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We’re governed at trustee level by the Young Enterprise UK Board

Young Enterprise UK Board

Ian Smith

Ian Smith has been the Chairman of Young Enterprise since 2009. Ian is Managing Partner of AndersonBick Consultants LLP, his own executive coaching consultancy. Until recently he was the Regional Senior Vice President of Oracle UK, Ireland & Israel, a post he held for nine years. Prior to that he worked for BT, joining as Director of Customer Service. Ian was subsequently made Managing Director of BT's consumer division, and he finally became Managing Director of BT UK Customer Service. He has served on the Executive of the Information Age Partnership, the E-Skills Board, the CBI President's Committee, the National Employment Panel, and he chaired the Leadership & Management Panel on behalf of the UK Government. He has served as the Prince of Wales' Ambassador for South East England. He has held the post of President of the Institute of Customer Services since its inception over ten years ago. Until 2008, he served on the Board of Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise Europe. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Fellow of the City & Guilds Institute, a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute, and an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University.

Sheena Amin

Sheena is a Young Enterprise Alumnus. She first became involved with Young Enterprise six years ago when she participated in the Company Programme whilst a student at North London Collegiate School. She was the Managing Director of 'Cocktail', which represented London at the 2005 National Finals, where the company was awarded the National Marketing of the Year Award. Sheena went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The University of Oxford, graduating with double first class honours. During her time at Oxford she further cultivated her passion for entrepreneurship, for example, in her capacity as the External Relations Officer of Oxford Entrepreneurs, the largest free university society promoting student business and entrepreneurship in young people. Whilst a student, Sheena also co-founded and ran a graduate recruitment marketing agency and headhunting business, UniVentures Ltd., serving clients such as Barclays Capital, RBS, Blackstone and Bain Capital. Sheena currently works in venture capital / private equity for an $11 billion growth equity investor, Summit Partners. In February 2010, Sheena was appointed a Trustee of Young Enterprise London. She is now looking forward to building on her role as a Regional Trustee in her new capacity as a Trustee of the newly merged National Board.

Chris Braithwaite

Following a successful 30 year career in major industrial corporations, Chris has embarked on a life combining philanthropic initiatives and non-executive director roles. He has maintained interests in the charitable sector and industry-related bodies, particularly over the last ten years. These include positions as Trustee of Young Enterprise North East, Chairman of Subsea NE, Deputy Chairman of NOFenergy and links to universities. Most recently the Braithwaite Family Foundation has been established in order to further philanthropic causes. These include helping young people prepare for business life and care for the elderly. Chris's working career included over thirty years in project management, engineering and manufacturing businesses, including board and leadership roles. He has extensive international experience in the service sector of the oil & gas industry, working and living in Europe, USA, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, the Former Soviet Union, Brazil and West Africa. He created and successfully implemented several innovative growth strategies and led global businesses ranging from 50 to 2000 people with annual revenues up to #500 million. Chris joined Wellstream in late 2004 and was instrumental in turning around the company's performance between 2005 and 2009. He played a critical role in the successful IPO of Wellstream in 2007, the rapid subsequent share growth and the profiling of what soon became a FTSE 250 business.

Grey Denham

Grey has been a long-term supporter of Young Enterprise. He was Chair of the GKN Charitable Appeals Committee for over 11 years between 1997 and 2009. He was a member of the YE Business Leadership Council from 2003 to 2005. He has been a Director and Trustee of YE since 2006 and a member of its Audit Committee since 2009. He is the former Senior Independent Director of Charter International plc, and currently a Non-Executive Director of the Competition Commission. He is a qualified barrister and his former appointments include Secretary and Group Director Legal and Compliance at GKN plc, Chair of the Primary Markets Group of the London Stock Exchange and Chairman of the CBI in the West Midlands and Oxfordshire.

Judith Felton

Judith Felton has been a Trustee and Director of Young Enterprise since July 2009. She is the Group Secretary of GKN plc, a major contributor to the Young Enterprise Company Programme. She is a law graduate (LLB (Hons) Birmingham University) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries. She has some 31 years service in GKN and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board. Judith was born in Leeds and has lived in the Midlands since the 1970s.

Jared Fox

Born in Newcastle, Jared was educated at the London School of Economics before joining the banking profession in the late 80s. He worked at Barclays and Hambros banks before founding what has become UK Structured Finance Limited, where he continues his drive for socially responsible finance across the public and third sectors. Jared is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians. He has been a strong supporter of the third sector for many years and has sat on a number of charitable boards, including NHSU, the corporate University of the National Health Service. Jared has been a supporter of Young Enterprise since 1991 when he became an advisor to the Company Programme at Highgate School in North London. Over the last 20 years, Jared has advised over twenty Young Enterprise companies and helped at many of the one-day programme events in schools across the South East. Now settled in Epsom, Jared is Secretary to the East & Mid Surrey Area Board and a very visible activist across the region.

James Froomberg

James has been a Young Enterprise volunteer since 2001, starting as a business advisor. He joined the local area board in Harrow and Brent in 2007, which he held until April 2012. He became a Trustee of Young Enterprise London in 2009 and was elected to chair the board in November 2009 until 2011, when he became a Trustee of the newly merged Young Enterprise. As well as his Young Enterprise activity, James is a National Lottery Commissioner, a non-executive advisor to a large privately owned property company, and an active business angel investor. Previously, James was a KPMG consultancy partner, the corporate development director of Wembley plc, the commercial director of British Waterways, and a member of the Government's casino advisory panel. James has been happily married for the last 34 years, has two grown-up daughters and lives in Edgware.

Vivien Pell

Trained by industry-leading global advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and a specialist in audit and corporate recovery, Viv Pell has been a Chartered Accountant for nearly 20 years. After gaining extensive commercial experience within large corporate organisations, Viv switched to early-stage, fast growth businesses to feed her enthusiasm for helping entrepreneurs achieve their full potential. Following a series of successful roles within start-up and venture-capital-backed firms, she has been deploying her expertise for the last 7 years via her own consultancy business - JVP Consultants Ltd - supporting clients in a wide variety of industries, in the UK and abroad. The support, commercial planning and blend of strategic and practical advice she offers ensure every client's strategic vision for growth is always underpinned by a firm financial footing. The firm foundation that she has offered has helped several companies achieve successful trade sales to either other SMEs or multinational market leaders. JVP Consultants Ltd is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Jazz Rayet

Jazz Rayet is the MD of Crossover-Associates Ltd, a specialist CIO Advisory and Navigation practice. Prior to that he was the lead Accenture Partner responsible for CIO Advisory consulting services for Products Industry Clients across UK, Europe and Latin America a role he held for 19 years. Jazz, a 1988 YE Company Programme Alumnus, has been involved with YE in the UK for more than 6 years and has operated at many levels. Firstly, he has worked in a management capacity serving as a Trustee for YE in London and also as a member of the Chiltern YE Area Board. Secondly, he has worked as a supporter, setting up and providing funding and over 300 volunteers for both YE in the North East and London regions. Finally, Jazz has continued to operate at the ground level each year, working as a Business Advisor, directly coaching participants in YE programmes

Connor Sephton

Connor Sephton is the 18-year-old Managing Director of Visualise Media, a company which he originally started through the YE Company Programme in 2009. His business produces articles, web content and magazines for clients around the world. It employs over 10 young, aspiring writers who are under the age of 25. Since concluding his YE experience in summer 2010, Connor has been an active member of the Greater Manchester Taskforce as a Youth Representative. Here, he was involved with the planning and execution of area finals while also volunteering in short programmes and developing a social media strategy. In September 2011, Connor moved down to London to further his passion of journalism with a university degree.

David Walter

David was first involved with Young Enterprise at school when he took part in the Company Programme at the age of 17. He was the MD of his team's company, the Idea Factory. After building his career at Johnson & Johnson, Nestle and British Gas in a variety of commercial roles, David came back to YE as a volunteer. David is the Chairman of the Berkshire Board and was formerly a Trustee of Young Enterprise South East. David's current role at British Gas is as the Managing Director of Dyno-Rod. He is married with two children under six.

Martin Warren

Martin was born and works in Cardiff and is the current Chair of Young Enterprise Wales. He has been involved in Young Enterprise for 15 years, joining the Welsh Board just under 3 years ago. Since becoming Chair he has been responsible for the reorganisation and reinvigoration of the volunteer base within Wales, stabilising the financial position and guiding Wales into the newly merged Young Enterprise. Martin is a graduate of Hull University and a chartered accountant who has worked in the both private and public sectors. He is currently Director of Finance at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. He is also a member of the Sport Wales Council, the body responsible for Sport in Wales.

Meryl White

Meryl White was, until she retired in December 2009, the 11-19 Education Project Director within Barnsley Local Authority. Previously, she was Deputy Head in two large secondary schools. She has also worked as an Ofsted Inspector. Since January 2010, Meryl has worked as an independent consultant in a number of Local Authorities on 11-19 developments, including the raising of the participation age and provision planning for 16-19 year olds. Meryl has been associated with Young Enterprise over a number of years, firstly in the 1990s as a Deputy Head, where she led a major project 'Pathways Towards Adult and Working Life' in which the Young Enterprise Company Programme was a key component. She has also seen at first hand the benefits of Young Enterprise activities. Her three children all took part in Young Enterprise programmes at school and college and are now in successful careers in business, advertising and law. She currently chairs the South Yorkshire Young Enterprise Board. Meryl gives of her time in a voluntary capacity to a number of organisations. She has just launched a book of her Grandmother's recipes, Grandma Abson's Traditional Baking, gives baking tutorials and writes a weekly baking Blog.