Meet our Entrepreneurs in Residence, experienced founders who’ve built and scaled successful businesses of their own. Acting as mentors throughout the Scale-up Leaders’ Academy, they bring real-world insight to every session, helping you put learning into practice. Through fireside chats and one-to-one mentoring, they’ll share hard-earned lessons, offer practical guidance and challenge your thinking to help you take your business further, faster.
David Porter knows what it takes to scale a business from the ground up. In 2014, he founded Surge with a laptop, a phone, and a clear vision for how digital should be done – with honesty, accountability and results. Today, Surge is a thriving full-service agency with a fifteen-strong team delivering strategy, design, development and marketing across the UK. Having navigated the challenges of growth, David is passionate about helping other founders scale with purpose – building structure without losing spark, and growing people and processes alongside profit as part of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum Scale-up Leaders’ Academy. Read more about David's journey.
James Robson MBE founded Exwold Technology in 1992, later becoming a NED in 2012, which launched his journey into non-executive leadership and angel investing. Alongside his role at Exwold, he has served on the boards of Entrepreneurs’ Forum members Silvermoor and Dyer. Following his full exit from Exwold in February 2025, he has intensified his focus on supporting ambitious North East businesses. Former Chair of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, James is now Entrepreneur in Residence for the Scale-up Leaders’ Academy and an active member of Unity Angels, offering practical insight and steady guidance to help founders scale with confidence.
Chris Carroll has been running businesses for over 25 years and knows the highs and lows of growth firsthand. After joining the Scale-up Leaders’ Academy with MGC Agency, he was inspired to launch Resolve, applying the lessons he had learned about leadership, structure and team development. Since then, Resolve has grown rapidly, expanded internationally, and built strong management teams, turning vision into results. Now, as part of the Entrepreneurs in Residence programme, Chris helps founders take insight into action, sharing practical experience in mindset, leadership, and scaling to help businesses grow with confidence. Read more about Chris's journey.
Jon Dudgeon has spent over 17 years turning a simple idea into a thriving national business. He co-founded Blu Sky with just £116 in the bank and a vision to provide busy, ambitious founders with a modern, friendly, and collaborative accountancy service that truly supports their business journey. From a small office in North Shields, Blu Sky has grown into a purpose-driven, B-Corp firm helping hundreds of scaling tech companies navigate growth. Along the way, Jon has learned that scaling isn’t about spreadsheets or software; it’s about people, clarity and rhythm. As part of the Entrepreneur in Residence programme, Jon is excited to share hard-won lessons, open doors and support founders in building businesses they’re proud of, while getting a boost of energy from being around ambitious, pioneering minds.
Steven Rawlingson founded Samuel Knight International (SKI) with a bold vision: to deliver specialist recruitment and project manpower solutions to the global energy and rail sectors. Rapid growth took SKI from a small Newcastle team to a multi-million-pound international business but scaling fast brought its own challenges. Joining the Entrepreneurs’ Forum Scale-up Leaders’ Academy transformed Steven’s approach, helping him think like a CEO and build solid foundations. Today, as an Entrepreneur in Residence, he shares his hard-won insight with other founders, helping North East businesses scale sustainably while keeping people, strategy, execution and cash spinning in harmony. Read Steven's scale-up case study.
Steven Rawlingson, Samuel Knight International
