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Dr Tony Marchington – Chairman
Tony Marchington studied chemistry at Oxford going on to found Oxford Molecular Group plc together with his former tutor Prof W Graham Richards. Marchington took Oxford Molecular public in 1994, achieving a £450 million FTSE 250 valuation by 1997. Tony Marchington is a serial entrepreneur having been principal in the formation of a number of subsequently successful hi-tech companies including Cambridge Discovery Chemistry, Cambridge Drug Discovery and Procognia.
Craig Packer - Chief Executive Officer
Craig Packer is widely recognised as an outstanding entrepreneur in the telecoms and consumer electronics fields. He has founded and built three technology-based companies. His successful ventures to date have been characterised by the early identification of timely opportunities, the ability to attract and manage world class management team’s vendors, suppliers and investors.
Rowland Smith – Company Secretary
Rowland Smith is an entrepreneur in his own right, founding Cromwell Consultants following a successful career within his family business of Ye Olde Oak Foods. He became involved in QuadPlay™ Media from the beginning. After receiving an Honours degree in Economics from the University of London, he has recently graduated with a Masters Degree from Warwick Business School, one of the UK’s leading management schools.
Martin Manning - Finance Director
Martin is currently Director of the Cultural Industries Quarter Agency, the hub of Sheffield’s economic revival strategy. Martin gained his early experience with Cameron Forbes Executive Search and later as Deputy Chief Executive of Derby Pride (City Challenge).
Steve Broadhead – Technical Director
Steve Broadhead stepped out of IT in the late '80s' to become instrumental in moving the computer media industry in London into the world of networking, then the Internet. In 1991 he founded The NSS Group, which became a leading IT product testing body, before creating the Broadband-Testing labs in 2003. Clients include both major IT product vendors and VCs, such as Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Lucent, 3Com, Nomura, 3i and SEP. He is also pro-active in assisting start-up companies establish themselves in the IT marketplace.
Prof Anthony Fretwell-Downing – Non-Executive Director
Professor Anthony Fretwell-Downing is a graduate of Sheffield University (BSc 1962, PhD 1965). He is the founding Chairman of Fretwell-Downing Group Ltd (FDG). The Group has included the specialist computer companies FD Learning Ltd (sold to Tribal in 2002), and FD Informatics Ltd (sold to OCLC PICA in 2005) and still includes FD Hospitality Ltd and FD Tek. F. Fretwell Downing Ltd includes the catering business based at Whirlowbrook Hall and the Maynard. He is a member of the CBI SME Council.
Kevin Caley – Non Executive Director
Kevin has worked in the venture capital industry for over 18 years having made some 130 early-stage investments.
A metallurgist by training with an MBA, he played a key role in the creation of the national network of Midland Enterprise Funds including the establishment and management of funds for both the East and West Midlands.
Kevin is author of several academic papers, a publication on small business finance and a Phoenix-supported project that has produced a detailed guide in setting up and running a Community Development Venture Capital Fund. He is also a director of the Advantage Early Growth Fund, a similar vehicle to Viking Fund but set up to co-invest in early growth companies in the West Midlands. The Fund will only invest in businesses based within the Yorkshire and Humber region. We are prepared to invest in businesses that also operate outside of the region provided that they are based in the Yorkshire and Humber region. By this we mean that the key business decisions are made in the region, that board meetings are held in the region and that the business is not simply creating a token presence in the region in order to access the funding.
Bob Cushing - Strategic Advisor
Bob Cushing is currently Chief Executive of ‘The Wired Workplace’ based in Sheffield, one of the countries first entrepreneurial wireless Broadband transmission enterprises. Prior to ‘The Wired Workplace’ Bob gained extensive experience in the Telecoms industry as a director with 3COM and then with British Telecom. Bob was a director and joint founder of the successful Redstone Communications plc.
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