Ambassadors
We have over 200 ambassadors who are helping us connect, promote and support the Greater Birmingham tech and digital ecosystem.
Faye Pressly
Women in Tech Lead
Faye Pressly
Women in Tech Lead
Faye is a people-focused business leader who is on a mission to transform how we think about organisational productivity, purpose, profit and people’s happiness so we can move beyond insular focus on shareholder value. As COO for Vanti, one of the UK’s only Master System Integrators with a Smart Building reference site, Faye is currently working with the best and brightest minds to collaboratively imagine and engineer technology solutions that positively change the way people live, learn and work. As Chair of Birmingham’s ‘Women in Tech’ working group, she is a key advocate for encouraging women and girls to enter careers in Technology. “Helping to drive a more diverse technology workforce in the Midlands, is a huge passion of mine. It’s not about employers having a ‘tick-box’ mindset to diversity, but truly appreciating that ‘diversity in thought’ is far more important and key to business innovation and people growth. “However, unless we break down some of the barriers and proactively work to improve and widen the pools we can choose our talent from, things will only remain the same. To be able to work with like-minded, determined people helping to drive real change, is something I’m incredibly proud of – I can’t wait to look back in a few years’ time and see just how many women and people we’ve inspired to join our industry!”
Connect with Faye
Joel Blake
Diversity in Tech Lead
Joel Blake
Diversity in Tech Lead
Michael Smith
Marketing Lead
Michael Smith
Marketing Lead
Mitesh Parmar
Engage Lead
Mitesh Parmar
Engage Lead
Engage Working Group Lead. Helping companies to connect and get the best of Silicon Canal. Give me a shout! I love tech and have always been involved with it, from fixing my xbox's, to building computers in my teens to later becoming a software engineer. Now working as a product manager and trying to do my bit for the community. Helping others brings a great sense of satisfaction. So, I'm doing the best I can, to support where I can. Connect with me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miteshparmar1/
Connect with Mitesh
Simon Jenner
Board Member & Investment in Tech Lead
Simon Jenner
Board Member & Investment in Tech Lead
After a few years working for large enterprises the entrepreneurial bug bit. Aged 26, Simon started Trinity Security Services, a Cyber Security services company. Trinity delivered Cyber Security solutions to customers such as Cadbury Schweppes, Bank of England, RSPB and Tesco. A successful exit of Trinity via trade sale took place in 2008. In 2008 Simon launched Adventures in Business, a vehicle for creating and advising start-ups. Simon is now involved in multiple businesses including Urban an independent retail Cafe chain. Simon has a passion for supporting other entrepreneurs and for the last 10 years Simon has been working with entrepreneurs from across the world firstly through running Birmingham’s only technology incubator and then moving to become the CEO of a leading technology accelerator. The technology accelerator was voted a European top 10 accelerator by the Guardian newspaper. Simon has helped over 50 startups go from idea to investment, raising in excess of £10 million equity investment. Simon’s passion for entrepreneurs and particularly technology entrepreneurs goes beyond the day job and has seen him found Birmingham Entrepreneurs (the largest entrepreneurs group outside of London) and Co-Found Silicon Canal, Birmingham’s answer to London’s tech city. In 2016 Simon was listed in the Maserati 100 for his work with entrepreneurs and listed as a Power 250: The West Midlands’ most influential people in creative and digital.
Connect with Simon
Daniel Moroney
Events Lead
Daniel Moroney
Events Lead
I am the events lead for Silicon Canal. I have been coming to tech drinks for the last couple of years, as well as other tech meet-ups in Birmingham, although I am not in a specific tech role at present the tech community has made me feel very welcome and so I have joined as an ambassador to help support and promote the tech sector.
Mike Morgan
Director - Hays
Mike Morgan
Director - Hays
Clare Streets
Board Member
Clare Streets
Board Member
Clare launched into the tech industry after she took part in the brilliantly successful School of Code Bootcamp. Clare spent more than a decade working in the superyacht industry before taking a 7 year maternal career break and found returning to flexible work in a new industry a difficult landscape. She took part in the 16 week School of Code Bootcamp in order to pursue a career in tech. She went on to win Silicon Canal Graduate Developer of the Year and found that her new tech skills combined with her previous operational and project management skills gave her all the tools to find the rewarding and flexible career she was looking for. Clare is now Associate Director at B13 Technology. Clare wants to continue the legacy of School of Code by ensuring that the tech industry can attract and retain a more diverse workforce. Her work at B13 Technology ensures that they are industry leaders in attracting diverse talent which is key to a successful technology company. Working with Tech Talent Charter, Time To Change, Working Families and being a STEM ambassador are all key factors to this strategy. Clare is excited to have the opportunity to promote such initiatives for the whole of the region and wants to ensure that Silicon Canal's Tech Eco-system can achieve all the potential that Birmingham and the West Midlands has to offer.
Connect with Clare
Jof Walters
Jof Walters
Javier Miranda
Managing Director @ Studio Victoria Limited
Javier Miranda
Managing Director @ Studio Victoria Limited
Multitalented and self-taught individual with 20 years' experience in Software Development, Photography, Videography, and Graphic Design, who has worked across a wide variety of companies and industries in the United Kingdom and Spain. Exceptional at manipulating highly complex and dispersed data to present it in easy-to-understand formats for any device or platform. Partial to PHP, Symfony Framework, Adobe Creative Cloud, and FOSS. Let's unlock the potential of your business! Call +44 (0) 121 647 3627
Connect with Javier
Hannah Quinton
Creative Director at CloudTeach
Hannah Quinton
Creative Director at CloudTeach
Connect with Hannah
Scott Nicholson
Web Developer at Medstars Ltd
Scott Nicholson
Web Developer at Medstars Ltd
As a School of Code alumni from the first cohort, I understand the importance of diversity in tech! I have a strong interest in the battle against impostor syndrome. LinkedIn Profile
Dan Kingdon
Dan Kingdon
Andrew Ward
Director @ Digital Waffle
Andrew Ward
Director @ Digital Waffle
Studied at University of Birmingham and lived in Birmingham for 15 years. 12 years experience in the technology recruitment field and now Director of Digital Waffle. Here at Digital Waffle we are passionate about the Birmingham tech network and love working with many enthusiastic and talented Midlands based businesses.
Connect with Andrew
Dave Evans
CTO at Mini Screen Pictures Ltd
Dave Evans
CTO at Mini Screen Pictures Ltd
Entrepreneur and Software Design Engineer. Xamarin and Microsoft MVP.
Connect with Dave
Raj Dhokia
Raj Dhokia
Eden Thompson
Marketing Executive at WeAreAspire
Eden Thompson
Marketing Executive at WeAreAspire
I am a creative and motivated marketer with 4 years' experience in the Marketing industry. Knowledge and experience of Digital Marketing, Social Media Strategy/Management, Web Editing, CRM, Photoshop/Adobe Illustrator and more.I see myself as a team player willing to learn whilst having fun.
Connect with Eden
Nicola Wright
Senior Business Development Manager - West Midlands Growth Company Limited
Nicola Wright
Senior Business Development Manager - West Midlands Growth Company Limited
alexp
Midlands Recruitment Manager
alexp
Midlands Recruitment Manager
My role is to help grow and nurture the Midlands Recruitment Team here at Applause IT – hoping to instil a culture of being more than just staffing professionals but part of an organisation that actively engages and contributes to the community for which they recruit. A Brummie at heart, I completed my undergrad at the University of Birmingham and never looked elsewhere! I love all things Sport, especially F1 which keeps me busy most weekends and I try to get to a new race each year.
Connect with
Paul Rhodes
Paul Rhodes
Peter Chatterley
MD The Talent Hackers.com
Peter Chatterley
MD The Talent Hackers.com
Recruiter to the stars, well Ursa Major, works with startups and scaleups to help them build employer brand, optimise direct hiring process, undertake searches on a innovative pay as you go model. Disrupting the recruitment space. Occassionally blogs on the economics of recruitment.
Connect with Peter
Martin Owen
SVP, Products, erwin
Martin Owen
SVP, Products, erwin
Martin is responsible for driving product management, product strategy and customer support at erwin. Prior to joining erwin, Martin was co-founder at enterprise architecture provider, Corso, organizing strategy, direction and the evolution of SaaS product lines.In his prior role at IBM, Martin served as world-wide director of product management for enterprise architecture, portfolio management and asset management tooling, responsible for overseeing product life-cycles and their growth and success. Martin also served as vice-president of enterprise architecture at Telelogic (acquired by IBM) and was director of professional services and product management at Popkin Software.Martin has spent over 25 years in Data and Enterprise Architecture and was the original co-author of the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) which is now a world-wide industry standard.Martin has also worked on the strategy for the IBM Jazz initiative for the new generation of web based collaborative software tools.More recently, Martin has been innovating within erwin and with key customers around a new breed of technologies supporting data management including Big Data, Governance, Enterprise Architecture and Data Modeling.
Connect with Martin
Henry Jinman
Henry Jinman
Mike Bandar
Mike Bandar
Jon Allen
Jon Allen
Matt Chan
Matt Chan
Ben Irving
Ben Irving
kevin13
Director
kevin13
Director
I work with leaders, managers, and teams in tech and tech driven companies to successfully address the challenges they face working in fast-paced environments that don’t readily foster effective collaboration and disruption for change. I also mentor micro-business leaders in marketing their services. Prior to my current position I have worked as a performance and project management specialist for British Telecom, the NHS in national, regional and trust based roles, and Mercer.
Connect with
Mary Matthews
Mary Matthews
Simon Emms
Simon Emms
Ivana
Recruitment Consultant @ Talent
Ivana
Recruitment Consultant @ Talent
At Talent I offer recruitment solutions for clients/candidates within technology & digital space. I manage recruitment process for key accounts within variety of sectors & vertical markets however my prime focus is on assisting companies and professionals in West Midlands with executive IT appointments.
Connect with Ivana
rich-ww
rich-ww
Shammi Raichura
Uber Technologies Inc | Operations & Funnel Conversion
Shammi Raichura
Uber Technologies Inc | Operations & Funnel Conversion
Part of the Operations team in the West-Midlands for Uber since 2015. New Entrepreneurs Foundation Alumni.
Connect with Shammi
Victoria Masso
Director at Behaviour Hackers and ecosystem builder
Victoria Masso
Director at Behaviour Hackers and ecosystem builder
Connect with Victoria
Wei Wu
Wei Wu
Anthony Chaffey
Managing Director, Ballyhoo
Anthony Chaffey
Managing Director, Ballyhoo
Brummy born and bred, Anthony has been working in web design and development for over a decade since founding his first startup during his time at Birmingham Uni. His digital agency, Ballyhoo, has been going strong since 2009 and is based in the newly regenerated Longbridge area of South Birmingham. Anthony's focus is on streamlining processes, understanding user habits and getting websites and online apps to work hard, and smart, so your organisation can thrive.
Connect with Anthony
Mez
Mez
yiannismaos
yiannismaos
Leigh Purnell
Leigh Purnell
I founded and run Petalite, a startup that has developed the World's Fastest Charging Battery System, 100% recharge in under 15 minutes, I also have been on other ludicrous expeditions which has led me to write a book, blogs and magazine articles about them, do public speaking at various events and consult on Expedition Logistics and acquiring Sponsorship for Expeditions.I am a seasoned project manager, innovator and have a keen interest in energy technologies and implementations; both throughout my working and academic life. Petalite Limited was founded in 2014 to expand on these ideas and interests.I co-founded and project managed a Guinness World Record breaking global expedition; raising £20,000 in donations and awareness for the British Red Cross and generating over £80,000 in advertising revenue to support the expedition.Became a Double Guinness World Record Holder:-World’s Longest Journey by Taxi-World’s Highest Journey by Taxi
Connect with Leigh
Mitesh Parmar
Engage Lead
Mitesh Parmar
Engage Lead
Engage Working Group Lead. Helping companies to connect and get the best of Silicon Canal. Give me a shout! I love tech and have always been involved with it, from fixing my xbox's, to building computers in my teens to later becoming a software engineer. Now working as a product manager and trying to do my bit for the community. Helping others brings a great sense of satisfaction. So, I'm doing the best I can, to support where I can. Connect with me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miteshparmar1/
Connect with Mitesh
Gary Lennon
Investment In Tech Lead
Gary Lennon
Investment In Tech Lead
tomjackson
Senior Legal Technologist & Lawyer, Eversheds Sutherland
tomjackson
Senior Legal Technologist & Lawyer, Eversheds Sutherland
Connect with Tom
Oliver Hills
Who's Here Lead
Oliver Hills
Who's Here Lead
I run Updates Media, a pioneering digital local media business. Our flagship site, Birmingham Updates is the most engaged local media outlet in the West Midlands with 480,000 followers of our social media channels. I also work on Zento, an image recognition business which recognises product usage for major sports brands at mass participation events.
Connect with Oliver
Paul Adams
Commercial Director, Goldfish
Paul Adams
Commercial Director, Goldfish
Goldfish provide entrepeneurs-for-hire to large organisations who want to start new ventures but lack the skills or capacity to turn an idea into reality.
Connect with Paul
Richard Protherough
Director, Investor & Shareholder
Richard Protherough
Director, Investor & Shareholder
20 years experience in the recruitment industry, specialising in Tech, Digital and Business Change. I help businesses and teams scale-up and grow exponentially. Director, investor and shareholder in Talent International. Talent is one of the world's most innovative recruitment companies, supply thousands of high-quality technology professionals throughout EMEA, APAC and North America. Passionate rugby coach and currently Director of Rugby of Birmingham Moseley Rugby club.
Connect with Richard
martin113
Managing Director at Digital Gaps
martin113
Managing Director at Digital Gaps
Martin has been in IT for 20 years. He has worked across sectors fixing IT services, developing people and making things happen. Digital gaps exists to help connect small technical companies find work within the public sector by advising on the suitability of solutions and helping navigate through the hoops and bureaucracy. Martin has also created and delivers The CIO Download. A 2 day training course in managing IT services and teams.
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Darren Guest
CEO and founder of Gna and Influential Marketing
Darren Guest
CEO and founder of Gna and Influential Marketing
Experienced and innovative company Director with extensive sales, media and business skills.High personal integrity, with an ability to relate to all levels of employeeArticulate, confident and persuasive team builder, able to motivate and communicate to achieve exceptional business performance.Dependable and reliable in supporting and enabling team effort and experienced in driving businesses forwardPersistent and flexible approach to the mutually beneficial achievement of business plans and personal goals of staff, customers and suppliers.
Connect with Darren
Alistair Hammerton
Senior Associate - Shoosmiths
Alistair Hammerton
Senior Associate - Shoosmiths
Alistair advises on all aspects of corporate law with particular speciality around M&A, venture capital, private equity and joint venture arrangements. Alistair is one of the country’s leading and most active venture capital lawyers and has acted for the likes of Octopus Ventures, BGF and Oxford Capital, as well as for investee companies, on over 25 investments in the last 12 months.
Joe Kibbler
Joe Kibbler
s.collins3
Postgraduate Business Development Manager, Aston University
s.collins3
Postgraduate Business Development Manager, Aston University
Name: Sarah Collins Bio: Working with businesses to solve skills and recruitment needs. I connect businesses, both in the UK and overseas with our Masters level students and graduates. Key International markets include China, India and Nigeria.
Connect with Sarah
Jagdeep Bhaura
CEO, mypeoplebiz
Jagdeep Bhaura
CEO, mypeoplebiz
Corporate Technology Innovator, Entrepreneur, 30 years playing, learning & working in tech across a broad set of companies both here in the UK and US.
Connect with Jagdeep
Matthew Bennett
Matthew Bennett
Drew Smith
Drew Smith
Harry Griffiths
Director @ Digital Waffle
Harry Griffiths
Director @ Digital Waffle
Ambassador for Silicon Canal via Digital Waffle - trying to help connect the tech community by any means possible. Digital Waffle are a JQ based recruitment agency specialising in the Digital & Tech space. We offer a unique approach to recruitment for the SME market, tailoring our services to individual client requirements.
Connect with Harry
Andrew Waldron
Producer, Packt Publishing
Andrew Waldron
Producer, Packt Publishing
Producer and Acquisitions Editor for an International Publishing House that specialises in Technology Publishing. The Expert Network Team is responsible for acquiring Expert, high profile authors, leaders, pioneers in their areas of technology, and business leaders, thought developers, along with some of the world's finest academics.
Connect with Andrew
James Sharp
Business Engagement Partner - The University of Birmingham
James Sharp
Business Engagement Partner - The University of Birmingham
As a Business Engagement Partner at the University of Birmingham, I work closely with leading academics to identify how advances in research can benefit industry. Based in the College of Social Sciences, I cover the areas of Business, Education, Social Policy, and Government & Society, operating as part of a broader team traversing the entire university. I have a growing specialism in the development of research which partners with industry to explore AI, automation and disruptive tech, spanning the adoption of new technologies in the workplace, through to the ethical and economic considerations. My professional background spans Higher Education, the charitable sector, the automotive industry, and journalism, as well as an active role in Birmingham’s independent retail and photography scene.
Connect with James
Andy Lee
Andy Lee
Alison Shepherd
Alison Shepherd
Chris Meah
School of Code
Chris Meah
School of Code
Chris runs the School of Code, a Birmingham-based social enterprise focused on getting more and different types of people benefitting from technology. They achieve this through their online platform, and also their free, 16-week coding bootcamp takes anyone from absolute scratch all the way to software developer and helps them into jobs. He also runs Cogcept, an AI and Software Consultancy aiming to turn cutting edge tech into great user-experiences making real differences to organisations. He completed his PhD, MSc, and BSc in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science at the University of Birmingham, and also sits on the West Midlands Digital Board providing insights on AI and skills.
ejohannes
ejohannes
Nik Knight
Head of Releases at JHC Systems
Nik Knight
Head of Releases at JHC Systems
Helping people to achieve more than they think is possible is my greatest source of work-related joy. I bring strong coaching skills, a talent for building consensus within diverse groups, a healthy pragmatic streak, and solid experience of what it takes to lead and motivate technical teams. I have managed both software delivery and release teams, which has given me a broad understanding of the whole software development lifecycle, and a keen enthusiasm for DevOps practices
Connect with Nik
Matt Johnson
Account Manager, Granicus
Matt Johnson
Account Manager, Granicus
Matt has recently moved to the private sector after 20 years working in public sector digital comms. Matt has been a digital services manager in local government in the West Midlands, managed content and messaging in the NHS and worked for the civil service in a busy digital delivery centre. Matt loves helping public sector organisations improve their digital communications with their different audiences and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in creating engaging content and campaigns to deliver outcomes and change behaviours.
Connect with Matt
Darren Kangurs
Head of Systems @ Six Degrees Group
Darren Kangurs
Head of Systems @ Six Degrees Group
Connect with Darren
Rob Mayzes
Rob Mayzes
Mark O'Sullivan
Multiple Business Owner
Mark O'Sullivan
Multiple Business Owner
I love what i do across all of the different businesses i am engaged in - I am a positive, driven and ambitious entrepreneur that loves to network and develop new partnerships. A senior business manager with over 20 years experience i have learnt a huge amount throughout my career to be utilised to benefit companies in their strategic aims and objectives. My aim over the next 12 months is to develop more in the tech industry and to improve all businesses i am working with in meeting their bottom line expectations. Business can be challenging but if you work with me the risks will be reduced massively and we can laugh and have some fun on the way whilst working together to meet the plan we will set - Contact my PA Rebecca Marsh at rebecca.marsh@banabay.com or on 07435323135 if you have some queries with your business which you would like to discuss.
Dee Manzini
Recruitment Consultant @ Pearson Frank Birmingham
Dee Manzini
Recruitment Consultant @ Pearson Frank Birmingham
Working closely with Web Developers & Software Engineers in the West Midlands.
Connect with Dee
Richard Fallon
Richard Fallon
Dr Sanjeev Mehta
Dr Sanjeev Mehta
Alistair Hey
Software Engineer at BlackCat Solutions
Alistair Hey
Software Engineer at BlackCat Solutions
Connect with Alistair
