Laura joins the team as our new Business Engagement Officer. Prior to joining Interface Laura worked as a customer service manager in the finance and retail sectors. With over 15 years experience as a manager she is great at establishing good strong working relationships with stakeholders and her customers. Outside of work Laura enjoys spending her time walking the countryside with her dog Charlie and spending times with her two young nieces.
Laura is Associate Director Business Engagement and Systems at Interface. She has been with Interface since 2014 as Head of Business Engagement and held the position of Interim Director in 2022.
With over 20 years’ experience in knowledge exchange and business development Laura is passionate about knowledge exchange and inclusivity. She brings a wealth of experience in developing and implementing strategies to engage with businesses and organisations across Scotland, the UK and Internationally.
Interface plays a unique role bringing businesses and Scotland’s world class academic community together. These partnerships stimulate innovation and drive economic, social and environmental activity and Laura has been a driving force of this activity.
Prior to joining Interface Laura worked at Edinburgh Innovations Ltd (formally Edinburgh Research and Innovation) and before that held positions in oil and gas and financial services.
Laura is a graduate of Edinburgh Napier University with a BA in Business Information Management.
Laura joined the team in January 2012 as a Project Administrator and is now a Funding and Systems Executive within the Systems and Finance Team. Laura’s responsibilities cover administering the SFC Innovation Voucher Schemes (standard, student, follow on, H2020) on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council and providing information on funding. Laura holds a BA in Social Sciences from Abertay University. Prior to joining Interface Laura worked for the NHS in various administrative roles. Outside of work, Laura enjoys spending time with her little boy, shopping (especially for shoes and handbags) and socialising with friends.
Lesley is co-founder of the Traveltech for Scotland cluster where she built and grew a highly active community of traveltech start-ups and SME’s, driving innovative business-academic collaborations for digital transformation, including Traveltech collectives and Interface projects funded by the Scottish Inward Investment Catalyst Fund. She is experienced in delivering knowledge exchange events to highlight the benefits of digital technologies and data for industry sectors, including visitor management and cultural heritage; and has worked extensively with the private and public sector, helping businesses to grow through training, knowledge transfer, and digital skills development. A graduate of Glasgow University, Lesley has an MSC in Marketing Management from Edinburgh Napier University, where she later completed the first Destination Leaders Programme, a tourism leadership network of 100+ industry professionals. Lesley sits on the Board of Women in Tourism and chairs the Visitor Management Digital Group, a sub-group of Scotland’s National Visitor Management Strategy Steering group, chaired by VisitScotland.
Lorna is the Business Engagement Executive covering Tayside and Forth Valley. Lorna graduated from Heriot-Watt University with a BA in Business Management. Lorna’s previous role was as a Business Adviser with Business Gateway assisting start-up and growth businesses and facilitating Women into Business events. Lorna joined Interface in 2013 and she focuses on promoting the Interface matchmaking service to businesses and organisations in the Tayside area. Lorna lives in the centre of the beautiful Tayside countryside and has bagged a few munro’s, her interests are holidaying, hill walking, cycling, watching Game of Thrones and Outlander, reading crime novels and spending time with her three grandchildren.
Lorraine joined Interface from VisitScotland where she worked for 25 years. With experience as their London Office Manager, 16 years as Operations Manager for their world renowned Quality Assurance Schemes and latterly working within EventScotland on Year of Food and Drink; Lorraine brings a wealth of Tourism and Food & Drink experience to the Interface Highlands and Islands Team.
Lorraine aims to spread the word about Interface more widely across the H&I, showing how we can help businesses achieve their ambitions no matter the size or scope. Interface can open up a whole new world of possibilities by introducing business owners to resources they never knew were available to them. Lorraine works to help businesses understand that Interface can save them time, money and effort by matching them to the right expertise across Scotland’s renowned universities and colleges.
In short, if you’ve got an idea, give it a kick-start by getting academics to do the research and development work for you!
Where we’re located
Lorraine and the Interface H&I team are based at An Lochran, the fabulous Enterprise and Research Centre in Inverness where Highlands and Islands Enterprise is co-located with key research and education departments from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) and research and consultancy divisions from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).
Louise has over 20 years business development experience in creating sales and marketing strategies to generate leads, in both business to business and academic to business environments. She has been with Interface for over 15 years, providing a free and impartial matchmaking service, connecting businesses across all sectors quickly and easily, to the world class knowledge and expertise within Scotland’s universities and research institutes. There is a vast diversity of expertise within academia, from students to researchers to specialist facilities, all of which both small and large companies can benefit. Working closely with her client companies, she helps them define their technical problems or requirements, and connects them to the appropriate academic partners ensuring the best possible solution for the business. Her knowledge of funding and network of support organisations ensures she provides a holistic service to client companies to drive innovation and the delivery of new products, processes and services. Prior to working at Interface, her career includes experience in the technology and aerospace sectors working for organisations such as NCR and Raytheon Systems. Out of work Louise enjoys yoga, walking her dog and socialising.
Nicola is the latest addition to the Interface team as the Executive Administrator. Having grown up in Kenya, she graduated with a Media, Society and Culture degree from Northumbria University. Since then, Nicola has gained international experience in a variety of roles from events management, retail and administration. Nicola provides day to day support across the team to create an effective and efficient working environment while assisting with HR, finance as well as providing secretarial and management support to the Interface Strategic Board. Outside work Nicola enjoys socialising with friends and exploring all the exciting things that Edinburgh has to offer.
Shelley is a knowledge exchange professional brokering award winning collaborative R&D projects between Scottish businesses and academia for over a decade. As part of the Interface management team her focus is on raising awareness of the value of our world class academic base, building relationships and identifying opportunities to support university, college and research institutes priorities and their role in delivering prosperity for Scotland.
Shelley is also a co-opted Committee Member of City of Glasgow College’s Board of Management where she provides insight and analysis to the Management Board on commercial and international activities, assessing and managing risks and opportunities.
Shelley graduated from the University of Strathclyde with a BA Honours degree in International Business and Modern Languages. Following a stint spent working and travelling around North America she moved back to the UK to start her career in sales and business support.
Outside of work Shelley is passionate about fitness and is most often found at CrossFit or having a swim in the North Sea!