped collate data from local staff, and ensure the success of the project.In 2008, facilitated customer workshops for the Home Office’s Points Based System for UKimmigration, and reconciled two extensive sets of customer requirements. On a separate projectmy gap analysis, on how the partners to Fujitsu’s biggest private sector account were sharinginformation, generated a new information architecture & business process to raise productivity.

## Web content management solution for Department of Trade and IndustryWeb pages for this UK Govt. Department were being created by web designers in a process that was expensive, inefficient, and time-consuming. We replaced this with a browser-based web content management solution. I:- Identified the end-users’ requirements- Re-designed the publishing process- Created and implemented a management of change program- Led for my employer during the website redesign / restructure, and provided for accessibility issues- Was instrumental in selecting the vendor; creating the service charge model; and creating the live service definition.Our solution was used for the next ten years.## In addition:- As bid manager, I got Fujitsu on to the Financial Services Authority’s preferred supplier list relating to XBRL, now used for filing of company accounts to HM Revenue and Customs and Companies House- For an MOD agency, I created the strategy for an information-sharing portal, which balanced security considerations with the imperative for joined-up thinking

I won an ICL / Fujitsu Bronze Award for my work with the lead consultant to create a Knowledge, Learning and Information Management Toolkit for the UK Home Office. KLIMT supported teams to reassess the knowledge they possessed – and how to make the most of it..Another high profile assignment was to design and specify a web-based directory of expertise for the Department for Trade and Industry. Internally, I was responsible for several communities of interest, including the first microsite in ICL’s intranet portal. ICL later rebranded to Fujitsu Services.I provided second-line support to a Client with an outsourced IT support function, and helped turn around customer perception about quality and standard of care to end users. This involved working closely with Client management, the hardware supplier and Fujitsu Services’ outsourcing division to resolve outstanding issues and improve customer awareness of service level agreements and the possibilities of their systems.

Before joining Fujitsu Services, Justin worked to provide a complete outsourced IT function for a trade union. For the final 14 months of the contract, he acted as Project Manager, working on the design and implementation of windows-based systems with a budget in excess of £200,000.