Economic Innovator of the Year Awards 2024 – the judges

Guest judges

Adrian de Ferranti

Adrian de Ferranti is an engineer, venture capital investor, financier and farmer who has worked in Silicon Valley as well as in the UK. He was chairman of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 2007-10.

Caroline Theobald CBE

Caroline Theobald CBE is the founder of Bridge Club Ltd which has been making connections that matter since the dot-com boom. She is also a founder of Teesside’s Power of Women campaign and past chair of Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University.

Clive Bawden

Clive Bawden is an accountant with wide industrial experience who was COO of Warwick Music, an early winner of an Economic Innovator award. He has been a trustee/director of several major cultural and sports bodies.

Eva-Maria Dimitriadis

Eva-Maria Dimitriadis is CEO & Managing Partner of Conduit Connect, which introduces impact investing opportunities to mission aligned investors. Previously, she was COO at C5 Accelerate, an incubator for start-ups using cloud technology for positive social change.

Gabriel Fysh

Gabriel Fysh has extensive experience in venture capital. He is chairman of Transcend Packaging, a South Wales based manufacturer of sustainable packaging and a former winner of an Economic Innovator award.

Gordon Black CBE

Gordon Black CBE is the former chair of his family business, Peter Black Holdings, a supplier of footwear, toiletries, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to leading UK retailers. He now runs Black Family Investments with his brother Thomas.

Ian Ritchie CBE

Ian Ritchie CBE is a Scottish entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has been involved in many technology start-up and growth companies; he has also served on the board of the the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.

Jonny Ohlson

Jonny Ohlson is executive chair of Touchlight, the world’s leading enzymatic DNA manufacturer — and a 2018 winner of an Economic Innovator award. Prior to this he was a director of Saatchi and Saatchi and a partner in the development of Soho House.

Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb is an award-winning commentator and broadcaster on economics, markets and personal finance. She is a senior columnist at Bloomberg and was previously editor-in-chief of Moneyweek and a columnist for the Financial Times.

Nicholas Hardie

Nicholas Hardie had held senior management roles in FTSE companies including Marks and Spencer and the property group Hammerson. He is a non-executive director of Devon and Cornwall Housing and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Rez Gachcar

Rez Gachcar spotted a gap in the market for a portable dog washer and sold his home to finance the launch of Mud Daddy, a business that has grown spectacularly and is a past winner of an Economic Innovator award.