Judges are senior business and community figures who have been carefully selected for their expertise and professionalism.
Susan Hooper
Non Executive Director, Uber and Moonpig
Meet The Judges
Touker Suleyman
Founder, Low Profile Group and Dragons’ Den investor
Juliet Barratt
Co-Founder, Grenade
Jackie Fast
Entrepreneur and Investor
Caprice Bourret
Founder, By Caprice
Caprice Bourret
Founder, By Caprice
Former model and tv personality Caprice is known today for her business acumen having founded ‘By Caprice’ in 2006. The brand has gone onto become hugely successful. Firstly focusing on lingerie and due to huge success, By Caprice Home followed.
2019 sees By Caprice Home launch an exclusive bedding collection with Dunelm which is available now in all major UK Dunelm stores nationwide.
Caprice has won Mumpreneur of the Year for her achievements and now uses her own success and life experiences to empower and inspire through motivational talks she gives to college students, entrepreneurs and CEOs.
Alpesh Patel
Investor and Author
Dr Saima Rana
CEO and Principal of GEMS World Academy
Steve Malkin
Founder, PlanetMark
Donna O'Toole
Managing Director, August Recognition Ltd
Irene Graham OBE
CEO of the ScaleUp Institute
Irene Graham OBE
CEO of the ScaleUp Institute
Irene is the CEO and a board director of the ScaleUp Institute. A former senior banker at Standard Chartered Bank where she held both European and global managing director roles.Before joining the ScaleUp Institute she was managing director at the British Bankers Association.
She is a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde University and holds a variety of non-executive director and advisory roles across the creative, business and finance communities.
Josh Robson
Head of Public Affairs and External Relations at The ScaleUp Institute
Josh Robson
Head of Public Affairs and External Relations at The ScaleUp Institute
Josh leads External Affairs at the ScaleUp Institute engaging at a national and local level to help grow and enhance the UK scaleup ecosystem.
He has worked extensively in the private sector including Heading up European Public Affairs for a large German manufacturer and across multiple industry bodies, representing UK businesses at an international level on key EU level and global projects.
He has advised both business and government on legislation for more than ten years, including on the passage of three Energy Acts, the Localism Act and the Digital Economy Act. For the private sector he has also led negotiations on strategic sectoral changes and investment cycles with FTSE 100 companies and with Government.
Piers Linney
Investor and Non-Executive Director
Piers Linney
Investor and Non-Executive Director
Piers Linney appeared on the BBC TV series Dragons’ Den from 2013-2015, he is also a Non-Executive Director of the UK government-owned development bank, British Business Bank, which has facilitated over £12 billion of financing for UK small and medium-sized businesses and also operates the StartUp Loan Company and British Patient Capital, a £2,5bn fund launched in 2018.
Matt Gubba
CEO and Founder, BizBritain
Matt Gubba
CEO and Founder, BizBritain
Matt Gubba is CEO & founder of BizBritain, a provider of alternative start up finance, and of the largest brokers of UK government funded Start Up Loans.
In 2012, Matt founded BizBritain, an organisation which works closely with the UK government and to date has funded close to 2,000 entrepreneurs to the tune of around £14m.
Maggie Rodriguez-Piza
Chief Executive, Funding London
Maggie Rodriguez-Piza
Chief Executive, Funding London
Maggie Rodriguez-Piza has been CEO of Funding London since 2009, Maggie has been at the helm of two funds which have been launched: the MMC London Fund and the London Co-Investment Fund.
Funding London has invested £50m through its equity and loan funds into more than 500 small and micro enterprises.
Mark Nutter
Chairman and Founder, Emirates HR
Mark Nutter
Chairman and Founder, Emirates HR
Mark is a successful Entrepreneur and has founded, acquired and sold several business in the IT and software sector and sold his last business to Capita Plc in 2015.
Having experience in start-ups through to being a CEO at the Isys Group, Mark is now an active investor and business mentor.
Mark is also Chairman and Founder of Emirates HR, a Dubai based HR software business.
John Stapleton
Investor and Business Adviser
John Stapleton
Investor and Business Adviser
John Stapleton is an entrepreneur, angel investor, business leader and speaker with over 30 years’ experience in pioneering new FMCG categories and establishing and growing successful consumer-led businesses in both the UK and the USA.
In 1987 John co-founded The New Covent Garden Soup Co Ltd., which pioneered and grew the fresh soup category in the UK. On reaching over £20m revenue, Daniels PLC bought New Covent Garden Soup Co in 1998.
Manjula Lee
CEO, World Wide Generation
Guy Rigby
Chair, Entrepreneurial Service at Smith & Williamson
Douglas Hansen-Luke
Executive Chairman, Future Planet Capital
Latest News
2022 ScaleUp Awards secures industry leading independent judging panel
What’s stopping the scaleup?
What is a scale-up business and what impact do they have on the economy?
Why do you need to get involved with the Scale-Up Awards?
Scale-Up Awards 2022 entry process to begin on October 29
The Scale-Up Awards 2022 kicks off in style
Scale-Up Awards Partners
