Duncan Cheatle

Duncan Cheatle has spent over 15 years championing UK enterprise and has worked with over 1,000 entrepreneurs. He is CEO and founder of the Prelude Group whose mission is “to make Britain the most enterprising nation in the world”.

Prelude offers advanced learning for entrepreneurs through its Growth Programmes and Speaker Boutique initiatives.

In 2003 Duncan set up The Supper Club, now home to over 300 of Britain’s most innovative, high growth entrepreneurs. The Club has hosted over 1,500 events and won the SFEDI UK Best Enterprise Support Awards in 2010.

Duncan also founded Rise To which improves employability in young people and social enterprise ThanksTo.com which celebrates the unsung heroes in our communities.

He was a co-founder of StartUp Britain, a private sector initiative to inspire start-up entrepreneurs, supported by corporate and SMEs and backed by the government and prime minister David Cameron and sits on the Advisory Boards of the government funded Start Up Loans Company, the Sheffield University Management School and of the Legatum Institute funded Demeter Network .

Duncan also created Growth Britain with the backing of Lord Young (Enterprise Advisor to the prime minister), a crowd sourcing platform aimed at inspiring and accelerating enterprise in the UK and ‘Making Great Britain, Growth Britain’ resulting in a round table meeting at No 10. to discuss which ideas could be bought to life

Duncan is one of the most networked individuals in the SME sector and comments on entrepreneurs’ issues regularly. Notably, his e-petition against CGT taper relief changes on Number 10’s website got over 18,000 signatures. He has judged in both the National Business Awards and Fast Growth Business Awards.

As well as being FCA qualified (PWC), Duncan is also a Fellow at the RSA.