Category: Advisory Panel

Sue has spent the past fifteen years in financial services, supporting private-equity backed firms through accelerated growth, mergers and acquisitions and leading complex integration and transformation programmes. She is one of 100 women awarded the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of a century of women’s suffrage, and is currently serving her second term as an official UK Export Champion.

Sue’s career spans private and public services and both large and small organisations. She was previously Assistant Chief Executive, Communications & Consultation for Hackney Council, dealing with complex local issues as well as with the impact of national policy and working as part of the Olympic Host Boroughs to secure a meaningful local legacy from the Games in the run up to London 2012. This followed six years as Director of Communications for the University of Birmingham, one of the UK’s leading research-led universities with an international student base. 

During this period, Sue also acted as media and public affairs lead for the Russell Group over the introduction of tuition fees; founded the Midlands’ Media Centre training academics, diplomats and business leaders in media skills and; struck a strategic alliance between the University and the BBC, securing a BBC Drama Village on campus. 

Before this, Sue was founding Editor of birminghampages.com, an early dotcom start-up owned by Chrysalis media. This followed five years as Director of Communications for one of the UK’s most senior Church of England Bishops, who was also a member of the House of Lords and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Envoy to the Vatican State. 

Sue began her marketing career helping Luton College of Higher Education to become a ‘challenger brand’ in higher education and achieve University status following earlier posts in scientific publishing. Sue is an English graduate from Cambridge University and has a second degree in the construction of gender in Shakespeare from the University of Durham. Sue is married and lives in East London with her family.

Sue’s career spans private and public services and both large and small organisations. She was previously Assistant Chief Executive, Communications & Consultation for Hackney Council, dealing with local issues as well as with the impact of national policy and working as part of the Olympic Host Boroughs to secure a meaningful local legacy from the Games in the run up to London 2012. This followed six years as Director of Communications for the University of Birmingham.

During this period, Sue also: acted as media and public affairs lead for the Russell Group over the introduction of tuition fees; founded the Midlands’ Media Centre training several hundred leading research academics, diplomats and business leaders in media skills and; struck a strategic alliance between the University and the BBC, securing a BBC Drama Village on campus.

Before this, Sue was founding Editor of birminghampages.com, an early dotcom start-up owned by Chrysalis media. This followed five years as Director of Communications for one of the UK’s most senior Church of England Bishops, who was also a member of the House of Lords and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Envoy to the Vatican State.

Sue began her marketing career helping Luton College of Higher Education to become a ‘challenger brand’ in higher education and achieve University status following earlier posts in medical and veterinary publishing. Sue is an English graduate from Cambridge University and has a second degree in the construction of gender in Shakespeare from the University of Durham. Sue is married and lives in East London with her family.

Emer Coleman is the Business Development Director for TransportAPI, a UK based SME powering change and innovation in transport. She is also the Founder of DSRPTN, an open data and technology consulting firm. Prior to joining TransportAPI Emer was the Deputy Director for Digital Engagement with Government Digital Services in Cabinet Office. She has also been Director of Digital Projects for the Mayor of London where she established The London Datastore.

Emer has a BA in History and Sociology from University College Cork and an MPA from Warwick Business School. She blogs frequently on innovation, digital disruption and open data and is a contributor to Beyond Transparency: Open Data and The Future of Civic Innovation (Code for America 2013).

Most recently, Tim Organ’s career has been spent utilising his wide experience of managing diverse operational and technology-based businesses to help startup organisations achieve their goals. He has been the Chief Information Officer of Switch Concepts Ltd., a fast growing digital business, based in Southampton, which offers a unique real-time trading platform specifically designed for publishers to increase their online advertising revenue. The company was named Number 2 in 2013 and 2014 in the Sunday Times/Hiscox Tech Track of fastest growing privately held UK companies, and named in the 2014 Deloitte UK Fast 50 listing.

Tim is also the Chief Executive Officer of Seme4 Ltd., a small privately held company specialising in Linked Data, which is fast building a reputation in the design, build and hosting of Linked Data applications. In 2012 he helped to create the Open Data Institute, together with Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, following the award of a £10m grant from HM Government.

Prior to this Tim held a number of senior operational and business development roles in major financial services technology businesses, which included assignments on four continents.

Tim’s early career was spent in retail banking where, over 18 years, he progressed from Trainee to Director, co-leading a £100m operations and technology transformation project.

Alex Butler has a broad range of board level experience in marketing and digital technology and is a specialist in digital innovation and transformation, working across a number of industries, including the BBC. Until 2010, she led the transformation of the UK Government’s approach to, and uses of, digital technologies establishing a programme of activity to improve the UK Government’s online services.

Responsible for the original service proposition for Directgov, the UK Government’s citizen website, Alex also established and ran a new digital delivery division, the forerunner of the UK’s Government Digital Service. She was also responsible for BT Wholesale’s innovative broadband demand registration marketing programme, coordinating over 3000 disparate campaign volunteers to bring broadband to villages and towns across the UK.

Rob Bryan has been working with organisations and individuals operating in science, technology, engineering and healthcare for 15 years.

As the legal adviser to such bodies as the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Physiological Society, Rob is working at the heart of UK science, technology and engineering.

Throughout his career Rob has been known for his pragmatism. After training in industry, an early career in a niche intellectual property firm of national repute, and several years working as company secretary to two international companies where intellectual property was key, it is perhaps no surprise that his work in this area is well known.

Rob’s current practise is largely based around the negotiation of large commercial contracts, advising on the exploitation of intellectual property rights, State Aid laws and issues concerning data protection and the freedom of information. He is also known for the work he undertakes with management boards, including ensuring the smooth application of TUPE regulations to what may otherwise be a difficult process.

Sarah MacDonald has over 15 years of strategic communications experience. During her career within agencies and in-house roles, Sarah has gained skills in both external and internal communications, crisis communications and media relations.

Prior to her current role as Head of External Relations at Macmillan Science and Education, Sarah worked for over five years in the Barclays corporate affairs team, having taken up a media relations role at the bank in October 2008. Before that she worked for clients across a range of sectors, from Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Really Useful Group, to the Royal Opera House, the Walt Disney Company and Forbes.

Sarah is currently interested in the developing thinking around sustainability and corporate social responsibility and the ways companies and individuals can come together and collaborate to bring about positive social change.