Driving Innovation in Manchester

Katherine is a Business Engagement Associate at the University of Salford. Katherine works with industry partners to develop innovative projects. As part of a centralised team, Katherine works across the entire university to ensure that all industry needs are met and businesses receive the best experience possible. Katherine support both industry and academics through all phases of the project including everything from securing funding to contracting to ensuring the right connections are made for the project to be successful. In her previous role, Katherine was a Director at a Business Development Consultancy and has experience on both sides of industry/academic collaboration.

Holly Young is Network Manager at the GM Business Growth Hub, where she connects referral and support networks to help innovative businesses across Greater Manchester scale and succeed. She holds a degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Manchester and is passionate about improving talent, work and quality of life across the region. Holly brings strong expertise in programme management and developing effective, collaborative partnerships. Previously, she worked on the innovation team at Bruntwood SciTech, supporting life sciences businesses through events and networks at Alderley Park and Manchester Science Park.

Rich is a technologist and product leader who co-founded CQuel, a team and AI-accelerated platform that helps commercial property teams decarbonise buildings by finding and vetting suppliers, securing competitive bids and ensuring the job gets done properly.

Previously, Rich spent two decades scaling startups and consultancies. This included growing Ostmodern—a design consultancy—from 5-100+ employees, building Skylark—an enterprise-level video CMS sold to tier-1 broadcasters—and helping mature Pawprint, an employee sustainability engagement platform. He is a passionate advocate for sustainable construction and a board member of Carbon Co-op.

Jason is a partner at Potter Clarkson with 15 years of experience in intellectual property.  As a Chartered and European Patent Attorney, Jason works across a wide spectrum of industrial design and engineering subject matter, using his broad technical expertise and IP consultancy skills to advise clients on all phases of their business from production to end product to commercialisation.  His clients range from start-ups seeking investment to SMEs needing a trusted IP advisor to multinationals requiring all-encompassing IP strategy and management.