Meet the team

As Director of Executive Education at Nottingham University Business School, David is responsible for overall strategic vision and delivery.

Appointed as a Professor of Practice in 2017, he lectures in entrepreneurship, IP commercialisation and innovation at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He also actively mentors a variety of student, staff and alumni start-up businesses through the University's Ingenuity Lab, and runs public training and evening classes about starting a business.

He is an Entrepreneur in Residence (under the UK's Small Business Charter) actively supporting a number of early-stage companies across the UK at both strategic and operational levels.

As well as his expertise in academia and professional training, David has a wealth of practical entrepreneurial experience gained in the UK and New Zealand from starting and running his own innovative businesses in a variety of sectors including: robotics, geospatial engineering, employability skills development, and commercialising new food ingredients.

He has first-hand experience raising start-up funds, growing effective, multi-disciplinary teams, and completing multimillion-dollar licensing deals with a FTSE100 plc.

Nikita joined the University in January 2016.

She previously worked in the central business engagement team at the University and has a strong background in university-business collaboration, having worked with a range of SMEs and large businesses locally and nationally, to secure funding for collaborative projects. She has experience of working closely with business leaders, identifying opportunities to support their company’s strategic growth plans through partnering with the university.

Nikita leads the development of our Executive Education programmes. As Director of the Help to Grow Management programme she is responsible for programme management and delivery to businesses. 

David is a business consultant, entrepreneur and professor, with extensive executive and strategic business development experience in various industries.

David began his career at IBM and after attending The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, worked in consulting with a variety of clients including BAE Systems, Marks & Spencer and 3i, including mergers and acquisitions transactions totalling over £11 billion.

He has participated as a founder, director or investor in over 16 entrepreneurial companies in four countries, helping raise over £36 million in venture capital.

David has also advised chief executive officers on the challenges of pursuing and delivering growth, and has an in-depth understanding of the techniques that enable this.

As well as a mentor, he is a trainer for growth programmes such as those with The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme at Oxford University. He has published over 70 articles and blogs.

BEng MTech FIMechE CEng MBA

James joined the University of Nottingham in 2019.  His role as Operations Manager spans Executive Education and Education and Student Experience within the Business School’s MBA and Executive MBA programmes.

He has a wealth of experience in supporting and implementing dynamic and innovative projects across higher education and healthcare, having held senior administrative roles in high ranking UK Universities and NHS Commissioning.

Sue joined the University of Nottingham in January 2007.

Passionate about delivering high quality customer service and engagement with business, Sue is responsible for the administrative and operational organisation of the Business School’s Executive Education programmes, the Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship Programme, suite of Executive MBA programmes and wider External Engagement activities and events.

Nicola is the newest member of our growing executive education team and joined us in February 2020 from the University of Sheffield where she provided project and administrative support for the Partnerships and Regional Engagement team. Nicola has a background in employer engagement and the apprenticeship process, placing high value on communication and ensuring strong customer relations.

Nicola’s role at the university sees her supporting the Business School’s Executive Education and the Executive MBA Senior Leader Apprenticeship Degree programmes.