Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Advisory Panel

Prof Yvonne Barnett is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at ARU, with strategic leadership responsibilities for research and innovation, the ARU Doctoral School, student employability, and staff EDI. She has over 20 years’ experience of senior strategic leadership in the UK university sector.

Her research interests focus on the causes and mechanisms of cancer and ageing, and more recently on public health. She has co authored over 200 peer reviewed publications, supervised more than 20 PhD students to completion, and secured over £35 million in funding to support research, teaching, and innovation initiatives.

She holds a number of senior external roles, including Board member of Cambridge University Health Partners, Board member of Innovate Cambridge, member of the Medicine and Health Sciences Board of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and member of the REF 2029 sub-panel for Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy. She is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Biology and the Institute of Biomedical Science, reflecting her longstanding contribution to biomedical research and innovation.

Ren Kapur MBE is a social entrepreneur, policy adviser and founder of X-Forces Enterprise, the UK’s leading organisation for enterprise and start-up skills within the Armed Forces community. Ren’s passion to support equality through learning and opportunities has meant that she has been an advisor to the Home Office, BEIS, and the Cabinet Office. Other projects include supporting Syrian refugees, women and girls in business, and reducing reoffending rates. Ren has also championed policy changes and has five successes under her belt.

In 2013, Ren founded X-Forces Enterprise, the UK's premier organisation for enterprise and start-up skills in the wider military community. Ren was awarded an MBE for services to entrepreneurship in 2016 in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours list. She has held a lifelong passion for the Armed Forces and, in 2017, was appointed a Lt Col. in the Army Reserves. She is currently serving as the High Sheriff of the Royal County of Berkshire for 2025–26.

A social entrepreneur, Ren has harnessed her experience to enable individuals and communities to support themselves and thrive through enterprise. In doing so she has brought together corporate, government, and charity stakeholders at the very highest levels.

Dr Andrew Massoura joined ARU in 2023 and is currently the Director of Research & Innovation Services. He provides strategic leadership for research and innovation support across the institution, overseeing teams that deliver specialist advice, operational expertise, and governance throughout the full lifecycle of research, innovation, and knowledge exchange activity. His teams work collaboratively with academic and professional colleagues across ARU, offering deep expertise in navigating complex internal processes and an evolving external funding landscape.

Andrew has over 20 years’ experience in research and innovation management in higher education and before joining ARU, he held senior roles at the University of Kent, University of Oxford and the Open University.

At national level, Andrew has contributed to sector wide initiatives involving UKRI, other R&I funders, and government partners, supporting the development of research culture, compliance frameworks, and innovation policy. Across his career, he has shaped strategic relationships with funders and industry and supported the delivery of mission driven research programmes with regional and societal impact.

Andrew holds a BMedSc and a PhD in Neuropharmacology.

As a Council Chief Executive Malcolm led one of the fastest turnarounds in local government history and created one of the first and largest joint ventures with the private sector in local government. He also created a first wave Enterprise Zone, achieving more than £100million private sector investment from £5million public sector investment.

He was awarded an OBE for services to local government. As a Chief Operating Officer in the private sector he led the development of the business plan to raise venture capital and the development of international partnerships to deliver seamless service provision. As the first Independent Chair of Radioactive Waste Management Limited, with responsibility for delivering the multi-billion pound geological disposal facility for higher activity radioactive waste, he led its development into an externally focussed delivery organisation.

As a NED and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the £4.5billion turnover Health Education England, he achieved improvements in audit ratings for risk management, financial management and governance and played a leading role in ensuring that strategy development reflected a system wide approach. Malcolm is the only non-executive member of the Department for Work and Pensions Workplace Transformation Programme Board that has responsibility for delivering the modernisation of one of the largest Government property portfolios. He also contributes to the Department’s Transformation Advisory Committee.

As a management consultant Malcolm has advised a wide range of private and public sector clients on strategy, organisational culture change, performance improvement and undertaken Board reviews. As an Associate of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority he undertakes reviews of Government’s Major Projects and Programmes.

As a specialist in strategic management and public private partnerships Malcolm is the author of Understanding Markets and Strategy, The Public Private Partnerships Handbook, and many articles. He has lectured widely on MBA and other courses.

Ceri Nursaw is Chief Executive of the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education (NCEE), an international organisation established over 20 years ago to support universities to become more enterprising, innovative and entrepreneurial. Over 100 universities are engaged with NCEE through leadership development, policy engagement, research, peer networks and practical programmes designed to help institutions respond to changing economic, financial and societal challenges. Its work spans entrepreneurship education, innovation ecosystems, civic and regional engagement, leadership capability, employability, knowledge exchange and organisational transformation.

With more than 25 years’ experience spanning higher education, organisational development, social mobility and partnership building, Ceri has developed a strong reputation for supporting institutional transformation and innovation. Throughout her career, she has worked with more than vice-chancellors and senior university leaders, alongside government departments, sector agencies, employers and regional partners, helping institutions rethink how they create value, engage with place and respond to rapidly changing economic and policy environments.

Ceri has particular expertise in entrepreneurial leadership, innovation ecosystems, civic engagement and income diversification, with a strong track record of building strategic partnerships and securing external investment. She has supported organisations in securing more than £20 million in funding across enterprise, skills, innovation and social mobility programmes.

Prof Gary Packham is Pro Vice Chancellor for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at ARU, with responsibility for international development, employability, entrepreneurship and innovation across the institution.

He previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law, leading more than 135 academic and professional staff and overseeing education for approximately 5,500 students in the UK and internationally. During his leadership, the Faculty achieved world-leading research recognition in the 2014 and 2021 Research Excellence Framework exercises. He also oversaw the Faculty’s reorganisation and rebranding, introduced new undergraduate and postgraduate curricula, and restored it to a strong financial position.

Gary supported the delivery of work-based learning and degree apprenticeship programmes for major organisations, including Barclays, Harrods, UPS, the Co-operative Group and the Ministry of Defence.

During his senior leadership tenure, ARU received the Times Higher Education Award for Entrepreneurial University of the Year and the Duke of York University Entrepreneurship Award.

Before joining ARU, Gary held senior leadership and research roles at the University of Glamorgan, now the University of South Wales. He has led research and business engagement projects for government, European and industry organisations, and has published extensively on economic development, small business strategy, technology transfer and commercialisation.

Beverley is a scientist by training, having worked in academia, start-up and business sectors, including Cambridge University Teaching hospitals, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and University of Oxford. Currently, she is Director at Arise Innovation hubs, part of ARU – small but beautifully formed and, importantly, close to but not within the golden triangle powerhouses.

At Arise, Beverley has been building a pipeline and success stories in the local environment, which has involved using knowledge of other clusters and adaptation to a different ecosystem, as well as collaborating with our community to harness the skills and talent in ARU to support them, on a bespoke and case-by-case basis. She is proud to have delivered programmes such as ABOVE, and learned how being small can make you nimble, but success relies on powerful and strategic partnerships.