Our Board
MENTA benefits from having a board of non-executive members who advise the CEO and his team. They bring insight from exemplary business experience, helping us to develop our work, products and services to support the wider business community.
Meet Our Board
Alex Till
CEO
As MENTA’s CEO, Alex is a passionate leader dedicated to supporting small businesses. With a keen curiosity for entrepreneurship, he works to empower and develop enterprises across Suffolk and Norfolk. As Chair of the National Enterprise Network, he collaborates with government and industry to strengthen and sustain businesses in an ever-evolving landscape.
Bill Ward
Board Member
An engineering graduate and former airline pilot and instructor, Bill’s extensive career in the aviation industry saw him progress to fulfilling various senior management and board-level roles, experiencing merger and acquisition on three different occasions. In 2014, Bill and his wife set up Bury St Edmunds-based IP firm, Ward Trade Marks. For Bill, helping MENTA to support the growth of start-up and early-stage businesses is a pleasure and a privilege.
Rob Masson
Board Member
Rob is CEO of The DPO Centre, an internationally located company providing Data Protection Officer (DPO) resources to clients globally. Based in Suffolk, Rob brings over 35 years of strategic business experience to the board. He was an early user of Menta’s services back in the 1980s and has been a member of the board for over 10 years. Rob is an advocate for entrepreneurship and an enthusiastic supporter of Menta’s continuous efforts to help businesses start, grow and succeed.
Chris Kelly
Board Member
An experienced multidisciplinary business adviser, chartered accountant, and auditor with over 10 years’ partnership experience leading departments and offices within East Anglia. Currently a director of Jacobs Allen, he is passionate about demystifying corporate finance advice and making it accessible to businesses irrespective of size. As a Patron he has experienced the award-winning services MENTA provide and is looking forward to supporting MENTA as it continues to shape enterprise in the region.
Ollie Peacock
Board Member
Ollie is a Chartered Surveyor with 25 years post qualification experience. Coming from a farming family, his first job was an Auctioneer before moving into real estate with a regional firm of estate agents. He qualified whilst working at Savills PLC in Cambridge and shortly afterwards joined Jackson-Stops as an equity partner. After many years working in residential sales and valuation, including serving on the Jackson-Stops main board and Executive committee in search of a new challenge he pivoted his career into Development and Construction Project Management. He now manages development projects across the UK for a private leisure company. Volunteering has always been close to his heart, initially with territorial army, and more recently he served for 15 years as a trustee and chair of a local Almshouse Charity. He currently volunteers at the West Suffolk Hospital. In his free time he enjoys travel, long distance running and has recently completed a BA (Hons) in History of Art with the Open University.
Louise Ahuja
Board Member
Louise is an entrepreneurial business leader with over 15 years of board-level experience at one of the UK’s largest PR consultancies. Since moving to Suffolk, she has become an independent communications consultant specializing in corporate communications and scaling financial and fintech brands. Louise is also a co-founder and advisory board member of Opinium Research, a rapidly expanding international market research agency. A beneficiary of MENTA’s support, including its networking and creative workspace @Inc., Louise is passionate about empowering others as they consider new career paths in a post-pandemic landscape.
Gerald Carew
Board Member
Gerald helps companies build quality teams, affordably, sustainably, and with confidence. He is an advocate for of all things enterprising and passionate about technical application, innovation and scaling businesses – especially when their work has a positive impact on society. Gerald has been working in the recruitment sector supporting Healthcare, Life Science, Technology and Engineering companies for almost 15 years and set up InterSTEM, his own agency in 2019. Before this, Gerald was a board member of higher education institute where he campaigned at a national level for further investment in employability skills training for early years talent. His specialist areas include connecting businesses with future talent via employer branding, video, talent acquisition and his own software solution, Pipped.io.
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