About Us
The Festival of Entrepreneurs is built by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.
We’re not a FTSE corporate organiser parachuting a new event director into a trending market. We live this world - as founders, operators, and community builders - and we’re creating the kind of event we’d want to attend ourselves.
Many will remember the Festival of Enterprise in 2019, where over 4,000 entrepreneurs gathered at the NEC. While this is a new company, it’s led by the same core team - with even bigger ambitions for 2025.
James Ashwood, the event’s founder, has launched and run four successful businesses across advertising, film, and events - and has spent 25 years bringing together business communities at scale. In 2022, he co-founded Innovation Zero, now the UK’s leading net zero business event.
Sir Liam Fox, who also chaired Innovation Zero, serves as Chair of the Festival of Entrepreneurs. Following a 30-year parliamentary career, he has held roles including Secretary of State for Defence, Secretary of State for International Trade, and was the UK’s official candidate for Director General of the World Trade Organization. He also served as Chair of the Global Britain Commission, giving him a unique perspective on what the UK must do to nurture and scale more high-growth companies. His involvement reflects a commitment to helping the 30,000 UK scale-ups grow in number - and to ensuring more of the 5 million SMEs bubbling under the threshold get the insight and support they need to join them.
Alex Chisnall, Co-Founder and the Content Director, entrepreneur, leading Virgin StartUp Mentor, and host of the UK’s #1 ranked entrepreneurship podcast. He has interviewed over 600 founders and business leaders and brings unrivalled insight into what makes high-performing entrepreneurs tick.
The core team also includes:
Kasim Choudhry – Event organiser, West Midlands business advocate, and Honorary President of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.
Sabrina Stocker – Event publicist, founder of Two Comma PR, and BBC The Apprentice finalist, bringing expert media positioning and visibility for entrepreneurs and brands.
Nadia Ashwood – Co-Founder and National Partnerships lead, responsible for building powerful collaborations across the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
They are joined by support from Lorraine, Robin, Oliver, and Syed. Watch this space as we are about to recruit two more. If you would like to work on the Festival, contact james@festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk
Together, the team brings deep experience delivering large-scale events for both global brands and fast-moving startups with a shared obsession for helping entrepreneurs grow.
We understand the journey because we’re on it too (and have been on it for decades) - and this Festival exists to help more founders cross the threshold from ambition to scale.
A highly experienced delivery team, where world-class content is matched by operational excellence.
To ensure an exceptional experience for our speakers, visitors, exhibitors, sponsors, and partners, the event is being delivered in partnership with NEC Connected — the NEC’s in-house team responsible for building all stages, exhibitor infrastructure, and onsite operations. This joined-up approach ensures excellence from the ground up, with the full backing of the venue’s operational expertise.
