Enterprise and Innovation Committee
This Committee is responsible for reviewing and supporting commercial activities across the Coventry University Group and providing assurance to the University’s Board of Governors that such activities where appropriate support the enterprise and innovation theme of the University’s corporate strategy as well as the other commercial activities.
The subsidiary companies within the Enterprise and Innovation Committee’s purview are determined by the University’s Board of Governors, which currently includes: CU Services Limited, The Futurelets Limited, PeoplesFuture Limited and Coventry University Enterprises Limited.
Enterprise and Innovation Committee (formerly Enterprise Advisory Committee) Terms of Reference
Dr David Secher
Chair of the Enterprise and Innovation Committee and Independent member of the Board of Governors
David Secher is an independent consultant in the areas of research commercialisation, intellectual property and technology transfer, in the UK and internationally. Assignments include work in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South America, Africa, and Europe. He is based in Cambridge University, where he is a Life Fellow of Gonville & Caius College.
In 2002, together with Lita Nelsen of MIT, he founded Praxis (now PraxisAuril), the leading UK knowledge exchange organisation. He served as chairman or as a director until 2014 and is now Patron. For his contributions to “creating environments that favour enterprise, specialising in the practical aspects of commercialising the results of academic research”, he was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2007.
Previous roles include Senior Bursar, Gonville & Caius College; CEO of the N8 Research Partnership; Director of Research Services, Cambridge University; Director of Drug Development, Cancer Research Campaign; Director of Monoclonal Therapeutics, Celltech Ltd.; and Tenured Group Leader, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology. As a consultant, he has advised universities, governments and individuals on commercialisation of intellectual property, as well as acting as a non-executive director of technology and investment companies. He is a director of Crossword Cybersecurity plc.
David graduated from the Cambridge University (Churchill College) with first class honours in biochemistry. His PhD work at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology was with César Milstein (Nobel Prize-winner for discovery of monoclonal antibodies). Together with Derek Burke, he made and patented the first monoclonal antibody to human interferon.
David is also a member of the Board of Governors, Strategy, Finance and Resources Committee and Research Committee.
Professor Ian Marshall
Executive member, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer
Ian is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer for Coventry University. Ian’s responsibilities include UK student recruitment and admissions, information technology services, timetabling marketing and external affairs.
They became Deputy Vice-Chancellor following extensive work in support of the University’s research and applied research capabilities and was previously Dean of the then Faculty of Engineering and Computing.
Ian began the UK’s first masters and undergraduate degree programmes for computer game technology in the late 1990s at Abertay University, Dundee, having established the International Centre for Computer Games Technology there in 1999. Ian has over 20 years’ experience in the higher education sector and has led consultancy for BP Exploration, the World Health Organisation, TSB, B&Q, Shell and GEC Marconi.
Paul Noon OBE
Executive member, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Innovation)
Paul leads Coventry University’s enterprise and innovation work following a successful career spanning over a quarter of a century with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), representing and promoting the best of British industry and technology across the globe. Their aim in the role of Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Innovation is to push forward the University’s ambitious strategy for world-wide growth by building on current success and extending the reach of Coventry’s business-focused research and commercial activities.
Paul believes that creating the translational bridge between industry and academia supports better students, better research and faster more sustainable growth in the economy. They sit on the boards of Coventry University Enterprises, CyberOwl (an award winning cyber security spinout) and Inocardia (a novel human-cell based assay for assessment of cardiovascular liability). Paul also sits on the West Midlands Regional Council for the CBI and stakeholder panel for Cadent.
Before joining the University, Paul was Regional Director of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) West Midlands, where their main role was to support local businesses to grow and develop their export markets, as well as attracting inward investment to the region. Paul is a champion of devolution, working collaboratively with the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Midlands Engine to drive growth and prosperity in these important regions.
Steve Haywood
Independent Governor
Steve started in the automotive industry after leaving school at the age of 16 and taking up a Technical Apprenticeship with Triumph Motors, part of the group which is now Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). The majority of Steve’s career was with JLR, progressing through numerous roles to eventually playing a key role in many of JLR's new model launches.
Three years of leading Value Leadership for JLR gave great knowledge and understanding of the financial drivers in the business of value management and efficiency improvement. In 2010, Steve left JLR to set up his own consultancy business and developed a portfolio of client activity helping businesses such as Healy Cars, Lotus Engineering, Proton Motor Company and a number of Tier 1 companies in their business development and product development delivery. Over the next seven years, Steve worked for Ricardo plc and Tata Technologies before retiring from full time employment in 2020 and returning to his consultancy business, through which he is currently supporting Norton Motorcycles in the UK.
Sally Hannah
Independent Governor
Appointed as an Independent Governor in September 2020, Sally has over 30 years’ experience in the private sector, primarily within the West Midlands and Oxfordshire region. This included a 16 year career at the CBI, the UK business lobbying group, representing the interests of businesses of all sizes and sectors, including HE and FE, building senior networks, directing strategic membership portfolios, leading successful commercial growth strategies and passionately championing business as a force for good with external stakeholders. Advisory Group roles included the Oxfordshire LEP Business Support Group.
Sally initiated and led the CBI Business in the Classroom initiative from 2008, which aimed to inspire young people into business and enhance their employability skills, achieving sponsorship from Advantage West Midlands and facilitating over 50 business/school partnerships. They also have experience in the aerospace and automotive industries, after having studied modern languages for business at Birmingham City University.
Sally is a Non-Executive Director/Board Trustee of the National Association of Able Children in Education (NACE), which works with schools and education leaders to improve provision for more able learners, driving whole-school improvement and increasing challenge for all students. She is an Independent Member of the Education Advisory Committee of the Jon Egging Trust, which works with the RAF and aviation industries to support disadvantaged young people overcome adversity and achieve their full potential and is also a member of the Charities Committee.
Scott Coles
Independent Governor
Scott spent the first 20 years of his career in marketing and sales roles in consumer goods. He then led the retail channel for O2 as cellular services were deregulated, opening up many new channels.
He then moved into consultancy helping companies commercialise their products and services. At this time, he spent 3 years supporting a social enterprise focused on Fair Trade drinks. The business was started to reward producers at above commodity prices and then reinvest profits in schemes to support their communities. For the last 14 years he has worked in the global pharmaceutical industry, initially in commercial operations prior to moving into large scale program management. He has worked across the largest country markets and delivered global solutions which could be executed locally. Most recently Scott has started as a Board Advisor to an AI insights business based in the US.
Scott is also a Non-Executive Director of CU Social Enterprise CIC.
