Opening Ceremony

Darren Pirie is Head of Accelerator & Partnerships at NatWest, where he leads the strategic development and scale of the NatWest Accelerator, supporting high potential entrepreneurs and scaling businesses across the UK. Darren is also responsible for building and leading strategic partnerships with universities, corporates, investors and public sector organisations, harnessing NatWest’s convening power to bring world class capability to founders. His focus is on creating practical, evidence led collaborations that remove barriers to growth, strengthen regional ecosystems and accelerate sustainable business success. A regular speaker on entrepreneurship, innovation and business growth, Darren is passionate about the role large institutions can play as long term partners to the UK’s entrepreneurial economy and as enablers of inclusive, resilient growth.

Gordon Bateman is a career company builder who has worked with the investment community for over three decades. Straight from university, he joined a small business that grew internationally and floated on the London Stock Exchange. During that time, he created and led the firm’s emerging-technology practice, supporting early-stage and high-growth companies around the world and partnering with venture capital and private equity investors at every stage. Those years inside the deal flow made one thing clear: the hardest constraint on growth is people. Gordon founded CRSI to solve that challenge, focusing on leadership, organisation design, hiring, retention and culture. Today, CRSI also works with many of the UK’s leading universities to help spin-outs achieve commercial traction and investment readiness. As investors sought stronger regional connections, Gordon founded Investor Ladder, now one of the UK’s largest informal investor networks, spanning angels, syndicates, venture capital, private equity and investment banks, engaging across the UK and internationally. In 2023, he founded ClimbUK, an international festival for business growth, innovation and investment. Built by operators for operators, Climb attracted nearly 2,000 people in its first year and continues to grow toward 3,000 delegates. To close the loop for founders, Gordon also leads Climb Ventures, providing investment-readiness support and connections to active funds. Gordon is known for building platforms that help others succeed, but his core craft remains unchanged: building businesses.