Nov. 12, 2009

Award-winning Adviser appointed

St John's Innovation Centre has appointed award-winning adviser, Janette Pallas, to scale up consultancy and business support programmes offered to high-growth businesses in the region.

After an early career working in ICT within a large retail group, Janette started her own consultancy and training business. She is a board member of an enterprise agency and has extensive experience working with small and medium sized enterprises in the East Midlands. In her recent role at De Montfort University in Leicester, she led her team to achieve the largest number of graduate start-up businesses in the Midlands.

In 2008, she was one of only 11 outstanding individuals to be awarded a Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion for her work with student entrepreneurs and disabled entrepreneurs.

She had earlier been named the Institute of Business Advisers Specialist Adviser of the Year 2005 for her work supporting small businesses to develop their use of Information and Communications Technologies.

David Gill, Managing Director of St Johnís Innovation Centre, says We are delighted to have found someone of the calibre of Janette Pallas. She will take the lead in delivering our business support programmes such as Understanding Finance for Business and the High-growth Starts programme. Janette has exactly the blend of expertise and vision that the Centre needs for the future, and I very much look forward to working with her.

Janette Pallas says: Since inception, the St John's Innovation Centre has made a vital contribution to the Cambridge technology cluster. The centre has fostered some of the most ambitious and successful start-ups in Britain. I am delighted to have the opportunity to build on the Innovation Centreís significant achievements at a time when knowledge-based businesses are increasingly important to the UK economy.

St John's Innovation Centre was founded in 1987 by St John's College, one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge, in the north of the city. The Centre was one of the first in the UK and has an international reputation. It currently has 53,000 sq ft of space, occupied by some 60 tenants.  It acts as an incubator by assisting the formation and growth of early stage knowledge-based businesses, and not only provides physical space but also in-house management support. It also collaborates with public sector bodies and the University in providing advice to a large number of embryonic high-technology businesses.

The Understanding Finance for Business programme is funded by the East of England Development Agency and structured around a series of workshops that become more tailored as firms move through it. The initial workshop is about demystifying finance, cutting through the jargon, and understanding the options available. Subsequent workshops cover more specialist subjects, such as intellectual property, grants, venture capital or pitching for finance. Where appropriate firms will be provided with specialist mentors to provide in depth coaching and support.

The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion (QAEP) celebrates and recognises the activities of individuals who have played an outstanding and significant role in promoting enterprise skills and attitudes in others in the UK. Encouraging or facilitating the sort of skills and attitudes found in an enterprise environment - whether in a commercial business or a social enterprise - is the essence of the Queenís Awards for Enterprise Promotion.