A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Accountants, Derek Harris joined Aston Science Park in 1983, becoming Chief Executive in 1993.  He served a total of four years as President of the prestigious European Business Network (EBN) which promotes the development of business and innovation centres both inside and outside the EU.  His commitment to the development of business was rewarded when he was named as the winner of the Ernst and Young Central Region Supporter of Entrepreneurship Award.  In 2000 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science Degree by Aston University. Derek holds a number of Directorships and is also Chairman of Thames Gateway Innovation Centre in Bexley and Chief Executive of Hertfordshire Business Incubation Centre in Stevenage.  In 2006, Derek won the accolade of UKBI (UK Business Incubation) Lifetime Achievement Award for services to the industry.

Phil joined Birmingham Technology Ltd in March 2004.  He is responsible for the overall financial management and control of the business, managing a team of four.  He works closely with the Chief Executive on major projects and the overall strategic direction of the business. Phil is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has extensive experience in financial management, having held a number of senior positions prior to joining the Science Park in 2004.

Karen Palmer
Meeting Rooms & Reception

Karen is responsible for meeting and conference facilities at Aston Science Park.  This includes taking all meeting room bookings, liaising with event organisers, assisting delegates, organising catering requirements and room layouts.  Karen also supervises Faraday Wharf reception and switchboard.

Hugo Russell
Project Manager of iCentrum

Hugo works in the Business Development Team as the Project Manager of iCentrum based at Aston Science Park, specialising in assisting regional ICT companies make connections with prospective affiliates, suppliers and customers. Hugo has 20 years commercial IT experience in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and SME business. He is always looking to maximise business benefit through the simple use of technology.

Alex Clarke
Project Manager of Photonics Cluster (UK)

Alex has more than 15 years in commercialising IP in Electronic and Opto-electronic markets. His experience extends to global business activities and building long term commercial relationships in the Far East and North America. Coming from an engineering and design background, Alex has a strong technical understanding in developing Broadcast technologies, opto-electronic & IT engineering supported by commercial experience. Alex is a Project Manager in the Business Development Team  for Aston Science Park delivering the Photonics Cluster (UK) initiative, the laboratories and is the UK Photonics KTN representative.

Glenn Barrowman
Project Manager of The West Midlands ICT Hub

Glenn is an experienced member of the Aston Science Park Business Development team, and is responsible for leading the West Midlands ICT Hub initiative supporting the development of the ICT business community.  Previously, Glenn was responsible for the delivery of the Photonics Cluster (UK) technology network and prior to joining Aston Science Park, Glenn was a Park Director for Coventry University and also worked for Scottish Enterprise, Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise.

Matthew Hidderley
Marketing, Communications & Sales

Matthew is a hands on marketing & sales management professional. He has over 7 years practical marketing & sales experience and in 2007 completed a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) specialising in Marketing at Aston University.  He has been instrumental raising the Science Parks awareness and in putting together the Science Parks successful event programme. Matthew is currently the Marketing and Sales Manager reporting to the Chief Executive, managing the marketing, communications, and sales team.  Matthew is responsible for the direct marketing, e-campaigns, newsletters, corporate hospitality, the brand, sponsorship, and the media and public relations activities on the Park. Matthew is also responsible for the property lettings and conference facilities management on the Park’s 22 acre estate .

Stephen Manners
Property Development & Estate Management

Stephen Manners joined Aston Science Park in 2004 and is responsible for all property development projects for Aston Science Park and managing the estate including the facilities, landscaping and security.  He has over 25 years experience as a Chartered Surveyor.  Since 2002 Stephen has focussed on project managing property developments.  His experience includes regeneration projects, development of infrastructure, land acquisition / disposal and approval of public and private sector projects. He is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and an Associate of the Rating Revenues & Valuation Association.

Stephen is also responsible for the estate and manages an in-house maintenance and landscaping team and liaises and negotiates with out-sourced contractors for services and contractual maintenance.

Paul Judd
Estate Manager

Paul is responsible for the estate including the security, landscaping and maintenance of the property on Aston Science Park.  His role includes supervising a team of commissionaires and contract security, health and safety, issuing and supervising all car parking permits, supervising emergency procedures, access monitoring and control and updating Science Park companies and staff on security updates.

Ben Hughes
IT & Telecommunications

Ben joined Aston Science Park in 1999 working for the West Midlands Innovation Network, subsequently becoming part of the core Aston Science Park Business Development team in 2000. In 2004 Ben took over the IT and telecommunications for Aston Science Park and has since been at the forefront of developing interconnectivity between the buildings using a series of managed switches and fibre links.  He is also responsible for cable installation to offices requiring extra Cat5 ports for telephony, as well as installation of networking for tenants and has recently taken on an ICT consultancy role for some of the Park’s external consultancy projects.  Ben also manages the Parks internal IT system including PC and server maintenance, management of anti-virus software, web and email monitoring programmes, backup programmes and schedules and disaster recovery plans.