Stuart Clarke MBE

After a 20+ years corporate career saw him setting up and running marketing and corporate relationships departments for the likes of Alliance & Leicester, first direct and TD Bank, Stuart became the co-founder of Paceline marketing and PR consultancy, working with growing tech firms such as Crisp and The Data Shed. He is a non-executive director, adviser and investor to a number of startups, including Jigsaw, Synap and The Grad Soc, and has helped firms to raise funds through crowdfunding, angels and VCs. He is also the co-founder and the Festival Director of the Leeds Digital Festival, the largest open tech event in the UK. The 2021 Festival had 300 events, with attendees from 60 countries, celebrating all things digital. The annual Tech Nation report saw him named by startups as the most influential person in Leeds; he was also named as one of the top three digital leaders in the UK in the Digital Leaders DL100, as well as the City Region Leader: Leeds in the Northern Leadership Awards, and featured in the 2022 Yorkshire Business Insider Powerlist 100. Stuart is also the creator of the Leeds Tech Map.