Take a look at the members of the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.
The Advisory Board members will offer guidance by:
- Providing input to the strategic direction and activities of the Centre across its key pillars of entrepreneurship research, education, and engagement
- Advising on the Centre’s research agendas, enabling the development of cutting-edge areas of inquiry that will generate world-leading and impactful activities and outputs
- Advising on the development and relevance of entrepreneurship education delivered by the Centre for business, the economy and society
- Providing guidance and input into the business-support activities of the Centre including the design, development and delivery of training programmes and the mentoring of entrepreneurs.
Sanjay Aggarwal
Co-founder and Chief Spice Office, Spice Kitchen
Sanjay co-founded Spice Kitchen, an award-winning spice business, in 2012 with his mother. Together they launched the business with a traditional Indian Spice Tin (as a Masala Dabba) winning Gift of the Year award twice and they have since gone on to expand their product line with their Middle Eastern, World, Chilli and Gin tins.
More recently, Sanjay has focused in on his mother’s expertise of blending and having curated a range of Great Taste Award Winning spice blends – including their family Garam Masala recipe – amongst many others.
Spice Kitchen is sold across hundreds of retailers and larger department stores, including John Lewis, Selfridges, Notcutts, Oxfam, Social Supermarket as well as hundreds of independent farm shops, delis and garden centres.
Sanjay was also recognised as a 42 Under 42 entrepreneur in the Northwest and completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Alumni Programme. He actively mentors small businesses and is an export champion with the Department for International Trade.
Lynsey Barnes
Investment Manager, LCR Finance Hub
Lynsey is the Investment Manager at LCR Finance Hub. The LCR Finance Hub is a free independent service for Small Medium Enterprises (SME's) in the Liverpool City Region supported by Growth Platform, Liverpool City Combined Authority, and MSIF.
The aim of the Hub is to help SMEs with access to financial support such as start-up investment, business loans, equity investment, angel investment or support in getting a business investment ready.
Before joining LCR Finance Hub, Lynsey was as an Investment Manager for MSIF and SPARK Impact’s equity team.
Prior to her role at SPARK, Lynsey spent five years at 350 Investment Partners working for the Northwest Fund Energy and Environmental fund, and previously at MSIF.
Anthony Brown
Northwest & North Wales Regional Manager, Young Enterprise
Anthony is the Northwest and North Wales Regional Manager for the national education charity, Young Enterprise.
Young Enterprise’s mission is to enable opportunities for young people to achieve their full potential, collaborating with like-minded partners, institutions, and policy makers.
During Anthony’s time with Young Enterprise, he has led country-wide European and Lottery funded projects, developed regional and national corporate relationships, as well as supported the innovation and evolution of the Young Enterprise / Young Money portfolio.
Having worked across primary, secondary, further, and higher education, within formal and informal education settings, all against an unprecedented rate of global change, Anthony continues to be committed and driven to make a difference for our communities and the economy.
Grace Harrison
Organisational Development Lead, Kitty's Launderette
Grace leads organisational development at Kitty’s Launderette, a community-focused launderette in the Everton area of Liverpool offering affordable eco-friendly laundry services and social events.
The launderette is named after Kitty Wilkinson, who opened the UK’s first public washhouse in the city in 1832 during the height of a cholera epidemic, saving many lives.
In 2023, Kitty’s Laundrette was in receipt of two national awards – The Social Enterprise UK and the Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Awards, both in the category for community-based businesses.
Grace has a background in organising DIY arts and politics events in spaces such as bars, community centres and arts venues. This has deepened her understanding of the unequal access to certain spaces and the challenges of inclusion.
Professor Ulla Hytti
Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of Turku, Finland
Ulla is a Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Turku, Finland and Research Director at the Turku School of Economics.
Her research focuses are on entrepreneurship at the individual level, entrepreneurial identity construction and identity work in new ventures and family businesses. She also has an interest in understanding gender in different entrepreneurial contexts.
Her research has also investigated policies supporting entrepreneurship development, most notably entrepreneurship education and incubators.
With over 25 years of experience of policy, practice-oriented and academic research projects that are conducted in continuous and active engagement with businesses and other stakeholders, collaborating with European Commission and Directorate Generals, OECD, Ministries, Regional Authorities, and decision-makers.
Phil McCabe
Development Manager, Federation of Small Businesses
Phil McCabe is Merseyside and Cheshire Development Manager at Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
He supports the FSB's volunteer activists and other small business members and represents their interest within the region. Phil also represents the FSB on the Liverpool City Region group of leading business organisations in the Liverpool City Region.
In addition to working with the media at all levels, Phil’s role as Media and PR Manager and Senior Policy Adviser at the Forum of Private Business (FPB), a national business lobbyist and support group, has provided him with considerable experience of political lobbying and campaigning.
Phil has extensive experience in media and PR, having appeared on major television and radio platforms, such as BBC’s Panorama, The One Show, Working Lunch, BBC News, Sky News and BBC Radio Four and Five. He has also contributed to developing the organisation’s range of small business products and services.
Janet Nuzum
Sector Manager, Visitor Economy Liverpool City Combined Authority
Jan Nuzum is the Sector Manager, Visitor Economy, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Her role focusses on boosting tourism and driving economic growth. Jan’s work centres on making the region as a great place for businesses, communities and residents whilst promoting the role and impact of the sector on wider city region economy.
She connects with numerous stakeholders and organisations across the UK and the region, to ensure the sector growth is embedded with the Liverpool City Region (LCR) Combined Authority strategic growth framework.
Jan is a native to LCR, although spent many years away from Liverpool, serving in the Armed Forces, before returning to work within the private sector in 2014. She joined Growth Platform in 2020 and has specialised in the visitor economic development since then.
Rick Parry
Chair, Football League
Rick Parry has had a successful and varied career where he has impacted The Football Association by recommending the formation of what would become the FA Premier League. The recommendation quickly found favour with top professional clubs and in 1991 Rick became the first Chief Executive of the fledgling league.
Notably, Rick devised a formula to enable the sharing of TV revenues amongst clubs which is unchanged after 20 years.
In 1997, Rick joined Liverpool Football Club as Chief Executive. In the following nine years, the Club won ten trophies including the UEFA Champions League in 2005. Since leaving Liverpool in 2009, Rick has conducted a variety of football-related consultancy projects in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan the US, and Mexico.
He has been a member of the Advisory Board of the ICSS in Doha since its inception in 2011 and has served on the Management Committee of the ICSS - Sorbonne sports integrity applied research programme.
Rick has also conducted major sport-related assignments for the UK Government in Sports Betting and football governance. In November 2014 Rick chaired a Mauritian Government Inquiry into the organisation of horse racing and betting on the island at the invitation of the Prime Minister.
At the University of Liverpool, Rick serves on the Foundation Leadership Team, and the Management School Advisory Board and contributes to the Football Industries MBA course.
Dr Luke Pittaway
Associate Dean, College of Business & O'Bleness Professor of Entrepreneurship, Ohio University, USA
Dr Luke Pittaway is Associate Dean in the College of Business and O’Bleness Professor of Entrepreneurship, Ohio University, USA.
He is an expert on entrepreneurial behaviour, networking, entrepreneurial failure, business growth and corporate venturing, Luke’s research focuses on entrepreneurship education and learning. In 2018 he was awarded USASBE's Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year.
An academic entrepreneur, Luke helped found and led three centres for entrepreneurial research and education – the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development at Lancaster University (UK), the Centre for Regional Economic and Enterprise Development at the University of Sheffield (UK) and Georgia Southern University’s Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning and Leadership (USA).
Prior to Ohio University, Luke served as the William A. Freeman Distinguished Chair in Free Enterprise and the director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning and Leadership at Georgia Southern University, USA, managing entrepreneurship programmes.
He also served on the faculty at Lancaster University, considered one of the top five business schools in the United Kingdom. While there, he completed a funded research project for Economic and Social Research Council’s Advanced Institute for Management. As a research coordinator, Luke successfully expanded the Business Development Unit into a research-led institute.
A former Research and Education Fellow with the United Kingdom’s National Council on Graduate Entrepreneurship and Advanced Institute of Management Research Scholar, Luke sits on a number of editorial boards, including the International Small Business Journal. Luke collaborates with the UPS Stores Annual Small Business survey, providing expert advice and interpretation of data for the media.
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