Our visiting fellows programme is aimed at individuals leading and working within SMEs in the North-East of England who wish to pursue continued professional development in their area of expertise. The SME fellows programme is part of Durham University Business School’s Smart & Scale Programme.
The fellow will become an active member of the faculty with access to Durham University Business School’s research centres. They will also be encouraged to give occasional seminars and guest speaker lectures. A flexible programme of work is agreed between the SME Fellow and an Academic Collaborator who is their principal point of contact. This programme is determined primarily by the fellows’ professional development needs. Activities could include, for example, fellows’ input into research within the school, the development of a new collaborative piece of research, engagement events that explore challenges and opportunities for the SME and other relevant stakeholders in the region and/or conference participation. The suggested activities are not exhaustive, and we welcome fresh ideas and approaches related to challenges and opportunities for fellows and other SMEs in the North-East.
The Visiting SME Fellows Programme includes:
The Visiting SME Fellows Programme is part of Durham University Business School’s Smart & Scale initiative. This is underpinned by 4 key themes: New Business Models, Leadership, Emerging Technology and Supply Chains. We invite fellowship applications that are tied to one or more of these areas. The suggested topics are not exhaustive nor narrowly defined, and we welcome fresh ideas and approaches related to challenges facing SMEs in the North-East of England and the UK more broadly.
Andy Haddon
Award winning and high-profile purpose led North Eastern entrepreneur driven by desire to create equitable and low carbon approaches to living for all. Andy’s most recent success has been founding and scaling Big River Bakery with the vision that the North East becomes globally recognised as a place where affordable, healthy and sustainably produced food is available at scale. Andy has extensive experience of small business, corporate arenas, social enterprise, academia, and the public sector. His strengths are thinking creatively and entrepreneurially, facilitation, mentoring, building collaborative initiatives and win-win partnerships, an ability to analyse complex situations, think laterally to develop new businesses, secure funding, build teams, manage startup and growth.
Kate Duffy
Kate has worked in the non-for-profit sector since 2009. With a HND in Theatre, a BA Hons in Humanities and an MSC in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, her work experience is as wide-ranging as her qualifications… Holocaust educator, Genocide prevention activist, Community development manager, International Project Manager, Freelance consultant, Business Development Manager, Interim CEO and now Founder and Managing Director of Junction Point CIC. The golden thread running through Kate’s career is supporting people to make positive changes either at a personal or community level. “There are so many amazing individuals and organisations with the potential to make a real difference, my job is to help them succeed”.
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson has a broad spectrum of engineering knowledge but excels in design, manufacturing, and tooling. He is the Managing Director of Jagdesign (4M) Ltd and has a wealth of business development, supply chain management and rapid prototyping. He has built his organisation with an ethical approach and works across the globe supporting sustainable manufacturing. He has received numerous awards for his work and operates within a regional collaborative engineering group, providing a complete turnkey solution to clients. He is also the area lead for the Federation of Small Business, representing 3,000 companies across the Northeast.
Gemma Lockyer Turnbull
Gemma has been involved in youth work for more than 20 years and is currently Deputy CEO at NE Youth and an elected Council Member at the Institute for Youth Work. She was involved in the creation of the North East Youth Alliance and currently leads its regional workforce development offer. Gemma is passionate about improving the quality and status of youth work and is currently working towards a PhD in Leadership and Human Resource Management which is focussed on exploring how utilising a communities of practice based approach could support the continued professionalization of the sector.
Kevin Price
Kevin has worked in the transport industry for over 22 years at senior transport manager level. He has always wanted to be his own boss and to help businesses streamline their transport costs. Kevin now owns a franchise with World Options as a shipping consultant. He works closely with clients to identify cost saving opportunities using their free online shipping portal and provide ongoing support as their account manager. Kevin is a very passionate person who enjoys interacting with like-minded people to reduce carbon emissions. He also enjoys networking with people to help promote North East industry.
John Jenkinson
John is an international trade and development specialist, currently acting as Head of International Development for Evidence Based Education, and as a Director for Food and Drink North East. John graduated from Newcastle University with honours in Linguistics and Mandarin. He has organised international trade missions on behalf of the UK Government, and led UK business delegations in global markets. At Evidence Based Education, John builds relationships with international partners, conducts market research into priority export markets, and to date has secured business in over 20 countries. He is passionate about including language and culture as a part of any due diligence and market entry strategy, and committed to working with organisations and institutions in the Global South.
Rob Hankin
Following an engineering degree at Durham, Rob was commissioned into the Royal Navy and joined the Submarine Service. He has since worked in engineering and operations management roles across defence, renewable energy and nuclear decommissioning. He returned to Durham to complete an MBA where his research focussed on barriers to collaboration and innovation. From this, he co-founded JointEffort.io, a software platform to enable technology transfer, partnerships and opportunities across organisations, communities and sectors. He is a chartered engineer with the IET.
Adrian Saw
Adrian Saw is currently the Technical Director at Coltraco Ultrasonics, a high-exporting advanced instrumentation designer and manufacturer based in NETPark, County Durham. He is also a Visiting Fellow at Durham Business School, a College Mentor at St Mary’s College and a Fellow at the Durham Institute of Research, Development and Invention. As a Durham University alumnus, Adrian is committed in supporting Durham University’s collaboration with small-medium enterprises (SMEs) across the North East. He has led several collaborative projects between the University science departments and Coltraco over the years and aims to drive greater collaborative partnerships between industry and academia.
Elaine Scott
Elaine Scott is the Centre Manager at The North East Satellite Applications Centre of Excellence which offers opportunities and partnerships to unlock market opportunities within the North East of the UK which will benefit local and national economies. The Centre ensure the successful commercialisation of new technology and innovations by cementing the UK’s position as a key player in the space sector. Elaine is currently working to support the conversion of the centre into a Company Limited by Guarantee, developing a new business model that is necessary to cope with growth and expand operations beyond what the current model can sustain.
For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Jonathan Kimmitt including a copy of your CV. The deadline for applications is 21st July 2023.
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