Hub team

“Apart from a deep-seated passion to change the entrepreneurial landscape in the UK and rediscover our legacy from the industrial revolution, I am highly excited by the prospect of engaging with new young talent and using my experience to accelerate and amplify their success. I’ve been involved in mentoring for over a decade but believe the Hub offers a very special opportunity to work with the brightest and best”.

- Ian Shott CBE FREng

Ana Avaliani: Director, Enterprise & Sustainable Development

Ana is responsible for the development and implementation of the Enterprise Hub strategy. Having started her career in a technology start up Ana has worked in public and private sector organisations in policy, R&D and consulting roles.

Ana’s expertise is in operations, change management and innovation management.

Mahmoda Ali – Head of Enterprise Hub

Mahmoda is an innovation and entrepreneurship enthusiast and specialist. She is the Head of Enterprise Hub manages the UK entrepreneurship portfolio, working with start-ups and SMEs. She brings with her a firm grounding in international entrepreneurship expertise having led and shaped the Leaders in Innovation Fellowship programme into the UK Government's flagship international entrepreneurship programme.

Mahmoda has extensive experience in community management and growth. She has a diverse background that spans across innovation, management and marketing. Her career began working in a start-up designing and implementing incentive challenges globally, at InnoCentive, the global pioneer in crowdsourced innovation. The moved onto help set up and deliver Challenge Prizes at Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation.

Gillian Gregg: Head of Regional Development

Gillian is responsible for establishing the Enterprise Hub’s first regional node, based in Belfast. Having started her career in the private sector, she has worked in R&D&I economic policy research across both the public and university sectors for over 20 years. With a strong focus on engineering-led growth, Gillian’s experience working with the Advanced Manufacturing, Materials and Engineering sector across Northern Ireland provides the Hub with particular insight from across a wide range of regional stakeholder perspectives.

Angus Baker: Senior Programme Manager, Enterprise Fellowships

Angus is the first point of contact for university-based entrepreneurs, being responsible for the design and delivery of the Enterprise Fellowships programme and leading on the provision of training for Hub Members.

Wider expertise includes the management of research grants, delivery of IT systems, implementing culture change and the adoption of best practices in grant management.

Catherine Capone: Senior Programme Manager, Regional Talent Engines

Catherine is responsible for the Regional Talent Engines programme and the annual Reverse Pitching and London Tech Week events. Her background has been in supporting entrepreneurs to start their own businesses through business planning, cash flows and mentoring, as well as providing loans and grants to entrepreneurs.

Anna Hoang: Digital Communications Manager

Anna is responsible for overseeing Enterprise Hub's digital communications, looking after the Hub's social media channels, website blog content and e-newsletters. Due to her interest in science communications which she developed whilst studying biology at university, she has worked and volunteered in a variety of third sector roles in communications and public engagement.

Urszula Stawik: Programme Manager, Enterprise Fellowships

Urszula is responsible for Enterprise Fellowships programme for university graduates and researchers looking to spin out. Her previous experience includes managing programmes around adoption of digital technologies by SMEs, strengthening presence of women-led business in the SME sector and managing global communities of software engineers. She has also supported programmes aiming at improving livelihoods of rural and tribal communities in Northern India.

Daniel Boggon: Programme Manager, Shott Scale Up Accelerator

Daniel is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Shott Scale Up Accelerator, helping leaders of high-growth SMEs overcome the challenges faced as they transition from starting, to scaling innovative engineering and technology enterprises. His experience encompasses mechanical and environmental engineering, business operations and events management, and is motivated by a drive to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and excellence across the UK’s engineering ecosystem.