What makes the West Midlands a leading UK location For Emerging Tech?

Stephen Kines

Chief Operating Officer, Goldilock Secure Limited

Stephen is Chief Operating Officer at Goldilock Secure Limited, a leading hardware cybersecurity provider delivering cutting-edge remote security technology. The company has been shortlisted for the award of the UK’s Most Innovative Cyber SME 2023, run by the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology. An international corporate lawyer with expertise in complex M&A and tax efficient commercial transactions in the US, UK and emerging markets, Stephen is focused on emerging technologies, including blockchain and cybersecurity.

Mike Lewis

Digital lead, West Midlands Growth Company

Mike is Sector Lead for Creative, Digital & Tech at West Midlands Growth Company. His role is supporting tech, digital and creative businesses establish and expand in the West Midlands - the UK's fastest growing tech cluster - and a global tech hub. 

Aga Manhao

Founder & CEO, Primacy

Aga is an executive with extensive experience running global multinational businesses in Japan, Singapore, Australia, London and Switzerland. He has been involved in 3 IPOs in Singapore and Australia. He was the founding CEO of HomeStay Care and took it from concept to listing on the Australian stock exchange in under 2 years.   

Aga was heavily involved in the restructure and turnaround of Nautic AWT in his role as VP of Sales Support and General Manager of Australasian operations, taking the company from being a loss maker to being acquired and then subsequently undertaking an IPO on the Singapore stock exchange.

Rifka Noronha

Head of Corporate Affairs, TATA Consultancy Services

Rifka Noronha is Head of Corporate Affairs for Tata Consultancy Services, UK and Ireland. Before joining TCS, she was Head of UK Retail Public Affairs at Boots UK, leading government engagement on retail issues, including Covid trading impact, sustainability and the future of high street retail.  

Prior to that, Rifka worked at Tesco and Barclays Bank in several UK and International roles covering government relations, internal communications, and corporate sustainability.

Karolina Staniak

Director of Business Development, EBS

Director of Business Development at EBS, a leading service provider for companies seeking to establish in the United Kingdom, Karolina has 10 years of expertise in the international business environment.  

Leading EBS in the development of business and marketing strategies, Karolina is responsible for building relationships with new and existing clients, as well as organising events showcasing the services EBS Ltd offer.

Martin Ward

West Midlands Tech Commissioner,

Martin is the new West Midlands Tech Commissioner and senior executive in the software industry with 30+ years’ experience of B2B enterprise technology and associated services across EMEA. As a Partner at Waypoint Partners, he specialize in advising early-stage tech-centric ventures on their growth and fundraising strategies.

Previously, he’s worked in sales, business development and general management positions for several global blue chip enterprises including SAP, Fujitsu and Oracle. I’ve been a successful co-founder and have enjoyed multiple trade transactions. I’m an alumnus of MIT, IESE and Imperial College, and a serial angel investor and start-up mentor with personal investments spanning martech, customer analytics, machine learning and fintech.