We are Award-Winning Innovators.

There are a lot of great business support programmes out there. But we wanted to do things differently. We saw the transformative power of university education and wondered: how can we bring the campus experience to aspiring business owners in North Essex and Suffolk? The Weave was our answer.

  • We are Inclusive

    Our dynamic member community is made for everyday entrepreneurs. By bringing like-minded business owners together in an accessible, affordable, and supportive environment, our members can work on their own development in a thriving regional network.

  • We are Connected

    The Weave is all about building links and strengthening the fabric of our ecosystem. We sit in the middle of the region’s resources, helping you tap into its talent, training, and funding opportunities in one place.

  • We are Independent

    We thrive on our connections, but we also value our independence. It gives us the freedom to really listen to our members and build our offering around their needs. It means our mission is always driven by people, and never by targets or agendas.

Meet the Team

James Cracknell MSc System Practioner

Director of Business Development

James is experienced in financial management, working with the for-profit and third sectors. A constant learner, open mindset, creative and innovative, acts as entrepreneur in residence at the University of Essex. Systems thinker with a focus on business model innovation. Strong networker, collaborative, an experienced facilitator and educator.

Adam Roxby

Director of Communication

With a focus on technology and communications, Adam has over 10 years’ experience in content creation, using podcasts and video to promote a narrative across different communities. His strength lies in bringing technologies alive in a human centred way, he brings compassion and discipline to everything he does. Observant with listening skills to develop opportunities for creative communication.

Alex O'Neill

Director of Education

Alex has worked in education for the majority of her career and has a vision to bring a new way of learning to adults and children alike. Her experience is in training, workshop facilitation and coaching, and she produces her own podcast focused on education innovation. She loves talking to people, whether that's one-to-one, in front of an audience, or behind a mic, and is a hiker and musician when needing to reset and recharge!

Magdalena Mahdy

Facilitator, Mentor and Entrepreneur in Residence

With a strong focus on community building, Magdalena lives an entrepreneurial life in full colour. With years of experience in the marketing field, she has decided to become her own boss nearly a decade ago and has never looked back. With her position as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Essex, she is using her own experiences to help student entrepreneurs start and develop their own businesses.

Mandeep Singh Gabhari

Entrepreneur in Residence - Trusted Mentor

Passionate entrepreneur, experienced mentor, business advisor and inspirational speaker who has demonstrated a history of turning dreams into realities, launching successful businesses, connecting people with opportunities and crafting events that make a difference. A strong background in hospitality, non-profit organisations, property development and project management lend a unique perspective to my work. If you are facing hurdles that are demotivating you, Mandeep will help you gain clarity.

Wiki Strozik

Social Media Manager

Third-year BSc Business Management student with experience in social media marketing, content creation and events coordination. Enthusiastic about the world of innovation and entrepreneurship. She has finished a placement year in marketing with the Essex Startups team at the University of Essex. In that time she has built up an exceptional skill set working with multiple platforms on content generation and impact analysis.

Mike Southon

Entrepreneur in Residence - Trusted Mentor

Mike has co-founded, built, and sold over 20 businesses and developed in-house venture units in local government, tourism, and engineering. He has co-authored many internationally best-selling business books, including The Beermat Entrepreneur, which has sold over 100,000 copies in several languages. He has lectured at several top business schools, including delivering 11-week undergraduate programmes to over 500 students in Introduction to Entrepreneurship and Marketing Strategy. 

Mike has provided face-to-face mentoring for over 2,000 aspiring entrepreneurs, showing them how to turn their good idea into a great businesses, particularly in how to generate their first revenues.