Entrepreneurs in Residence

Vanessa Barzasi is the Co-Founder and CEO of BioBright, a UK-based BlueTech startup pioneering algae-based technologies to help the maritime industry reduce CO₂ emissions and water pollution. With a background in Economics and a Master’s in Anthropology, Vanessa combines strategic business insight with a deep commitment to environmental sustainability. Under her leadership, BioBright has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Female-Led Businesses in the UK, and has secured multiple international grants to scale its operations across Europe, Asia, and North America. Vanessa is passionate about climate resilience, ocean health, and empowering the next generation of innovators working at the intersection of science, technology, and impact.

Steve Butler is an experienced SME business leader, chartered manager, academic researcher and business author. He is a campaigner for developing an inclusive culture in the workplace, regularly writing and speaking to promote best practice on intergenerational working, retirement and older worker business management issues.

Charly Cox is an award-winning climate change coach and Co-Founder of the Climate Change Coaches, a certified B Corporation. Charly and her team pioneered the field of climate change coaching and she co-wrote the first book on the subject.  A serial entrepreneur, Charly previously built a creative agency in West Africa, overcoming the challenges of post-conflict Sierra Leone to serve the UN and its agencies, major charities and three governments.

Mark Hide is an ex-corporate senior leader who has built, developed and led pan-European outsourced sales and merchandising teams for blue-chip clients. In addition, He has been involved in organising and leading expeditions to high mountains around the world. Combining these skills, he developed a purposefully non-academic team assessment tool that helps teams and leaders understand their strengths and challenges. The platform is sold through a reseller network of business coaches and leadership companies, and uniquely offers repeat assessments, allowing coaches to prove the impact of their work and ROI.

Liam is an entrepreneur and business leader with a career spanning two decades and equity in multiple enterprises across several industries.

After 14 years, he exited his first business in 2023 and now works as a business consultant, board advisor and Non Executive Director helping launch start-ups and scale and grow existing businesses.

He focuses on working with businesses run by entrepreneurs from under-represented groups, particularly young people. He cares deeply about social mobility and supporting individuals reach their professional potential.

Traci has over 25 years of experience working in the third sector and now helps purpose-led women and businesses as a coach, consultant, and facilitator.

She is also co-founder and director of the social enterprise Catalyse Change CIC, which inspires, empowers, and upskills young women as sustainability leaders and changemakers.

She has published a best-selling book, Your Green Career: The Handbook for Young Women and Non-Binary Changemakers, which is based on the Catalyse Change programme.

Pete Mols is an award winning entrepreneur, business coach, networker and public speaker with a passion for empowering others to grow their businesses and achieve their goals.

Pete's real-world experience spans both success and failure. A failed business early in life taught him invaluable lessons that shape his approach today.

Since then, he’s coached hundreds of business owners and read over 200 books on entrepreneurship, human behaviour, and leadership.

Founder of Outside ideas and Co-founder of Mastermind9, Pete helps small business owners grow through accountability and collaboration.

Fran is an award-winning business leader, founder of Goal 17 Ltd, an award-winning social enterprise, and the ground-breaking tech start-up Wowment Ltd who are using Machine Learning and AI to evaluate the societal impact of mentoring. In 2019 Fran was named Global Woman’s Number 1 Female Business Influencer. She chairs a supervisory board to the UK Government to progress Women in Enterprise.

With over 20 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and CEO, Nigel brings a unique blend of academic insight and real-world expertise to supporting entrepreneurial growth. As founder and CEO of the award-winning Infinite Group, he scaled the business from a £25K investment to an £18M European operation, leading a team of over 400 staff and delivering talent development programs for global brands such as Sony, Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and GSK.

Now focused exclusively on leadership coaching, business mentoring, and entrepreneurial learning, and directly supporting innovative businesses with growth potential at Innovate UK. 

Mark Wood is the CEO and founder of Control Technologies UK Ltd, a thriving business he built from a one-man operation to a team of 15, with annual revenues exceeding £2 million. Mark began his career as a self-taught engineer, following various paths after school before discovering his passion for engineering. Starting as an Applications Engineer, he worked on real-time control systems across multiple industries and territories. His career then saw him lead the UK office of a prominent German microcontroller and sensor manufacturer for six years, gaining invaluable experience before launching his own ventures.

Mark is a proud member of the Institute of Directors (MIoD) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET), always striving to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology.