The Committee
Trustees and Volunteers for TechSolent
Phil Clark
Phil Clark is the founder of Embedded IT, and offers Commercial Consultancy on the UK Technology Industry to a range of clients (Procurement / Channel Advisory).
He joined TechSolent to try and improve the relationships between Buyers and Sellers of Technology in his local area, with a view longer term to seeing the region prosper as a result.
He has lived just outside Fareham on and off since he was 6 years old, and has a keen interest in boating having recently passed his Powerboat Day Skipper certifications .
Chris Cooper
Chris is the co-founder of KnowNow Information - a Portsmouth based software innovation company. Specialists in new product design, development and deployment.
A CEng and a social scientist, Chris is a hybrid digital entrepreneur. A smart cities expert, advising communities in the South of England and abroad on how to use information to deliver better places.
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Chris joined TechSolent to help the regions digital and tech community have a voice. Passionate about the region, its geography, history, the fantastic business' and academic institutions that make up the South Coast.
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Chris lives in Hampshire and can be found refereeing rugby games at the weekend in the winter and mucking about on the water in the summer.
Sarah Eggleston
Sarah is the founder and CEO of fflow, a saas tool for agencies to manage projects, time in work, and time out of work. Her background is as a developer, including a long stint at IBM.
Sarah believes the tech industry holds strong potential for social mobility, and encourages everyone to be excited by the career opportunities. These include both technical and, increasingly, non-technical roles. For example, AI is driving new jobs in linguistics and anthropology. Sarah supports initiatives around inclusivity. She is on the board of several organisations that represent minorities in tech or in vocational education, including the South Coast IoT.
Sarah lives near Eastleigh in Hampshire, loves singing, and hill walking in the South Downs. She had an international childhood and has travelled extensively in India, France, and Switzerland.
Geoff Glover
Geoff Glover is an HR professional with a background in the automotive industry. He held global Vice-President, Human Resources, positions with Volvo Car Corporation with responsibilities for Learning and Development, Talent Management and People and Business Strategy Integration. He was based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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He now lectures in Human Resources Management and on a Global MBA programme at Solent University in Southampton. He has also, over the last couple of years undertaken various Human Resources activities for the National Health Service.
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Geoff is a founding member of Tech Solent. He founded the organisation with others as he believes that Technological development will be key to the future of society, the economy, and our planet.
He recognised that the Solent Region has an abundance of technology related activity and businesses, but that this is a well-kept secret. Connecting, developing, and promoting the tech community in the Solent would have benefits for the businesses, the region, and individual citizens. This is what TechSolent set out to do.
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In addition to founding TechSolent, Geoff was a founding member of Business South, and is the Chair of the Southampton City Council Future of Work Steering Group.
Chris Kaye
Chris Kaye is a director and co-founder of Simply Office 365 that provides consultancy and solutions that enable firms to improve productivity and collaboration using the Microsoft 365 platform.
Chris has lived and worked in the Solent region since 2002 and during this time has transitioned his businesses focus from the City of London to working with firms that are based in the Solent region. During this time, Chris has built and benefited from long-term partnerships with other locally based technology firms.
Chris joined TechSolent to help facilitate the long-term growth in the local technology sector and to increase understanding of the technology local businesses need now and in the future.
Emma Stevens
Emma Stevens is a Partner at Coffin Mew LLP specialising in Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution. She is on Coffin Mew’s Tech Sector and deals with legal issues for a range of tech-based in the Solent region and further afield.
She joined TechSolent initially as a representative of Coffin Mew, one of the founding member organisations, and is keen to continue working with the TechSolent Board and its members in order to promote and develop the local tech community and profile.
Other than a brief stint in Cardiff and Italy for university Emma has always lived in the Solent area; for a number of years she has also been actively involved in the Hampshire East region of Girlguiding.