Daphne Mavroudi-Chocholi

BDO UK LLP's latest report, created in collaboration with Norman Broadbent Plc, sheds light on the evolving role of Non-Executive Directors (NED's) and how they can drive success in these dynamic industries. In the fast-paced world of life sciences and technology, having the right NEDs on board can make all the difference. They not only provide oversight but also drive innovation and growth. Key insights from the report include: 1. Strategic Insight: NEDs bring a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective, helping to navigate complex regulatory landscapes and market dynamics. Their strategic input can be invaluable in making informed decisions that drive growth. 2. Governance and Compliance: As businesses scale, maintaining robust governance structures becomes critical. NEDs ensure that compliance and risk management are not just tick-box exercises but integral to the company’s ethos. 3. Network and Influence: NEDs often have extensive networks that can open doors to new partnerships, funding opportunities, and market expansions. Their influence can accelerate growth and innovation. 4. Mentorship and Development: For senior executives, having a seasoned NED as a mentor can be incredibly beneficial. They provide guidance, challenge assumptions, and support leadership development, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. 5. Sustainability and ESG: With increasing focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria, NEDs play a pivotal role in ensuring that these principles are embedded in the company’s strategy, enhancing long-term sustainability and reputation. 6. Securing Future Investment: NEDs can help secure future investment by ensuring that the business is investment-ready and not leaving money on the table. Their expertise in corporate relationships and navigating risk can be crucial in attracting and retaining investors. For a deeper dive into the evolving role of NEDs and how they can benefit your business, I highly recommend reading the full report: https://lnkd.in/eSZzdM-m #LifeScience #Technology #Growth #NED #Cambridge #Board #startup #scaling Tanya Gass Iain Hopper Shrenik Parekh, CFA

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Love the Lloyds Banking Group #consumerdigital index. Such great insight on both #digitalinclusion and #financialinclusion. Well done to the brilliant Jemma Waters for driving this work, and great to see Leigh Smyth FRSA 💚 in the audience, one of the original architects of the Lloyds Bank digital inclusion strategy. The Consumer Digital Index was launched on 16th January 2016, and we pulled out these 6 headlines at the time 1) This is the first ever longitudinal index which studies the actual digital and financial behaviour of 1M consumers a. 13.1M people in the UK have low financial capability b. 11.1M people in the UK have low digital capability c. 3.2M people in the UK have both low financial and low digital capability and the most to gain 2) The average UK consumer could save £744 per year through online spending 3) Generation X (ages 40-49) are realising the biggest benefits of both financial and digital capabilities 4) Regional variances are slight but highlight opportunities for local initiatives e.g. Londoners are not optimising digital skills to improve their financial capabilities 5) Digitally capable consumers exhibit more financially resilient behaviours e.g. they save 4x more and 50% more often than low digital peers 6) Digitally capable consumers report greater overall wellbeing with 86% reporting that they “worry less” because they can track their finances online Back to 2024, and much progress has been made, especially on Digital Inclusion, but the prize is still great and there are still millions missing out due to a lack of these basic skills. One thing everyone agreed on today is that only by coming together can we solve this problem. Thanks to some of those who helped us get this important and influential report off the ground. Sian Williams Sharon Collard Joanna Elson Duncan Shrubsole

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This bald fact from OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS that almost 25% of working age adults in the UK are economically inactive for a range of reasons is a key contributor to our lack of productivity and shortage of workers. Apparently, this is a £39Bn drag on the economy. I don’t hear politicians in this election campaign talking about policy to address this chronic situation. Dependency, fecklessness, ill health, counterproductive benefits and regional imbalances all play a part: addressing this goes a long way to deal with health, well being, economic growth and community building. Nearly a quarter of working-age adults ‘economically inactive’, says ONS https://lnkd.in/eHg8RAjy

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FUNDING ALERT 💸 💰 £10,000 + mentoring + pro-bono support 👩‍💻 Young founders, aged 16-25, based in the UK and Europe 📅 17th January 2025 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eTXTu6qp Could your business idea change the world? Here’s your chance to prove it. The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge is provided by Verizon and Unloc. If you’re 16–25 and have a fresh and innovative tech-led idea, The Young Entrepreneurs Challenge could help you get your business off the ground—or if you’ve already launched, boost it to the next level. Business proposals must meet the following criteria: ⭐ Be legal in all mainland European countries. ⭐Be either a pre-start (not yet trading); or not have been trading for more than three years and have an annual turnover of less than £100,000 (€120,000) in its most recent financial year. ⭐Be the applicant's own idea and not infringe on the copyright, patent or intellectual property of others. The overall winner receives a £10,000 grant. The winner also attends the One Young World 2025 Global Summit in Munich, Germany. This annual event brings together young leaders from 190+ countries and 250+ organisations. Gillian O'Brien Richard Finch Robert Blackburn Richard Leighton Hazel Kennedy Anthony Murphy Benjamin Dalton Yenny Weng Mei Anthony James Barber

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Are unrealistic course targets driving you mad? Join us and our expert guests as we dive deep into setting realistic targets and restoring sanity in HE. 🔹 Gain insights from Dr. Julian Westwood MBA (Open) CMRS, Director of S Squared Insights, and Cathy Mitchell, Associate Director of Strategic Planning at Imperial College London 🔹 Learn top strategies to set achievable goals 🔹 Get tips for effective communication and collaboration Find it all in the latest episode of The Partnership Podcast - Higher Ed Marketing. Subscribe today so you don’t miss an episode. #HigherEdMarketing #IndustryKnowledge #HigherEdPodcast

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Top tip from one of our HE Insights professionals on this episode of The Partnership Podcast. This time, Penny is diving into the topic of achievable targets and how to set them with Dr Julian Westwood, Director of S Squared Insights, and Cathy Mitchell, Associate Director of Strategic Planning at Imperial College London. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. #HigherEdMarketing #HEProfessionals #HigherEdInsights

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Slowing inflation reported yesterday does not mean that consumers are seeing a reduction in prices and costs and the overall squeeze on many monthly budgets continues. New figures from KPMG show that four in ten British households are saving around £77 a month by reducing expenditure on discretionary items after two years of a cost of living squeeze caused by rising prices. KPMG said spending on restaurants, takeaways, and clothing were the biggest areas of cutbacks for savers this year, alongside beauty products and subscription streaming services. https://lnkd.in/edTSArGv #economy #inflation #spending #consumertrends

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Children are 20% of the population but 100% of the future. Looking forward to an amazing day workshopping green skills and how we integrate them into the school curriculum and #futureproof Britain’s future. How do we achieve #netzero by 2030 if we fundamentally don’t have the vocational skills in our future workforce to service it? #education #climatechange #sustainability Generation C

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Can you spot me?! 👀 We had a productive experience discussing Hireable's solutions to address systemic challenges with leaders in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), DWP Digital and the Ministry of Justice UK. Typically, building partnerships with government departments is a slow journey for any business—outdated procurement processes often create roadblocks that were initially intended to protect taxpayer money but now hinder innovation. That's why it was so refreshing to meet forward-thinking leaders in government who were open to hearing our solutions, even though we’re “not on the portal”. I’d love to see more government departments engage with startups. Small, agile businesses can often innovate and iterate much faster than the larger players, and it’s clear there’s a growing appetite across all sectors to move beyond the Big 4. Sure, the Big 4 may seem “safer”—if a project goes sideways, there's little fallout for the department because they went with a known name. But government leaders are increasingly recognising that clinging to the status quo carries its own risks. It’s time for innovation to take the lead. 🚀

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AI has the power to solve pressing issues in health care, climate and the economy. Great to speak at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change's #FutureofBritain Conference yesterday. You can watch my speech here: https://bit.ly/4ddc5er

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"Building and building trucks is bloody hard" - I agree 100% James Carter There are two significant barriers to be a successful EV maker. 1 - Knowledge and expertise 2 - Funding. And the underestimation of how much it costs Lots of people have the mindset that all they need is money, and #SPACs have at some point been a 'solution' to that in some peoples minds. But the fact that at least 30 well known #EV startups that have either suspended their operations, gone quiet, or suffered bankruptcy in the last decade, says it is not only about money. If it were just about finance then Apple and Dyson would now have a production vehicle. But it is the deep expertise and knowledge of everything from vehicle architecture to supply chains that is needed as well to stand a chance of building vehicle and business that is market viable. James Carter, Yasmine FAGE, Michael Perschke, Timothy Papandreou, and I talk in detail about SPACs, and the difficulty of an EV business. We all gave our very harsh, but honest opinion on what went wrong. You can listen/watch the episode below: 🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ezmGiwwm 🎧 Or listen on your favourite podcast platform: Spotify - https://lnkd.in/eaMTjkUB Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/eXUurYCK #Podcast #Podcasts #Business #ElectricVehicles

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Today Chapter Zero launches our thought leadership campaign designed to inspire action on climate change, which begins by exploring how purpose and profit can sit comfortably together. Read my article below and I look forward to your thoughts.

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Attending the #beautytrendsconf this week, the biggest takeaway for me - amongst many interesting talks and discussions - was confirmation of just how important the user/consumer experience is in beauty and fragrance retail. In the aptly-beautiful setting of One Great George Street, Angela Cretu led a fascinating discussion, in which over and over again customer experience topped the agenda. Retention of customers is more important than acquisition, so make their shopping experience count! This was echoed in the panel Q&A with Helen Spencer (John Lewis & Partners), Lisa Alvis (Boots UK) Angharad Elfyn Jones (Shiseido) and Josh Roberts (The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.), where the conversation turned to the future of retail being all about personalisation. I’m sure you can guess that this is all leading to me saying… KAORIUM is perfectly positioned to support a personalised retail journey, with a fabulous, truly unique user experience - which invests consumers in the process of choosing, increasing the chances of conversion, and of repeat purchase as they’ve committed to finding the right scent for them! #fragrances #innovation #retailtechnology #scentselector #kaorium

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I’m beyond excited to share that Vested Impact has successfully raised £1.1M in investment with the backing of Impact Shakers and HearstLab 🚀 🙌 With this funding, we’re scaling our award-winning platform, which automatically assesses and quantifies the material impact and risks of companies' products, services and activities on over 160 different social and environmental SDG targets; leveraging over 200 million academic papers and access to over 100 million impact data points. I started Vested Impact over 5 years ago, with a mission to measure what truly matters and ensure that understanding impact and risk goes beyond financial metrics to support people and the planet. And whilst 5 years may have felt like a long journey, it has allowed us to not just build out a market leading solution with data on the impact of over 2 million SME's, but it has enabled us to carefully find the investors that align with our vision for Vested Impact - and i am so very excited for this next phase and those we get to do it with! I want to take this moment to especially thank; 🧠 My team at Vested Impact, and in particular Daniel White who has spent years rebuilding my questionable code into the fab system it is 🤷‍♀️ 🤝 Our incredible Advisory Board who over the years steered, supported and cheered us through some incredible (and tough) times: Kathy Jenkins, Nicola Breyer, Elizabeth Broderick, Anna-Marie Slot, JD, Mark Bloxham 🚀 And the supporters who helped "accelerate" us over the years: Village Capital Europe, Village Capital, FinTech Innovation Lab London , Ashurst FinTech Legal Labs, Paris Peace Forum, UBS Project Female Founder, Mastercard Strive, Grow London Together, we’re building the data we need for the future we want 🚀🌿. Yonca Braeckman, Alina Klarner, Diána P., Louise Harvey, Jeffrey Paul Coleman, Panagiotis Malliaras, Marta Zaccagnini, Ben Younkman, Graham Cressey, Emma Wheeler, Eva Lindholm, Rosie Afia-Ford, Allie Burns, Jane Michotte, Jake Mulcahy, Lesley Myers, Mia B., Emma Kisby, Maïssa Khattab, Azahara García Espejo #MeasureWhatMatters #ImpactInvestment #SDGs #VestedImpact #SustainableFinance #DataForGood #ScaleUp

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Last month, the UK announced one of the world’s largest funding pools created to support female entrepreneurs. The Invest in Women Taskforce, led by Debbie Wosskow, OBE and Hannah Bernard OBE, surpassed their target of raising £250m as part of their Women backing Women Fund. 3 reasons why this is a massive deal: 1/ The last few years have been challenging for the UK economy, as they have been for many other countries - with wars, pandemics, and cost of living crisis. Despite this, these entrepreneurs have led the charge to make the UK the best place to be a female founder right now. Inspiring! 👏🏻 2/ The fund instils confidence amongst the amazing female talent we have in the UK. Despite the numbers looking grim right now (only 1.8% of equity investment went to female backed businesses in H1 2024!), change is happening. The Women backing Women fund will make countless women believe that they have what it takes to set up, scale and succeed with their businesses. 3/ This will be the catalyst to help more women to get into investing and making their money work for them. More women will now be incentivised to start investing in female-led companies, which have historically brought investors 35% higher returns than male-led ones. Congratulations to the team at IWT!

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According to the The Centre for Social Justice (an independent centre-right think tank, co-founded in 2004 by Iain Duncan Smith) the decline in bus routes across the UK has emerged as a significant contributor to the growing issue of loneliness, particularly in rural and suburban areas.   As bus services are reduced or eliminated, many individuals, especially the elderly and those without access to private transportation find themselves increasingly isolated. This lack of mobility restricts their ability to engage in social activities, access essential services and maintain connections with friends and family. The reduction in bus routes not only affects the physical movement of people but also diminishes their social interactions, leading to a heightened sense of loneliness and social exclusion.   One of the primary challenges is the economic viability of maintaining extensive bus networks in less populated areas. With fewer passengers bus operators struggle to cover operational costs, leading to service cuts. This economic pressure is compounded by changing travel patterns, with more people relying on private cars or alternative modes of transport. Consequently, those who depend on buses are left with limited options, exacerbating their sense of isolation. The decline in bus services also impacts local economies as reduced accessibility can deter potential visitors and customers, further straining small businesses and community services.   Addressing this issue requires a multifaceted approach. Government and local authorities need to recognise the social value of public transport and invest in maintaining and expanding bus routes particularly in underserved areas. Subsidies and financial incentives can help support bus operators and ensure that essential services remain operational. Additionally, innovative solutions such as demand-responsive transport, where buses operate based on real-time passenger needs could potentially enhance efficiency and coverage. Community transport initiatives often run by volunteers can also play a crucial role in bridging the gap left by traditional bus services. The decline in bus routes is a pressing issue that contributes significantly to loneliness and social isolation. By prioritising investment in public transport, embracing innovative solutions (e.g. the excellent Oxford Bus Company Chatty Bus scheme) and fostering community initiatives it should be possible to mitigate these adverse effects and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to stay connected and engaged with their communities. Addressing this challenge not only enhances individual well-being but also strengthens the social fabric and economic vitality of our communities. Confederation of Passenger Transport, #Endingloneliness, #publictransport, #Bus, #Capita

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Imagine a year when we can say that the pace of VC funding to female founders or female co-founders was equal to that of male founded companies…. Result? The potential to add £250bn of growth to the U.K. economy and catapult the U.K. to the top of the VC league tables. Now that would be change. Watch this space #twomagnolias #drivingchange #sustainability #humanhealth

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