The Advanced Engineering Business Acceleration Hub has appointed Sean Devane as entrepreneur-in-residence based at Bath’s world-leading SETsquared business incubator.
The role was previously held by Brian Prescott, who earlier this year took over as centre director at the University of Bath’s SETsquared Innovation Centre.
The Advanced Engineering Business Acceleration Hub (AEBAH) is a three-year programme which provides bespoke business support to start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have a connection with the West of England.
It is funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and offers 12 hours of business support which could lead onto research opportunities with expert academics through the University of Bath.
It is partnered with the University of Bath and the SETsquared Bath.
Sean, pictured, has more than 25 years’ experience in product development and innovation, working internationally with start-ups, small and medium-sized firms and global companies.
After graduating with a 1st Class BA Hons degree in Industrial Design Engineering and a spell developing consumer products for a global Taiwanese electronics company, Sean joined Kinneir Dufort, the Bristol-based product development and innovation consultancy, in 1992.
He progressed from designer to business director and shareholder responsible for the company’s overall business strategy, sales & marketing and business growth.
He has experience in developing international marketing plans and successfully exporting professional design and engineering services across Europe, America and Asia. Success in this area was recognised in 2015, when the firm received the Queens award for International Trade.
As part of firm’s succession plan, Sean helped secure private equity funding and in 2016 through a management buy-out, transitioned ownership of the company to a new management team.
Since 2016 he has been consulting, coaching and mentoring for a range of businesses in the region, covering strategy, positioning, product & capability development, sales, business development and team management.
Sean is also active with the region’s start-up community and incubators, including UWE’s FutureSpace incubator and SETsquared’s Bristol base, where he mentors and regularly take part in business review panels.
Sean said: “As a business growth consultant I enjoy helping start-ups develop and grow.
“I'm very excited to be joining the SETsquared Bath Innovation Centre, which is recognised as a world-leading business incubator and enterprise partnership.
“As entrepreneur-in-residence for the AEBAH I’m looking forward to supporting high-growth businesses across the region.”
SETsquared centre director Brian Prescott added: “I am delighted to welcome Sean to the team and join the other entrepreneurs-in-residence at SETsquared Bath.
“Sean has an enormous amount of experience that will be of huge benefit in helping attract and support early stage businesses engaging with the programme.
“There are many benefits for participants of the AEBAH – not only the bespoke, fully-funded business support but opportunities to collaborate with world-class academics at the University of Bath and the IAAPS ( Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems) propulsion centre, where support will soon be available to help business acceleration and SME growth through its new £70m research and innovation facility.
“A lot of businesses have had to adapt under the present circumstances, as has SETsquared Bath – but we have lots of exciting plans with the future launch of our new virtual acceleration membership programmes.
“Sean has joined at a defining moment for the business incubation landscape; a challenging, but also exciting, time and myself and the SETsquared Bath team look forward to working with him.”
Businesses interested in learning more about the AEBAH should visit https://www.aeb-hub.org/
For further information about SETsquared Bath, go to https://bath-setsquared.co.uk/
