Staff Profiles
The team is built around a diverse group of business professionals who can offer practical help and expert guidance backed by an extensive pool of commercial experience. All of our advisors are, or have been, self employed, running their own businesses.
Our advice remains impartial ensuring total discretion and confidentiality at all times.
Business Support ManagerPaul Tinsley
Paul has overall responsibility for the delivery of SENTA contracts and management of the business advice team. He has an honours degree and number of year’s experience working in business support, community development, tourism and regeneration, in both the public and private sectors.
He has a particular interest in the role enterprise can play in the regeneration of deprived communities and in improving the links between enterprise and education to promote self employment as a viable option to students leaving school, college and university. Paul believes all students should leave education with a qualification in starting a business, as this would take the “fear factor” out of enterprise and make our society more entrepreneurial.
Business AdvisorJulie Anne Howarth
Julie-Anne has worked at SENTA since July 2006. She has been involved in several areas, including New Enterprise Scholarship and New Deal for Self Employment. She delivers advice and support to individuals as they plan and start their businesses, through one-to-one support and guidance sessions.
For 20 years, Julie Anne ran her own businessin the entertainment sector. Her career also includes a period of involvement in health club management.
Business AdvisorPhil White
Phil joined SENTA in September 2007 and works currently on the Pre-Start team. He advises clients as they plan and start businesses. He previously worked on New Deal for Self-Employment. His role also involves assisting clients with media issues.
While he once worked in wine retail, he has since 1996 operated as a freelance magazine journalist, editor and photographer. He has for the past five years also been co-proprietor of a small vintage, retro and antiques retail business.
Business AdvisorTricia Heckingbottom
Tricia specialises in analysing potential businesses for viability. She currently works in Sheffield city centre with start-up and existing businesses. Since she joined SENTA in 2003 she has worked with clients in the community and on the New Enterprise Scholarship. Her clients have ranged from individuals in financial difficulties to self-employed partnerships and limited company directors. Tricia comes from a background of finance and business development. She has been involved in several successful business startups in Devon, Scotland and South Yorkshire. She adds this wide-ranging experience to strong coaching and negotiation skills
Business AdvisorLuqman Jimoh
Luqman joined SENTA in March 2006 and assists clients in the Burngreave area. He is also an independent business management consultant. His skills include business planning, business strategy, business development, sales & marketing and communications technology. Before moving to work in business support, Luqman had a varied career in retail, banking and financial services. He holds an MBA (General Management) from the University of Sheffield.
Business AdvisorJohn Charlesworth
John has extensive experience in assisting new business starts, having worked for several regeneration and enterprise support agencies throughout Yorkshire.
John previously operated his own health care business in West Yorkshire and is now working in Barnsley and Sheffield providing business support and assisting local regeneration projects.
Business AdvisorDavid McKee
David is a Business Advisor and qualified trainer, who has worked for SENTA since late 2002. He has worked consistently in business support since 2000, in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire. Currently, his remit is to advise clients as they prepare for startup, and develop their business in its initial years. He operates from several bases in the community, including the city centre and Stocksbridge.
David has a comprehensive knowledge of self-employment, having set up his first car sales business in 1995. He continues to be active in the motor trade, and is involved in several property development interests.
Business AdvisorDave Robinson
Dave joined SENTA in July 2006. He works on the Pre-Start team, advising clients planning and starting businesses. He previously headed the New Deal for Self Employment team, assiting unemployed clients considering self-employment.
Dave previously worked as a New Deal specialist in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Wakefield. He brings strong administrative structuring skills to the team, being both a qualified book-keeper and a member of the Institute of Administrative Management.
Business AdvisorDuncan Scott
Duncan has been with SENTA since 2004 during which time he has assisted over 300 clients start up their business. His focus is on business strategy, business and financial planning and management team dynamics.
Duncan has over 30 years of experience in banking, almost entirely in the business sector. He also runs his own management consultancy company, which serves clients in a number of industries across Yorkshire.
Business AdvisorSue Moyles
Sue joined SENTA in July 2003 as a Business Advisor helping clients start in business and has experience assisting on several programs delivered by SENTA. She is also a trainer.
Sue is qualified as a business mentor and previously spent 32 years with Lloyds TSB. During this time she held various roles, including Branch Manager, Business Banking Manager and Area Manager covering fraud and operational risk.
Business AdvisorTim Binns
Tim works on the Post-Start team and has been at SENTA since May 2009. He specialises in strategy development, marketing, branding and business growth and operates at several sites in Sheffield. Tim has previously worked for Business Link in Chesterfield and Hull, as well as operating as a management consultant in the private sector. He is actively involved in a number of social enterprises.
He spent much of his career in food manufacture and retail, where he ran a business that employed over 100 staff. He later spent ten years running a manufacturing and multi-site retail lighting company in South and West Yorkshire.
Business AdvisorSteve Annakin
Steve joined SENTA in late 2009, and works on the Post-Start team. He assists recently-launched businesses as they develop and grow. In his role he draws upon two major sources of experience, having both spent 30 years in business banking and run his own business for several years. He has worked with Business Link in Bradford, where he assisted clients in both start-up and established businesses across the Yorkshire area.
Business AdvisorRachel Coope
Business AdvisorTony Gee
Tony works with clients preparing for startup, both at Albion House and in the community. He has also engaged with students at both of Sheffield's universities. He joined SENTA in May 2009, following a long career in the motor retail trade. His skill base is wide, taking in retail startups, staff development, marketing, sales and management at both dealer and manufacturer level. He brings a practical, no-nonsense approach to his work with clients, helping them identify and plan around obstacles as they prepare to launch and nurture their businesses.
Business AdvisorDoug Johnson
Since he joined SENTA in May 2009, Doug has assisted young businesses on the Post-Start team. He brings analytic skills to this work, helping businesses as they progress from the initial months to establish themselves.
Doug has in the past run his own business, but has spent more than 30 years in the banking sector. His experience here was in both personal and corporate banking, focussing latterly on new business development in the Yorkshire and Humberside area. Using this background, he brings financial analysis and cost projection to bear on assisting clients' developmental planning.
Business AdvisorChristina Lima Trindade
Christina joined SENTA in May 2009, and works on the Pre-Start team. She advises clients as they plan and start their businesses. She has a special interest in the concerns of women in business.
Christina's 20-year career has been spent in a variety of sectors. She has been involved with international projects, work in schools, women in enterprise and online media. She has run several businesses of her own. She also runs a female entrepreneurs network.
Business AdvisorDuncan Eagles
Duncan joined SENTA in February 2010, and delivers specialist IT consultancy to clients as they plan and create websites for their businesses. His clinic equips clients to create or commission sites, and assists them to optimise their sites as effective marketing tools.
Duncan comes from a 12-year career in the professional audio industry, where he provided software and hardware technical support to some of the country's largest recording facilities. For the past seven years he also built and maintained websites within that industry, creating and controlling large-scale, multi-region e-commerce sites. He operates a web design and development company which serves several high-profile clients.