We’re pleased to announce that Josh Littlejohn, co-founder of Social Bite, and Calum Paterson, Managing Partner for Scottish Equity Partners are the keynote speakers for this year’s awards.

So who are Josh and Calum? We thought we’d tell you a little more about each of our speakers and why they represent this year’s award theme ‘Values’ so well in their approach to business.

Josh Littlejohn MBE

Josh Littlejohn is one of Scotland’s most prolific entrepreneurs, and is truly passionate about making a difference in the world. Co-founder of Social Bite, a chain of sandwich shops which donates all profits to charity, Josh employs a dedicated workforce which is partially made up of staff from formerly homeless backgrounds. 2016 was a fantastic year for Josh with highlights including the launch of The Social Bite Academy – the UK’s first skills and employment academy for the homeless community; the launch of a number of new charitable ventures, including: Brewgooder, the World’s first craft beer to donate 100% of its profits to clean water projects, and Home, a restaurant partnership with Maison Bleue which aims to help and support the homeless by providing meals and employment programmes. 2017 will see Josh taking forward his plans for the first Social Bite Village which will include ten purpose-built houses located in Granton, with the aim of ending the vicious cycle of homelessness.

Calum Paterson

As Managing Partner of Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), Calum as led the firm since its inception and is one of the UK’s leading venture capitalists. SEP has invested in more than 150 businesses and has been behind many of the UK’s most successful venture-backed companies such as Bluetooth technology specialist CSR, cancer treatment company Biovex and Skyscanner, the travel search business headquartered in Edinburgh and recently purchased for £1.4 billion by NASDAQ-listed Ctrip.

In addition to Edinburgh, SEP operates from offices in Glasgow and London, investing in high growth technology companies and plays an active role in their development. Calum is currently a Non-Executive Director on the boards of fintech companies Totally Money and Zuto, and was on the board of Skyscanner prior to its acquisition. He sits on the council of the British Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (BVCA), which represents the interests of over 250 private equity and venture capital firms in the UK, and is also a member of the GlobalScot network. Calum has over 25 years’ experience in the industry, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Now that you know a little more about our speakers, make sure to guarantee your seat by getting your tickets now!