Grace Owen

Grace Owen is director of Grace Owen Solutions Ltd, a coaching and consultancy business, whose mission is to ‘equip people for life and work’. She is an accredited coach and consultant with over ten years practical experience of developing people. Specialist areas are career management, leadership and team performance.

She coaches leaders, professionals and women entrepreneurs. The consultancy portfolio includes Baptist Union (UK), Barclays Bank, Black Business Association, Compact Law, Costa Coffee, Greensleeves Homes Trust, Just Resources, London South Bank University, Newham College, The Diversity Practice, The Regeneration Centre and Tower Hamlets College.

info@grace-owen.com

Grant Peggie

Grant Peggie is the Deputy Director, Investment, SBS.

He is a career civil servant, currently with the Small Business Service an Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry. He took up his current post in August 2001 as Deputy Director of the Investment and SME Finance Directorate. This involves delivering a number of key interventions that increase the amount of risk and equity finance for small businesses in England and providing policy advice and recommendations the Chief Executive of the Small Business Service, and Government Ministers on access to finance policy issues

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Ian Williams

Ian Williams is Head of Procurement Policy, Small Business Service

Ian heads a small team in Small Business Service working to facilitate access for SMEs to public procurement opportunities. The team works closely with the Office of Government Commerce implementing the findings of the Better Regulation Task Force/ Small Business Council report 'Government: Supporter or Customer?'. Prior to joining SBS Ian worked in the Government Office for London and spent most of the rest of his career in what is now UK Trade and Investment.

www.sbs.gov.uk

James Arbuthnot

Jonathan Russell

Jonathan Russell is a chartered accountant and partner in Oxfordshire Accountancy practice, Critchleys and Vice-President, UK200 Group.

He has been working with and advising small owner managed businesses for nearly 30 years. His lectures include 'implications of setting up in business', and is co author of the UK200 publication 'Financial Controls Handbook'. He has spent time in industry at the sharp end on secondment to growing companies. Jonathan is also a qualified Mediator and Arbitrator and is frequently called in to assist in settling business disputes. Critchleys is a member of the UK200Group, a mutual association of quality assured professionals, and Jonathan is currently their Vice President.

Joy Nichols

Joy founded Nichols Employment Agency in 1979 as a Freelance Secretary and started allocating work she could not fill to friends and family members. Nichols Agency Limited was established in 1984 and is one of the most successful black owned businesses in the England. It occupies two sites across London, employing 15 internal staff and 200 weekly paid temporary staff. At the end of 2004 Joy triggered the next phase of her growth by setting up her staff in Johannesburg in South Africa.

Today, the company specialises in diversity recruitment and offers training and consultancy services to a variety of organisations.

Joy is also a past Chair of the African Caribbean Business Network, which was instigated by the Mayor – Ken Livingstone to represent and give a voice to African Caribbean businesses men and women Pan-London.