Our Alumni
Jessica Williams, Just Williams
As Jessica Williams’ business, Just Williams, approached its landmark ten year anniversary, she realised that the organic growth of the past nine years was not enough to fulfil her mighty ambitions. Despite her vision and determination, Jessica knew that she didn’t have the tools or structure in place to support her plan.
Samantha Vassallo, Horizon Works
Recognising that taking her business to the next level would require a new approach, Samantha Vassallo, founder of Horizon Works, joined the Entrepreneurs’ Forum Scale-up Leaders’ Academy (SULA) to help her realise the potential.
Ellen Hedley, Vida Creative
Ellen Hedley, Co-founder and Marketing Director at branding and creative agency, Vida Creative, joined the Scale-up Leaders’ Academy (SULA) in 2024 to support the next phase of business growth.
Ben Tansey, Reheat
The six-month Academy had a significant impact on Reheat's director, Ben Tansey, resulting in the firm doubling its turnover in the past two years and seeing employee numbers increase from 12 to 26.
Joanna Feeley, Trend Bible
Joanna Feeley launched Trend Bible from her bedroom in 2007. Since then, the Newcastle-based company has become one of the leading names in trend forecasting worldwide, with a growing team driving the business forward.
Steve Rawlingson, SKI
After securing seed-stage support, SKI faced serious scale-up challenges in its third year when it saw exponential growth. Revenues increased 400% to hit £10m but back at the offiice, support functions needed to be strengthened. To learn more about sustainable growth, founder Steven Rawlingson joined the Scale-up Leaders' Academy.
Gill Burgess, r//evolution
Gill Burgess founded r//evolution in 2002 and has grown it into one of the most respected marketing agencies, servicing a list of well-known clients throughout the UK. While r//evolution had continued to grow organically, Gill joined SULA to build a clear, strategic plan.
Richard Lane, durhamlane
For Richard Lane, co-founder and CCO of durhamlane, attending the Scale-up Leaders' Academy (SULA) was a no brainer when considering the time it took from his diary versus the skillset he got from it.
Michael Beaton, Corterum
For Michael Beaton, founder and CEO at Newcastle-based Corterum, the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s Scale-up Leaders’ Academy gave him the ability to take a step back from the day-to-day running of the business and focus more on strategy.
Dominic Lusardi, Animmersion
Dominic was part of Middlesbrough-based Animmersion and took part in the first Scale-up Leaders' Academy cohort.
Louis Freeman, The Fun Shack Group
Louis Freeman, head of operations and business development at The Fun Shack Group, attended the Scale-up Leaders' Academy in 2019 and the course gave him a comprehensive understanding of the areas within the business that needed to be focused on.
