Design from the inside out
It’s one of the most demanding degree courses you can take but Karl Mok wants to make the world of architecture more transparent and accessible. And he’s doing it with the help of his friends.
Pattern
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16th March 2023
Making menopause business as usual
It affects 50 per cent of the population and can cause debilitating symptoms for decades, but the menopause is barely spoken about. Until now. Sharon MacArthur - aka Miss Menopause - is on a mission to make it part of every workplace – and it seems this rebel with a cause has momentum on her side.
BW Magazine
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27th February 2023
Dance for all
Lucy Erskine recently celebrated Dance Envy’s tenth anniversary with a spectacular showcase that demonstrated how far her dance school and 100-plus dancers had come. But, as she explains to Alison Cowie, there’s no need to feel envious at the school, which specialises in freestyle, as it’s open to everyone.
BW Magazine
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27th February 2023
From cradle to a career in STEM
It’s perhaps one of the biggest conundrums in education – how to get more kids interested in STEM? One answer has been to involve industry, and a North East figurehead that has contributed considerable time, knowledge and expertise to the cause is David Land – an advocate of the current thinking to ‘start 'em young’.
BW Magazine
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27th February 2023
Never afraid to say no
Medical tattooist and businesswoman Ann Oliver Harvey explains why the aesthetics industry is not the best place for entrepreneurs.
North East Times
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6th May 2020
People: Stepping up in our time of need
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) provides a range of support services to staff and users of the NHS, and so maintaining ‘business as usual’ during these unprecedented times has been crucial. But, as Alison Cowie found out when she talked to CEO Michael Brodie two weeks after the lockdown was announced, the organisation that has hitherto been characterised for its efficient and technologically savvy silent running has been finding its voice.
North East Times
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6th May 2020
Leadership: Batten down the hatches
The onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic has left Newcastle – alongside cities around the world – on its knees. Here, former Army Lieutenant Colonel and NE1 chief executive Adrian Waddell describes to Alison Cowie the fight he, NE1 and Newcastle city centre has in the weeks, months and years ahead.
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Supporting role: Phil Kite and Dominic Bowser
Former Reece Group chief executive and novice rower Phil Kite is set to compete in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in December, which will see him and three others spend 50 days at sea rowing the 3000-mile journey as Team Tyne Innovation. The 57-year-old has partnered with a range of North East experts and innovators to help with the “world’s toughest rowing race” – including Dominic Bowser of Sound Mind & Body Gym, who is responsible for getting Phil’s body and mind ready for his epic vo
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Supporting role: Lara Coulson and Rebecca Arachchiae
The Girls’ Network was established in 2013. Its mission was to inspire and empower all young women to achieve their full potential by connecting them with a network of professional women. Having started in London, the organisation was set up in the North East in January this year and mentors from the business world are working with pupils in three local schools to build their mentees’ confidence and share their knowledge and experience. Lara Coulson, a games designer at Reflections, an Ubisoft S
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Supporting Role: ITV SignPost
Clare Mills, communications and marketing executive for ITV Signed Stories, is supporting Ruaridh Lever-Hogg and Raza Hussain as they begin the Gateshead-based SignPost training scheme with the broadcaster. Here, the trio discuss the programme and how it will strengthen the region’s talent pool by providing opportunities for deaf and disabled filmmakers
We established the SignPost training scheme in recognition of the amount of deaf talent that exists out there. A year-long programme, it is des
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Bright Spark: QuantuMDx
QuantuMDx, a Newcastle-based biotech company, is developing a handheld device that will deliver complex molecular diagnostics to people across the globe and, ultimately, could show evolution happening in real time. The Q-POC has already impressed Bill Gates, as its inventor Jonathan O’Halloran tells Alison Cowie
QuantuMDx’s co-founder and chief scientific officer Jonathan O’Halloran has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but his first love was molecular genetics.
Jonathan completed his unde
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Bright Spark: Digital VR
With virtual reality widely tipped to be the next game-changing technology, North East Times speaks to one Newcastle-based company that is staying ahead of the curve by applying this exciting innovation to the commercial sector now
The past 18 months have seen the world’s technology giants pumping vast resources into virtual reality (VR). Facebook bought Oculus VR (which builds the Oculus Rift headsets) for $2 billion last year, with the social media CEO Mark Zuckerberg describing VR as the “fu
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Bright Spark: TeeGene
Teesside University spinout TeeGene is using biotechnology to create sustainable bioproducts that can be applied to the cosmetic, agricultural, medical and food sectors – to name just a few. Alison Cowie speaks to chairman and director Dr Pattanathu Rahman to find out more about the company’s pioneering work.
Dr Pattanathu Rahman has spent the past 20 years researching and developing novel bioproducts and biotechnological approaches. He has had numerous papers published, has been the recipient
North East Times
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26th February 2020
10 Questions: Paul Foster
Paul Foster is the CEO of The Great Run Company, organiser of the Great North Run (founded by father Brendan in 1981) and Britain’s biggest mass participation sports business. There are over 40 Great events each year in which 300,000 people take part. Paul leads a team of 70 staff in Newcastle and London who develop, market, commercialise, organise and provide television coverage of these events. Before becoming CEO, Paul was the managing director of FilmNova, the Great Run Company’s in-house TV
North East Times
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26th February 2020
10 Questions: Robin Roth
Robin Roth was appointed CEO of Traidcraft plc and Traidcraft Exchange in October 2016. He began his career in furniture manufacturing, spending time in Hungary and France before being beguiled by the possibilities of Fair Trade. He joined Fairtrade International in Bonn in 2005 and from 2008 to 2016 ran Europe’s largest Fair Trade company in Germany
What was your first break in business?
Aged 26, and completely innocent to the ‘wicked ways of the world’, my boss asked me if I wanted to go and
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Staying true to your roots
‘Be yourself’ is a mantra that has served Levi Roots well. His appearance, complete with guitar, on Dragons’ Den not only awarded him with business support and investment into his Reggae Reggae sauce – but also the affections of an entire nation who bought his Caribbean-inspired creations in their droves. Diversifying into ready meals, drinks, sandwiches, pizzas and now restaurants – Levi is seen as the godfather of Caribbean cuisine in the UK. Last month, the charismatic Rastafarian was a guest
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Innovate or die
Hans Möller was interviewed by a Swedish journalist just after he relocated to the UK to take up the position of innovation director for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). He was asked what he would like to see happen in 2016.
Han’s reply was threefold: he wanted the UK to remain in the EU, the North East to secure a devolution deal and for Newcastle United to stay in the Premiership.
Instead, the Magpies were relegated to the Championship in May, the UK voted to leave the EU (
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Greatest Feats: Louis Thomas-Hudson
What about by a group or team?
It would have to be the dive team who recused the kids as part of the Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand last year. I went to see a talk by one of the British dive team guys and he was so interesting. Those guys are totally selfless.
Which demonstration of intelligence/mental strength has most impressed you?
I find Elon Musk amazing. Some of his theories are crazy but they do make sense the more he explains them. Another guy with strong mental strength is Felix
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Giving women the smarts for success
Helen Sinclair is chair of Smart Works Newcastle, the charity that supports and empowers women by providing free workwear and job interview coaching. Since establishing in April 2018, the North East charity has helped almost 400 women. Alison Cowie speaks to Helen to find out more
When was Smart Works established and what was its aim?
Smart Works started in London in 2013 to provide a core service that helps women be in the best possible place for a job interview by providing an appropriate in
North East Times
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26th February 2020
Don't underestimate Sara Davies
After starting a crafting business from her bedroom at university, Sara Davies has grown Crafter’s Companion into a £33 million global success and is now on our television screens as the youngest-ever investor on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. Here, the entrepreneur from Coundon, County Durham, talks to Alison Cowie about her business journey, the impact her family has made and how she deals with being the minority in the room
Sara Davies, who is one of the most successful and – thanks to her current stin
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