Contributors

Now an independent consultant, Gaynor was previously Vice-President of Business Development at AstraZeneca. Her UK and US teams were responsible for identifying, evaluating and negotiating opportunities in the areas of oncology, infection, personalised healthcare and science & technology licensing.

Gaynor joined AZ in 2007 from Cambridge Antibody Technology, where she was the VP for Business Development. Before joining CAT she worked at Bespak and at Bio Products Laboratory.

Gaynor has a wide range of experience in healthcare organisations, including licensing, merger, disposal and company acquisition. She has worked for large and small organisations, the public and the private sector, and has established startup and JV businesses.

Gaynor has a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford and an MBA from Manchester Business School. She regularly coaches for Cambridge Judge Business School and lives near Cambridge with her husband.

Andrew has a long history of identifying, developing and managing innovation within corporate environments and notably created and implemented an innovation management system while working for Reuters, the European media group. His career at Reuters culminated in a role as CEO of an Asian-based Internet trading corporate spin-out in Singapore which he took through initial VC funding and on to a trade sale.

He has been involved in the creation and development of a series of companies including Investing for Good, Working Knowledge and The Mapp and is involved as a non-executive director at several growing technology companies.

With a personal corporate history that includes journalism, software development, project management, marketing and strategic sales. Andrew draws on a wealth of experience in all aspects of business management gained through working internationally, predominantly in the US and UK.

Andrew is an accomplished author including, Inventuring – why big companies must think small (McGraw Hill, 2003), Services (Kogan Page 2013), Marketing Metrics (CMP 2015), Innovation in Marketing (CMP 2016), Marketing Strategy (CMP 2016) and Contemporary Challenges (CMP 2017). These books reflect Andrew’s extensive experience in the areas of business startup and in the specialist area of innovation management, marketing and corporate venturing.

Reinhard Eschbach has more than 30 years’ significant practical experience, specifically focusing on digitalisation, digital marketing, business development, change management, and restructuring areas, such as e-commerce, product development and IT within several industries like travel, financial services, retail (food and other consumer goods).

He has worked in several senior executive roles up to board level, implementing cultural and organisational change with a strong focus on business improvement combined with key strengths include setting strategic directions, problem solving combined with sound technical understanding and the ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions.

A subject matter expert with the skills, knowledge and confidence, to lead and implement highly complex and sophisticated projects from start to finish being able to make effective judgement and prioritisation calls and influence at all levels. Several developments and implementations from new business ideas into a proper operation.

Babita Devi is a coach and entrepreneur with nearly 30 years’ experience in marketing, strategy, and business development. Babita started her career in Enterprise Resource Planning where she successfully built pipeline through clearly defined strategies with measurable outcomes. She quickly progressed into management in her early 20s and then went on to work for the world’s largest optics company. As part of the European Marketing team, her role encompassed brand strategy, communications development, and implementation planning.

In 2004, Babita emigrated to Australia and set up bStrategic. Whilst in Australia, Babita’s work ranged from developing strategies for the launch of a major Civic Centre to raising investment for a major art complex.

Babita now resides in the UK where bStrategic has been operating since 2006. Clients have included the University of Birmingham where Babita was responsible for a complete overhaul of all commercial services offered by the university and successful implementation of a program that led to a direct increase in bookings. Other clients include Opus5K (clinical monitoring software) where Babita was responsible for identifying opportunities for commercialisation in the NHS. Babita has also worked extensively in the licensing industry during her time at Amscan International, where she advised on marketing and mentored the marketing team. Her role transitioned into Head of Strategy and quickly grew license revenues through product and market development in EMEA. She also set up a technology company in 2015, where she created an app to improve communication between communities, has lectured on entrepreneurial marketing at Anglia Ruskin University and Lincoln University Business School and has co-authored a book aimed at female entrepreneurs.

Babita is an advisor to several organisations in technology, medtech and games. As an independent consultant, Babita supports personal and business development, to scale up high potential, innovative start-ups and SMEs through Accelerate, Oxford Innovation and more widely across the UK, through Barclays Eagle Labs. Babita is part of several networks focused on supporting female founders and entrepreneurs and is a connector, bringing together strategic partners and supporting and growing networks of innovators, thinkers and change makers.

Chris has significant experience in pharma, biotech and healthcare, and is an internationally recognised Company Director and Business Coach with a sustained record of achievement in global pharmaceuticals, healthcare technology and management consultancy.

He was UK Sales and Marketing Director at AstraZeneca and from 2002-2018 provided commercialisation and management consultancy to global Pharma as Company Director at Oxford PharmaGenesis, an internationally renowned health science communication consultancy which was recognised by the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2015. His expertise includes global launch excellence and strategic brand planning for more than 15 brands across a wide range of therapy areas, driving commercial excellence and new selling models, and providing management coaching on a one-to-one basis exclusively with chief executive officers and board directors.

Chris has practical hands-on experience in growing and shaping businesses of all sizes and all stages – new or early ventures, SMEs or top ten pharma – and supporting them in realising commercial opportunities and developing business models for scalable growth to achieve maximum commercial success and shareholder value.

Chris has experience in Europe, US, APAC and LATAM and is particularly interested in personalised medicine, genomics and wearables, encompassing access to doctors, access to medicines and advances in early diagnosis.

Karan Bilimoria is the founder of Cobra Beer, Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership Limited, a joint venture with Molson Coors, and Chairman of Molson Coors Cobra India. In the Monde Selection, one of the most prestigious quality awards in the world for beer, the Cobra range have collectively been awarded a total of 111 Gold and Grand Gold medals since 2001, making it one of the most awarded beers in the world.

Lord Bilimoria is the Founding Chairman of the UK India Business Council, a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, a former Chancellor of Thames Valley University (now the University of West London); he was the youngest University Chancellor in the UK when appointed. Karan was a former Senior Non-Executive Director of the Booker Group now TESCO PLC  (2007-2016); he is one of the first two visiting entrepreneurs at the University of Cambridge; he is a founding member of the Prime Minister of India’s Global Advisory Council. In 2006, Karan Bilimoria was appointed the Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea, making him the first ever Zoroastrian Parsi to sit in the House of Lords. In 2008 he was awarded the Pravasi Bharti Samman by the President of India.

Lord Bilimoria is an honorary fellow of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge and previously Chairman of the Advisory Board of Cambridge Judge Business School, Cambridge University. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young and graduated in law from the University of Cambridge. He is also an alumnus through executive education of the Cranfield School of Management, the London Business School and the Harvard Business School. In July 2014, he was installed as the seventh Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, making him the first Indian-born Chancellor of a Russell Group University in Great Britain, and he is the President of the UK Council for International Students Affairs (UKCISA). Since 2017 Lord Bilimoria has been a Bynum Tudor Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford.

Lord Bilimoria is an Honorary Group Captain in 601 Squadron Royal Air Force. In June 2019, he was appointed Vice President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)