Small Enterprises, Big Impact: The steps needed to digitise Britain’s SMEs and restore economic growth

Jonathan Cowan

Chief of Staff, Sage

Jon is Chief of Staff at Sage, a member of the Sage Executive Leadership Team and runs the functions of Strategy, Transformation, and Corporate Development. Jon has a decade of experience at Sage in its UK, European, Marketing, Product, and Global functions, and a background in product & marketing leadership roles in Tech & Telecoms at Skype, T-Mobile and One2One.

Passionate about technology, digitisation an growth (And mountains where he can usually be found outside of work).

Anthony Impey MBE

CEO, Be the Business

Anthony started his career as an entrepreneur while he was still at school and has since started and scaled several mission-led businesses. This first-hand experience has made him a champion of small and midsize businesses.

He is now Chief Executive of Be the Business - the UK’s productivity charity which has shaped government policy and boosted the productivity of the firms it works with by over £500m. Its flagship Productive Business Index is one of the leading data-led sources of UK productivity.

Anthony also chairs of the City & Guilds Industry Skills Board and leads the Department of Education’s Apprenticeship Ambassador Network which has over 1,500 members. And he is chair of the international advisory board at UCL’s School of Management.

Martin McTague OBE

National Chair, Federation of Small Businesses

Martin McTague was appointed as National Chair of FSB on 8 March 2022. Prior to this, he was FSB National Vice Chair, Policy and Advocacy (from 2021) and FSB Policy and Advocacy Chair, a role he was elected to in March 2016. 
 
Martin has served as a volunteer with FSB for more than 20 years, in a variety of roles including Chairman of the Local Government Policy Unit. 

As National Chair, Martin works closely with government and opposition leaders, attending ministerial meetings and representing FSB and its members at the most senior levels. He also works to ensure that members’ views are represented in international institutions. He works to ensure that FSB’s policy reports are used widely to help policy makers, and he champions FSB’s member survey programme, Big Voice. 

Martin started his own business 35 years ago and now currently owns and manage three businesses - offering public policy, engineering and IT consultancy services. Running businesses for more than three decades means that Martin has worked with institutional investors; operating sophisticated financial management systems, marketing complex IT systems and managing more than 60 employees. 

 Martin’s business experience is invaluable to him in his role as FSB National Chair.  He believes that integrity and a cross-party approach are both vital preconditions for success. He is determined to protect and advance FSB’s current standing as the UK’s most influential business lobby – one that truly represents its grassroots members.  Martin has served on the Government’s Low Pay Commission since 2018 and was appointed to the ACAS Council in September 2023 by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade. 

Lucy Rigby MP

Member of Parliament for Northampton North,

Lucy Rigby has been Member of Parliament for Northampton North since 2024. Lucy has received various accolades as a competition lawyer. She is ranked in Who's Who Legal 2023 and 2024 as a Global Leader in Competition Plaintiff, and in the Lawdragon 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers for Competition Law. Lucy is also ranked as Next Generation Partner in the Legal 500 2024 for competition litigation and group litigation, in the Legal 500 2023 for competition litigation, and in Chamber UK 2024.

Georgi Rollings

CEO, Starfish Accountancy

Georgi started as a chartered accountant at Deloitte & Touche in London in 1996, transferring to their San Jose office in California in 2000 where she worked with Silicon Valley start-ups.  This gave Georgi both valuable ‘large practice’ experience but also, particularly in Silicon Valley, an appreciation of technology.

After moving back to the UK in 2003, Georgi worked in a variety of roles at 3 blue chip companies up until the birth of her twin girls in 2010.  Gaining time in industry gave Georgi the confidence and knowledge to start her own business.

 Georgi has become something of a past master at learning and the introduction of innovative software and technology to make life easier for business owners.

Phil Smith CBE

Chairman, IQE

Phil is currently Chairman of IQE PLC, as well as Chairman of Streeva and Appyway. He is former Chief Executive and Chairman of Cisco UK and Ireland, and former Chairman of InnovateUK and Techskills. Phil is co-chair of the Digital Skills Council and a member of the Digital Economy Council. Additionally he is a Commercial Director of Be The Business, a founding associate of VOCL,  and a C-Level Board mentor for Critical Eye. He has an advisory role with Coventry University and is a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the National Theatre. Phil was awarded a CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to Technology, Business and Skills and in September 2019 was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering where he chairs the Education and Skills Committee.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-smith-cbe-a233222

Naomi Weir

Director of Innovation, Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

Naomi is the Director of Innovation and Technology at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), where she is responsible for spearheading their policy initiatives aimed at positioning the UK as the most attractive destination for businesses to invest in and leverage innovation and technology, as well as fostering the growth of innovative enterprises. Her professional journey commenced in the financial services sector before transitioning into policy work, where she contributed to various policy areas including R&D, entrepreneurship, skills, immigration, and diversity

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-weir-03469a65/

Nick Williams

Director of UK Product Management , Intuit

As UK Director of Product Management for Intuit QuickBooks, Nick is dedicated to helping small businesses and accounting professionals embrace digital to solve their financial problems.

Daniel Woolf

Head of Policy & Government Relations, Enterprise Nation

Daniel Woolf is Head of Policy & Government Relations at Enterprise Nation. With over a decade of experience in politics and policy development. Previously, Daniel held senior roles at the Greater London Authority and the CBI, where he was a key member of the Government's Gigabit Take-Up Advisory Group taskforce. At Enterprise Nation, Daniel leads its Tech Hub policy consortium. The Tech Hub, built by Enterprise Nation, is a collaboration between Cisco, Google, Square, Sage, Dell and Vodafone Business, offering an accessible solution to help small businesses adopt the technology they need to run and grow their ventures. 

: daniel-woolf-789b4a4a