Steve has worked and ran businesses in Staffordshire since 2000. He currently owns and operates Sempar Tax & Accountancy, a firm of accountants and tax advisors as well as owning a share of a software development company and a domiciliary healthcare company, all based in Staffordshire. Steve started Sempar (translates to mean unparalleled) in 2016 and the company has grown from strength to strength now employing 18 team members and closing in on a turnover of £1m per annum. Steve has two mantras in his life, these being “leave the world a better place” and “always do the right thing” and Sempar has been built on these mantras with it’s clients and team in mind. In his role at Sempar Steve focuses on the strategy and culture and as an advisor helps high growth businesses achieve their goals.

www.sempar.co.uk

Geoff Riley is Chief Executive of Staffordshire & Black Country Business Innovation Centre (BIC) based in the Sutherland Institute, Longton.

Geoff has a background in electrical and electronic engineering and has held senior positions in both SMEs and large public and private sector organisations.

After a number of years managing and delivering engineering training at the Michelin Tyre Company, Geoff moved to the public sector and worked for a time as a lecturer in FE.  From here he rose to become Head of a successful Commercial Development Department at Newcastle under Lyme College before moving to the Consortium of Staffordshire Colleges as External Funding Projects Director. After two years with the Staffordshire Consortium, Geoff moved to the Staffordshire and Black Country BIC as Chief Executive and has successfully developed the ‘Local BIC’ concept enabling incubators to be established at the point of need and a portfolio of support packages to help new high value, high growth and technology based businesses.

Geoff has been extensively involved in European and National funding initiatives for the past 27 years.  He has served on a number of key Staffordshire and West Midlands regeneration groups and acts as innovation and incubation advisor. Geoff acts as a quality auditor for the European Business Network throughout the EU.

thebic.co.uk

Keith is Managing Director of Wardell Armstrong.  Wardell Armstrong is an international environmental and engineering consultancy working in the property, infrastructure and mining sectors.  The firm has it’s headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent and has 14 UK offices and 2 international offices.  Wardell Armstrong employs 500 people and 150 of those work in Stoke.  Keith is passionate about the role Wardell Armstrong plays in the city and the wider region.

www.wardell-armstrong.com

Julie Mirowski is a Director of Rydale Roofing Ltd. A family run business, Rydale Roofing Ltd is committed to exceptional quality and customer service.

Working alongside husband Mick, Julie is responsible for areas of the business including liaising with customers, submitting tenders, Estimates, HR and payroll but can be often found drumming up new business by networking both in person and through social media which also keeps them up to date with new and changing laws, procurement releases and trade regulations

Julie is an active member of The Chambers Social value forum. Social value is very important to the company and Rydale Roofing gives back to people in the community in many ways.

Julie is a Trustee of the Alice Charity and is committed to the charity’s work of ridding the area of impoverished families

She also works closely with local schools as a Career ready Mentor

rydaleroofing.co.uk

Originally from Stafford Martin has over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing and medical communications. After starting his career in the UK, Martin moved to Switzerland with Novartis in the Organ Transplantation global marketing team. He then moved to the US joining Wyeth, later returning to Europe as commercial director for Transplantation and Haemophilia. In 2003 Martin returned to the US as head of Global Strategy for their flagship product in rheumatology overseeing its growth to a multibillion-dollar blockbuster.

Martin returned to the UK as Partner in London medical communications agency Synergy. He then established ELM group in 2014 returning home to Stafford permanently. ELM group has a core in medical communications working in areas such as rheumatology, haemophilia, rare diseases and more recently have done work on COVID therapies. The group enjoy unique collaborations with Universities of Glasgow and Leeds and has a partnership with the BMJ Group. Its People division has worked with Premiership rugby and Premier League football clubs as well as major companies developing and delivering training and volunteer programmes. His overall ambition is developing jobs in the life sciences sector for local graduates.

Outside of work Martin’s main interest is in Rugby, a sport that he supports in various capacities. He served on the legacy team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and as Chairman of Stafford Rugby Club, where he negotiated the deal for the new £4 million facility at the heart of Stafford. He currently supports the Newcastle Falcons academy programme and is a referee assessor.

elmgroupltd.com

Ramona is a solicitor turned entrepreneur. Her legal background is in litigation handling a commercial caseload of contract, property and banking litigation work. Her legal experience was gained internationally working in Kuala Lumpur, Geneva and here in Stoke-on-Trent. In 2010, Ramona turned to business by starting a property business as well as an ethical trading business specialising in home furnishings and e-commerce. From there she came to acquire the Belvoir sales and lettings agency in Stoke-on-Trent in 2017, which she runs as Managing Director. She continues to grow this business year on year alongside her responsibilities at the Chamber. Her other voluntary role is as Enterprise Advisor to a local high school. Her expertise that she brings to the Chamber is in legals, organisational growth, change management and representation at the Board for small family run businesses.

www.belvoir.co.uk

Managing director at Plinkfizz, Fiona has 25 years corporate client and agency experience of planning and delivering successful marketing campaigns.

Increasing engagement and improving productivity of digital marketing activities for clients is Fiona’s speciality, by helping companies communicate effectively with audiences using critical-lateral thinking and a strategic approach.

Leading a team of practitioners at Plinkfizz, Fiona has created a robust team, attracting exemplary skill from across the UK.

Awarded “Best Small Agency” in the Northern Marketing Awards 2017 and the only agency in Staffordshire to be listed in the Top 40 PR agencies by Prolific North, she is passionate about celebrating the success that her team achieves for their clients.

Also living in the area, Fiona is an ambassador for the development of business across the region, advising high growth potential organisations. She is also passionate about enabling young people to reach their potential, which has lead her to launch a social enterprise, supporting the education sector nationally.

www.plinkfizz.com

With over 30 years of industry and public sector experience, John’s management experience has been gained from world class manufacturing environments such as British Steel Plc, (Manufacturing Manager) and our local fire and rescue service, (Incident Commander / Business Support lead).

John studied at Staffordshire University where he completed a degree in Business and Finance. He is a Member of the Institution of Fire Engineers, a Fellow of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management and has been appointed Chartered Fellow of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

John has a wealth of experience in contract management, health and safety compliance and business recovery / incident management and spends much of his time assisting and educating incident victims particularly after major events, although prevention activities also feature heavily in his day to day role as a fire officer.

John is an enthusiastic supporter of charities and local schools, having completed many hundreds of miles, raising £000’s cycling around the UK and Europe generating much needed funds for deserving local causes and the Fire Fighters Charity.  John also supports our local schools in the Careers and Enterprise Company initiative.

John is a member of the Staffordshire Branch of the  Institute of Occupational Safety and Health management committee, a member of The Dove Service Board / Trustees  and is absolutely passionate about bring growth and prosperity to our area.

www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk

Hannah is a Director at Stoke-on-Trent-based ceramics firm Valentine Clays, which provides raw materials to the pottery industry. She has a wealth of experience in business development and planning, product development, strategic marketing and public relations, project and event management, and growth planning for SMEs. She also has a high level of knowledge in the ceramics industry.

She has two degrees one in Marketing Communications and another in Product Development. Her experience has been predominately in the ceramics industry in PR and Marketing roles and includes having worked for top international companies such as Prada, the Arcadia Group, American Eagle Outfitters and Emma Bridgewater.

Since joining the family business in January 2015 Hannah has managed and developed a £4 million expansion project for Valentine Clays including a production & warehouse facility, LoveClay Ceramics Centre and the take-over of internationally renowned ceramics show Art in Clay.

Her main ethos is to increase awareness of both Staffordshire and the ceramics industry, to support other local SME’s and to help to put Staffordshire firmly on the map. With this in mind she feels privileged to sit as a Director on both the Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership Boards (SSLEP). As well as the Management Committee for the British Ceramics Confederation.

www.valentineclays.co.uk

Paul Farmer, OBE, has been the Managing Director of Wade Ceramics since 2001, after joining the firm as Financial Director in 1995.  Prior to this, Paul’s background was in accountancy at a high level, working in different industries including aerospace.

From 2001 to 2009 Paul took Wade on a journey which saw the company open its new high-tech facility near to Festival Park.  His drive and initiative has opened up new markets for he company, which is now recognised globally as a leader in the design and production of high quality ceramic products.

In addition to his business success, Paul has also been very active locally, giving his time and commitment to several charities including Mind, the Donna Louise Trust and North Staffordshire Carers’ Association to name but a few.  He also sits on the Board of several organisations to steer industry forward and create opportunities and growth within the area.  Paul was President of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce from 2016 to 2019 and is also a board member of the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

www.wade.co.uk