Small Business Charter: Assessment Workshop

Matt is a Associate Professor in Marketing. Matt's research interests include Knowledge Exchange, small business growth, work-based learning and consumer choice. I am an active member of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership and directly support and train SMEs through European Regional Development Funding.

In 2013, Matt established the Marketing Internship Programme and currently work with over 154 North-East SMEs, as well as some of the region’s larger businesses including Sage UK Ltd. Matt is a member of the Management Board of The Small Business Charter, and currently lead the Help to Grow – Management Programme in the North East and North West of England. Matt has secured over £4.5 million worth of research income from extensive knowledge exchange activity including Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and Continuous Professional Development and have developed an extension national network for knowledge exchange activity.

Outside work, Matt is a Director at PraxisAuril, an Ambassador for The Open North foundation, sits on a number of boards, and is a Chair of a North-East based charity.

Lauren is an educator with a passion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Education for Sustainability. Lauren has developed extensive expertise in team coaching, self-directed learning and experiential learning through the role as a Team Coach (Senior Lecturer) on the pioneering BA (Hons) Business: Team Entrepreneurship programme within Bristol Business School.

Lauren became a fellow of the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education in 2015, having completed the International Entrepreneurship Educators Programme. In August 2018, Lauren was elected by my peers in the sector to the Board of Directors at Enterprise Educators UK, the leading independent membership network for enterprise educators. Lauren completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic and Professional Practice at UWE in 2020, achieving Fellowship with Advance HE.

In January 2023, Lauren became one of the EDI Leads for the College of Business & Law, focusing on addressing the Black-White Awarding Gap. This is an area Lauren is very passionate about and plan to research further within the thesis for her Doctorate of Education. Lauren also currently leading a project funded by Enterprise Educators UK exploring the intersection between enterprise education and education for sustainability. This follows a project funded through HEIF in collaboration with colleagues in the College of Arts, Technology and Environment, delivering a climate action project with young people. Lauren is also an EDI Champion, which involves promoting and signposting UWE's EDI initiatives within my programme team.

Before joining UWE, Lauren worked as an Entrepreneurship Advisor within Cardiff Metropolitan University where Lauren supported the delivery of the Welsh Government's Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy. In September 2017, Lauren was selected as one of 10 enterprise educators to participate in a study visit to Japan to share best practice in enterprise education. Here I presented at the British Embassy on Cardiff Met's approach to enterprise education as well as the Welsh Government support for entrepreneurship.

Since the launch of the Small Business Charter in 2013, Joe has been an Assessor, conducting numerous assessments and reassessments, and he previously served as a voting member of the SBC board.

He is a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with a rich background in management and finance. Previously, Joe was the Managing Director of Halls Bakery Limited, a 90-year-old family business in Lancashire that employed 16 people and achieved an annual turnover of £1 million. With over 30 years of experience in small and medium-sized enterprises, he has excelled as a Finance Director across various sectors, refining his expertise in fund management, budget development, and the creation of effective business plans and KPIs.

Joe has also held several Non-Executive Director positions, notably serving over nine years at Bako Group Ltd, where he concluded his tenure as Chair for six years. This co-operative operates from three regional depots and boasts a turnover of approximately £200 million.

In addition to his business endeavors, Joe is committed to community service as a Trustee for Community Transport, a charity based in Yorkshire, and he serves as Managing Director of CML Ltd, the charity's trading arm.

As a founding Entrepreneur in Residence at Lancaster University Management School and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, he imparts valuable insights through his undergraduate and postgraduate entrepreneurship classes.