Loop is a growth programme for founders of tech startups based in the south west of England.

Roy is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years experience in advising businesses. He has acted as mentor and coach for senior executives in FTSE companies, as well as startups. He founded Affecton in 2002 having worked as a tax partner at EY in Australia and London. Roy is a believer of turning ideas into action. Roy will be available as mentor to all participants throughout the Programme.

With 25 years’ experience in the public relations and marketing sector, her previous roles include head of PR at McCann Erickson and managing director of PR at ThirtyThree. Joanna, who has specific expertise in issues management and the crafting of multi-channel communications campaigns, was recognised as one of the Top 100 Influential Women in the South West in 2018 and is a dedicated mentor and diversity campaigner.

She has over 8 years experience working with companies that wish to scale, making sure every part of their business is accounted for including product, customer journey and team. Nathalie’s strength lies in her ability to provide clarity to entrepreneurs who are looking for actionable steps to achieve growth. With an infectious positive attitude, Nathalie will not shy away from confronting issues head-on and will make sure that no stone is left unturned!

From a very young age, Nic used his entrepreneurial mindset and technical skills to develop products for businesses and has often gone against the grain to provide outside-the-box solutions. Never shy of a challenge, Nic has built his company from the ground up and the testimonials from his clients and team members speak for themselves. A word of warning: Nic has a skill for card games so don’t challenge him to one!

He specialises in the interface between government and SME’s: he has helped over 30 ambitious companies win grant funding, land government contracts and develop profitable products and services.  Working with big companies or government departments can be lucrative and doesn’t have to be onerous with carefully tailored processes that provide the right levels of compliance.

ADLIB is the UK’s only 100% employee owned, BCorp certified businesses of its kind, a technology, data, marketing, design and life science recruitment business with a mission and impact that goes far beyond recruitment.

In addition Nick co-founded, launched and successful exited via sale TechTalent Academy. A business that builds careers through the development of new tech skills and transforming companies with diverse talent. Finally he’s also co-founder of enable sales recruitment, a team who work with tech start-ups to build out their business development functions.

Sandar is a Chartered Accountant and has worked with SMEs and high networth individuals, specialising in accounting and tax, as well as management consulting for large corporate tax departments. Sandar believes that accounting and tax shouldn’t be just about compliance. It should help you understand your business better and focus on opportunities for growth, whilst taking advantage of available grants and tax credits. Affecton is committed to helping tech startups.

Simeon has worked in marketing for over 20 years and prior to founding SIM7, was a creative copywriter working for national and international brands and agencies.

Simeon’s particular area of expertise is distilling an organisation’s proposition and values into a brand that is engaging and drives business success. SIM7’s mission is to produce work that isn’t just creative and attractive – it delivers quantifiable returns and has a transformative impact on a company’s bottom line.

He has 20 years experience as a consultant software architect, but is much more interested in the challenges of the startup entrepreneur: making the product fit, satisfying customers, looking after investors, and juggling the many different hats a founder has to wear.

James takes a methodical and calm approach to the chaos of startup life.

James is happy to answer any questions about the startup journey and the challenges you face along the way (and anything else!).

Over the last 15 years Jack has worked in a range of creative agencies and B2B tech companies, consulting at C-Suite level with organisations ranging from startups to multinationals. He now uses that experience to help his clients create and implement effective business development strategies and achieve their business goals.

Having moved to Bristol to help open the original Oracle office, he is now probably best known for being the founder and co-director of FinTech West which is the representative body for FinTech in the region. He is a University of the West of England Business Fellow and Mentor in Residence at UWE TE plus a Visiting Industrial Fellow at the University of Bristol, mentoring at its QTEC (Quantum Technology Enterprise Centre) facility.

He also spent 5 years doing community development in Africa and a further 5 years in environmental services. These experiences are now helping clients assess and improve their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) utilising the B Corp process and B Impact Assessment.

Having supported dozens of clients across a range of sectors, as a B Leader he is well placed to provide support how, where and when it is needed.

He has helped a large number of businesses raise finance through funding rounds, dealing with both small family and friends rounds through to series A venture capital fundraising. He regularly acts for clients on mergers and acquisitions, management buy outs and buy ins, joint venture arrangements and shareholder agreements.

Ben is a trustee and company secretary to St Werburgh’s City Farm and a director at The Bristol Cable, a local media co-operative.

As a keen advocate of local businesses and entrepreneurs, Theo has been actively engaged with the Intellectual Property clinic at SETsquared for over three years now, as well as other IP clinics in and around Bristol. Theo regularly attends Bristol based events and enjoys making friends at every possible opportunity.

Theo also has a technical background in Electrical and Electronic Engineering which he makes use of on a daily basis with particular expertise in Radio & Optical communications and Power Electronics, receiving his Masters from the University of Bristol in 2017.