Green Tech Conference 2026

Sarah is a Principal Consultant with sustainability consultancy Anthesis, specialising in supporting financial services to understand, assess and respond to climate risk. She has over 10 years’ experience in climate science and the finance sector and has been recognised for her contributions through awards including “Best Use of Risk Analytics to Promote Resilience” at the London Cat Modelling Awards in 2020. She is passionate about climate, sustainability, and communication, and thoroughly enjoys exploring technical solutions for the complex challenges posed by climate change. Her focus areas include quantifying the impact of climate risk and opportunity and helping firms respond to regulatory requirements. Outside of work, Sarah is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. She enjoys running and wild swimming through the Yorkshire Dales, where she is currently based, with her partner and two (very active and lively!) dogs.

Steve is co-founder and CEO of Creative Concern. An experienced strategist, writer and communications consultant, Steve specialises in ethical and sustainability issues, integrated campaigns, city strategies, brand development and creating strange installations out of trees, lights and beautiful type.

Recent projects include work with C40 cities, World Green Building Council, World Resources Institute, Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, Newcastle City Council, Plymouth City Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Steve’s spent the last few years also helping to create a European network of partner agencies, called Do Not Smile – www.donotsmile.com

He is currently a board member of the Greater Manchester LEP, and was recently the interim chair of the Community Forest Trust and has previously chaired Manchester’s Climate Change Partnership. A long time ago he was Communications Director at Sustainability Northwest and Head of Campaigns at the Vegetarian Society of the UK.

Specialties: Particular areas of expertise include climate change, place making, city strategies, culture, sustainable transport, food issues and the natural environment.

Mark is founder and managing director at NetZero.co.uk, a Manchester based Climate technology business. Following a twenty-year career in the digital automotive sector, Mark returned to university and was awarded an MBA from Manchester business school before launching the business in 2019.

Proud to be a B Corp, the business uses a hybrid model of carbon consulting and technology to streamline carbon reporting, analysis and reduction whilst engaging employees and customers with the Engage Carbon Portal within Net Zero’s proprietary software NetScope.  The NetZero.co.uk team, work with local SME’s and corporates such as Santander, VW and QBE in addition to sports partners such as MCC Lords, SRO Motorsport and World Netball where technology is used to leverage engagement and awareness amongst fans.

Rachael Shah is an award-winning leader with 12 years of experience across commercial and non-profit, sector, including impactful roles at The British Red Cross & Co-op Group. In March 2023, she pivoted towards sustainability, applying her expertise in change management, delivery, and innovation to guide Swiscot Textiles ( Now Vision Linens) on their environmental efforts.

Committed to driving positive change, Rachael leverages her skills to support the wider SME community to achieve their sustainability goals, fostering innovation, and setting new standards for environmental responsibility. Her vision for a sustainable future emphasises the crucial role businesses play in addressing environmental challenges, aiming to inspire and empower organisations towards greater ecological stewardship.

In 2021 Rachael completer her MBA from Manchester Metropolitan University with a dissertation that looked at consumer perceptions of B-Corporations within consumer retail. Rachael is also a member of the Pro-Manchester Green Committee. Rachael is also an honorary industry fellow at Salford Business School where she shares her experiences with students.

Malin is a b2b content marketer and carbon literacy trainer who’s spent 20+ years supporting businesses with their sustainability communications. A Swedish national with an MA in Public Relations and a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alumni, she thrives on helping businesses balance the commercial realities with climate conscious operations.

Having worked in broadcast marketing for 15 years with the BBC, Rich left his role to pursue an area of personal passion – climate change and the environment – by taking a Masters in Sustainability at the University of Salford. On completion in April 2024, Rich started a new phase of his career at Marketing Manchester as the Tourism Sustainability Manager, a new role designed to develop, implement, and promote sustainable practice across the tourism and events industry in Manchester.

Effa Ettah is a speaker, trainer and project manager with decades of experience in various sectors. His passion for research and how it translates innovation into solving contemporary challenges informs his interest and participation in Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence initiatives across the Greater Manchester.

Amy Peace is the Innovation Lead for Circular Economy at Innovate UK. With a background in Chemical Engineering, she has coordinated sustainability projects and programmes in industry (ICI, INEOS, Britest), industrial clusters (Chemicals Northwest) and pan-EU cross-sector initiatives (Horizon2020 SPIRE). Amy’s work portfolio includes UKRI investments in interdisciplinary circular economy centres, Life Cycle Analysis networks, and the development of future programmes to aid the transition of manufacturing and materials sectors to get to Net Zero, highlighting the importance of embedded carbon in supply chains.

Adam is the CTO at Nemiah, bringing extensive experience in AI and Big Data across FinTech, Healthcare, and Market Research. In addition to his role at Nemiah, he co-founded Leigh Works, a social enterprise and co-working space just outside Manchester. Leigh Works has served as a test bed for Nemiah’s Green Smart Building Management System, which seamlessly integrates all aspects of building and business operations. As a result, the space has successfully reduced its energy consumption by 65%.

As Head of Programmes at Agent Academy, I’m privileged to lead strategic programme design and coordination across Manchester and Liverpool. What drives me is simple: nurturing North West talent who feel locked out of creative, tech and digital opportunities. My two decades in education, across secondary state and independent sectors, has given me a panoramic view of young people’s potential, and I love using that experience to create real, tangible opportunities.  We are fortunate to work with brilliant partners including CGI, Everton FC, Liverpool Race Equality Hub, Salford City Council, and Electricity North West to design programmes that genuinely transform lives. Working with our growing team to expand and strengthen what we do is genuinely rewarding. At its heart, my work is about people and possibility. It’s about creating genuine pathways, and I’m proud to do that work.

Nick Booton is a purpose-driven creative, specialising in delivering sustainable storytelling through design, strategy and art direction. For the past 4 years Nick has worked as responsible creative lead at The Onlii in Leeds, a B Corp creative agency and proud member of the ethical agency alliance. Here he led on marketing campaigns and experiential concepts for global consumer brands such as PUMA and The North Face, as well as helping position and grow values-led startups and independents. He now works as a freelance consultant, acting as a conduit between sustainability strategy and purpose-driven storytelling for brands and organisations who are doing things differently in their sectors. Nick is also actively involved in several think-tanks and industry advocacy movements, helping grow communities and conversations here in Manchester.

Kate McGarrahan is Brand & Communications Strategy Director at Anthesis Group with over 10 years’ experience in marketing and management in the US and UK. She is passionate about guiding brands and businesses towards sustainable performance, leading brand & communications strategy work for major corporate clients like Mars, AB-InBev, Diageo, and Syngenta. Prior to Revolt, Kate held strategy roles client-side, in professional services and in large creative agencies. She received her MBA from INSEAD.

From working on 60+ equity investment rounds raising £40M+ to heading up growth at creative industries tech scale-up StagePlayer+, the streaming platform used by the legendary Duran Duran, the Multi-Platinum Grammy-Nominated KALEO, and other world-class artists. Vimesh has form and experience having been directly involved with everything it takes to grow disruptive scale-ups and is using this to empower the founders making the world a better, more interesting place.

Tom is a Low Carbon Economy Principal at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), where he is programme manager for Bee Net Zero, a public-private partnership led by Greater Manchester’s Business Board that has the mission to make Greater Manchester the easiest place to become a net zero business. He joined in April 2023 from the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), where from October 2021 he was a Senior Policy Adviser, working primarily on clean heat policy. Prior to that he was a chartered accountant, working first in Audit and then Transaction Services at Deloitte (2009 to 2018) and Dow Schofield Watts (2018 to 2020), after which he completed an MA in Politics at the University of Manchester.

Vicky leads a UK-wide team of specialist advisors within the Green Economy team, the sector development organisation for businesses operating in the green tech and services sector. Her team delivers award-winning support to help these businesses grow, become more competitive, improve visibility in the market, and access new opportunities.

With nearly two decades of experience supporting companies across the low carbon and environmental goods and services (LCEGS) sector, Vicky brings a deep and nuanced understanding of the barriers to growth and offers strategic, responsive advice to help overcome the challenges facing the green economy.

She holds a combined master’s degree in Town and Country Planning with Landscape Planning Management, underpinning her belief that places must be developed sustainably and inclusively to benefit entire communities.

Vicky is passionate about climate resilience, hydrogen innovation, and addressing the skills gap to ensure a just transition. Her commitment to the sector is driven by a desire to build lasting client relationships and contribute to a transformative industry that advances both social and environmental goals for future generations.

Daniel is the Business Development Lead at the Energy Innovation Agency, an organisation founded by partners dedicated to bringing the latest and greatest energy solutions to Greater Manchester; accelerating their commercialisation and deployment. He specialises in market positioning, service development and partnership facilitation across the low carbon sector, with a focus on renewables, energy storage and smart grids. He is experienced in supporting innovators to bring their products and services to domestic and international markets, and in the project management of renewable site developments. Daniel has previously worked as a business advisor to the Green Technologies and Services sector within Greater Manchester, and for a renewable energy developer.

Richard has held his current role since January 2023 where he works for the nine general further education colleges in GM, helping to drive collaboration between the colleges and with partner agencies including the key partner: Greater Manchester Combined Authority.  Richard has led on the delivery of the Local Skills Improvement Fund and also the ground-breaking Greater Manchester Further Education Innovation Programme, the first major investment by InnovateUK aimed at driving business innovation through the FE infrastructure in place.

Prior to joining GMColleges, Richard was NW Area Director for the Association of Colleges where he also led the national work on mental health, introducing the first FE Mental Health Charter.  Prior to that he worked in the voluntary sector with nearly ten-year’s experience as a chief executive at Salford CVS and Voluntary Sector NW.

Richard remains a committed volunteer and currently is a trustee of The Mustard Tree in Manchester and mentor for a care leaver through Pure Insights in Stockport.

Fiaz has driven eight tech scale-ups and exited three, delivering impactful solutions in clean energy and sustainable innovation. His work includes Connecting Minds (low-energy computing), Solar Ready, Co-Founder, (solar-powered classrooms and medical hubs), and as NED at Hydroluminum, pioneering a patented zero-emission process that converts end-of-life aluminium into green hydrogen, aluminium hydroxide, and fossil-free steam—advancing decarbonisation and the hydrogen economy.

He also serves as an AI Judge for AI Forge, supporting next-gen founders in building transformative AI ventures. Fiaz combines deep tech expertise with commercial strategy to accelerate green technologies from lab to market.

Darren Ragheb is Strategic Programmes Principal at CPI.  His role is to secure investment and lead the business case development for new business units and models.  Darren has previously led on the creation of the £28m UK National Formulation Centre and partnered with UKRI/Innovate UK and Unilever to secure a £60m public investment for Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging, part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.  Darren is currently leading on the strategy and circular supply chains for CEAMS (Centre of Excellence for Advanced Materials and Sustainability), a Greater Manchester Innovation Accelerator partnership with Rochdale Development Agency, University of Manchester, Henry Royce Institute, NPL and NCC.  Darren is a Formulation Chemist by training, with previous roles at the Knowledge Transfer Network, Syngenta and the Forensic Science Service.

Dr Silvia Tedesco is the Associate Professor for Sustainability at the Salford Business School’s Centre for Sustainable Innovation. Silvia has a >10 year academic background with extensive scientific research focused on using biomass and waste organic materials to produce the energy, fuels, and chemicals for which we are currently over-reliant on non-renewable resources. Silvia is an active member of the BBSRC’s Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (NIBBs): EBnet, BBNet and HVB. Her research has also featured significant involvement with SMEs, having collaborated with companies in Ireland, Italy and the UK. She has secured grants from a number of bodies in the UK and Ireland (e.g. Science Foundation Ireland, BBSRC, Innovate UK, EPSRC via SUPERGEN Bioenergy Hub) and she is keen to collaborate on grant proposal submissions to further advance the art in biomass and waste conversion and valorisation using circular and decarbonising approaches.

Patricia Gestoso is a seasoned technologist and corporate advisor with over 25 years of experience at the forefront of digital transformation, AI, and scientific simulation in life sciences, chemicals, and materials sectors. As Founder of Gestoso Consulting, she advises leaders on leveraging artificial intelligence for responsible innovation, ethical governance, and sustainable growth.

She also serves as Director of Scientific Support and member of the Technology Council at the software company Dassault Systèmes BIOVIA. Patricia has previously held global leadership roles in training and research services. She has a diploma in corporate governance, leads UK partnerships at European Women on Boards, and is a member of InfraNEDs, a global network for women in Real Assets NEDs.

A regular keynote speaker and published author, Patricia’s work focuses on the intersection of AI with ethics, inclusion, governance, and sustainability. She is a reviewer for AI ethics journals and EU research programs and has been recognised among the most influential women in UK tech.

Patricia holds a Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry and has been a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow