Stephen has personally advised organisations on the European Union’s (EU’s) 4th, 5th 6th and 7th framework programmes (FP) for research and technological development and in the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programmes for research and innovation and the Digital Programme. Proposals which he has led or co-led for European funding have achieved very high percentages of success and all projects in which he led or co-led the project management have been completed with success. There are now also many successful products and services on the market directly reliant on results achieved in the research, development and innovation (RD&I) projects.
Before going into business independently Stephen worked as an innovation consultant in the consulting company THATI GmbH which was established by the Chambers of Industry and Commerce in the German State of Thuringia. This company was specialised in technology transfer and innovation strategies, particularly for the benefit of technology orientated Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). He was a member of “Innovation Relay Centre Stuttgart-Erfurt-Zurich (IRC D/CH) led by the Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum, Stuttgart. The IRC D/CH was part of a network of approximately 250 technology broker organisations in the EU Member States and further partner countries supported by the European Commission Enterprise Directorate General (DG). The IRC network was a forerunner of the European Enterprise Network (EEN).
Stephen has a LLM degree in Professional Legal Practice from BPP University, London and a Laws LLB (Hons) degree from University College London, London University. Stephen is a consultant accepted by the Enterprise Europe Network Thueringen, having also been checked and accepted by the European Commission, for the delivery of innovation audits within Small and Medium sized Enterprises SMEs.