Advertise on podcast: Eastern Promise - The Podcast

This Week: As the magnificent Cambridge Science Centre publishes its new Strategic Plan for 2026-2031, Eastern Promise's own Mike Rigby chats with the centre's CEO on the intent behind the Strategic Plan, their outreach strategy and the drive to not only make the centre 'best in class', but also an exemplar for STEM educational centres around the world. You can read the Strategic Plan by clicking here, and buy tickets to visit the centre by clicking here. PLUS! You can hear about the all-new thought leadership slot coming soon to the Eastern Promise podcast: EASTERN INSIGHT!  It's your chance to share your news, views and more with the world, with strategic visibility and a unique position in each episode. All this and so much more! You can contact Eastern Promise by visiting the Eastern Promise website and clicking or by emailing [email protected].    Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: Confused by Cambridge?  Well, Eastern Promise has your back and help is at hand!  We bid you welcome to this first in our occasional series exploring our region's main urban ecosystems, the BEGINNER'S GUIDES! In this first of our special episodes, Mike Rigby is joined by local experts to explore and explain the nuances, niceties, and need-to-knows of CAMBRIDGE! Joining Mike to make up this cohort of Cambridge connoisseurs is: Chair of Cambridge Ahead, Cambridge Science Centre, and all-round legend, Harriet Fear MBE; Founder and CEO of CONEXEN, Paula Bekinschtein;  MD of Cap Air Systems, Board Member and SME champion, Katy Davies; Strategy and Community Advisor, Ilker Akansel; and Investment Fund specialist and Partner at Mills & Reeve, Dona Ardeman! Together, they talk through the special secret sauce that makes this city what it is; bust a few myths and shed new light into a place that can seem intimidating from the outside, but is a truly warm and welcoming place that rewards those who make the effort to engage.  You'll be informed, educated and - hopefully - entertained!  More Beginner's Guides will be coming soon, with Ipswich, Norwich and Peterborough following later in the spring!  Let us know what you think of these special episodes.  What did Mike miss? Does it need a second volume?  Where should we go after our first four?  Let us know by emailing [email protected], or by visiting our website at https://easternpromise.org.uk, and clicking on 'contact us'.   Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve. Recorded on 5th December 2025 at Botanic House, Hills Road, Cambridge.

This Week: We meet three of Norfolk's incredible coterie of AMBASSADORS! Meet Matt Smith of Place UK, Candy Richards of the Federation of Small Businesses, and Chris Spinks of Westcotec, who will be sharing with you: Their love for Norfolk; What makes the county unique; and Why families, businesses, entrepreneurs and more should relocate to Norfolk!  Our ambassadors share their experience and a clear-eyed vision for the county; not shrinking from challenges and eager to forge solutions.  Norfolk really couldn't ask for better representatives So, put those spherical, golden chocolate & hazelnut sweeties into a tottering pyramid, because these ambassadors  are really spoiling us!  To find out more, and to apply to become an Ambassador for Norfolk, click here. For further details about the Norfolk Business Board, click here. To learn more about Eastern Promise, and to listen to all of our back catalogue, click here.  Eastern Promise is proud to be sponsored by Mills & Reeve.

This Week! We're kicking off 2026 in style, and focussed on what's currently the most important economic development project in the UK - The Oxford Cambridge Corridor.   Our navigators to this galactic-scale potential are the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board, ably represented by Chair Andy Williams and fellow board member (and CEO of Cambridge Ahead) Dan Thorp.  Together, we'll dig into where we are, where we're going, what's at stake and what each of us needs to do to make this happen (top tip: just be nice to each other!)   It's a fantastic listen and a brilliant insight into the importance of capability, community and coherence to this project.  Our thanks to Dan and Andy. For the Connected Clusters report referenced by Mike and Dan, click here. To visit the website of the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board, and read the reports referenced in this episode, click here.   Click here to read the UK Government's investment prospectus for the Oxford Cambridge corridor (PDF, opens in new window).  To read the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority's Local Growth Plan, then click here (PDF, opens in new window).  If you want to take a look at the Cambridge Growth Company  Click here to visit their site.     Eastern Promise was made in The Podding Shed and you can catch up on previous episodes at our website, and contact us there or by emailing [email protected].    Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: We round off our Christmas Charity Appeal open mic with the Big C Cancer Charity and the MedCan Foundation!  Find out more about our 2025 featured charities here: Abbey People The Big C -  Norfolk's Cancer Charity The Cambridge Acorn Project The MedCan Foundation Then!  We take a long, loving look back at 2025 with some choice cuts from the archive... We'll visit UKREiiF 2025, pop in on the John Innes Centre's Insectary, drop by the STEMM village during the Royal Norfolk Show, and relive part of last month's 'Skills, Careers & Policy' event (such a catchy title, and it's three parts, actually!)   We'll even skip ahead and sample some of what 2026 has to offer, including the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board, and a snippet from two of our 'Beginner's Guides': Norwich and Cambridge!  Thank you for listening in 2025 and all being well, we'll see you again on 15th January 2026!  To find out more about Eastern Promise, contact us, and listen to our back catalogue, click here. Eastern Promise was made in The Podding Shed and is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: We find out how, for dementia patients and their families, the hits of their youth have now become a critical bridge, especially when communication falters.  We'll meet Music for My Mind's Dimana Georgieva at Cambridge Consultant's HQ on Cambridge Science Park, along with CC's AI experts Joseph Corrigan and Ali Shafti, to discover how the deeptech dynamos of CapGemini Invent helped Hertfordshire-based charity 'Music For My Mind' to create an AI Prototype to measure and learn the reactions of people living with dementia to hearing music.   To try out the Music For My Mind playlist maker yoursef, click here: https://app.musicformymind.com/ We'll also be bringing you our first two Christmas charity appeal open mics, and we'll be joined by the Cambridge Acorn Project's own Hannah Golding, and then by Nicky Shepard, CEO of Abbey People, a vibrant community charity in the Abbey Ward of Cambridge, improving the lives and wellbeing of Abbey residents.  CLICK HERE FOR THE CAMBRIDGE ACORN PROJECT BIG GIVE!  To find out more about the Cambridge Acorn Project, a fantastic mental wellbeing of young people in Cambridgeshire, click here. To find out more about Abbey People's amazing work in the Cambridge Abbe Ward, click here.

This Week: On 21st November 2025, Eastern Promise held a live event at Mills & Reeve's Cambridge office, focussed around skills, careers and creating better policy on both. However, this recording, in front of a live audience set out to do something different: to talk to a group of young people about their hopes, dreams and future plans, and get a panel of educators and skills professionals consisting of: Andy Daly, Executive Principal of the Meridian Trust; Anne Bailey, CEO of Form the Future CIC; Kevin Keable, Chair of the East of England Energy Group (and, coincidentally, the recently announced Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of Norfolk and Suffolk), and Deputy Principal of East Norfolk Sixth Form College in Gorleston near Great Yarmouth, Dr Simon Fox, to address these points, before giving young people the final say.   Then, in what is admittedly a bit of a 'long player' of a podcast, we move forward to look at the impact of career breaks, whether chosen or not, and career pivots.  We'll hear a number of stories of what can best be described as 'squiggly careers', huge life changes, sudden shocks, pivots from successful careers into new ventures and more. Taking us through this are: Deborah Dawson of Mills & Reeve, Victoria Higgins of 'Beyond the Noise', Sally Field of Cambridge Wireless and Tarquin Bennett-Coles of Compass Carter Osborne. And finally, Charlotte Horobin, CEO of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce; Dan Thorp, CEO of Cambridge Ahead; Owen Garling of the Bennett School of Public Policy; and Gareth John, Director of Policy at accountancy trainers First Intuition will unpack everything we've heard and share their thoughts about what it all means going forward. Eastern Promise would like to thank everyone who attended the recording, our engineer, North Cambridge Academy and East Norfolk Sixth Form, and especially Lee, Dotty, Mai, Drew, Ash and Shanae from those institutions for taking part. To find out more about Eastern Promise, to listen to our back catalogue and to contact us, visit https://easternpromise.org.uk. Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: Mike Rigby joins the fun and frolics (there were frolics, weren't there?) to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the opening of Haverhill's very own innovation hub, the EpiCentre!   Eastern Promise's own Grand Fromage, Mike Rigby, joins the jamboree and, at the invitation of Centre Manager Helen Earl and Innovation Director Gary Jennings, hosts four special panels for the galaxy of guests present, with each panel looking at a different aspect of the EpiCentre's offer to its community.   We consider: Funding; Engineering Skills; Healthcare & Innovation; and AI.   It's a celebration with insight, excitement, progress, and practical advice, and we thank all those who took part. For more information on the EpiCentre, click here. To listen to our whole back catalogue, or to contact Eastern Promise, click here. Eastern Promise is proud to be sponsored by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: High Streets Matter! They matter across our region and they matter in North Walsham, where your host, Mike Rigby, finds himself this week. In the company of Alexandra Hemen of New Anglia Growth Hub, visits the magnificent Black Swan Pub and Theatre to chat with landlord, actor and all-round human dynamo Joseph Ballard, along with social entrepreneur Selina of Best In Broads.   Alex then whisks us into the town proper, calling in at Dolly's gift shop, a recipient of support ftom the Norfolk County Council Retail Excellence Programme, to talk to shop florist Evie.  All our local guests have several things in common: their love of North Walsham and their soaring community spirit.  Alex(andra), meanwhile, brings huge and hard-won retail expertise at the pinnacle of one of the East of England's best known brands.   One of Mike Rigby's favourite things is to get out and about across the East of England and North Walsham was truly something special.   If you want to find out more about the High Streets Matter package of support, visit the New Anglia Growth website here: https://www.newangliagrowthhub.co.uk/norfolk-high-streets-matter/ Find out more about the wonderful New Stages Black Swan Pub & Theatre here.  You can find out more about Eastern Promise, listen to our back catalogue or contact us here.  Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: 'Ahead of the Curve' could well be Cambridge Consultant's business address.  Indeed, these global professional problem solvers, part of Capgemini Invent, thrive on getting out in front and staying there. After an illuminating press day, host Mike Rigby is joined by Head of Biotechnology Frances Metcalfe and New Frontiers Board Member Richard Traherne, to find out more about this organisation, whose presence on the Cambridge Science Park site predates the park itself.   For more information on Cambridge Consultants, visit their website here.     To listen to our back catalogue or to contact Eastern Promise, visit our website here. Eastern Promise is proud to be sponsored by Mills & Reeve.  Follow the link to discover more.

This Week: We start a new 6-week run of the Eastern Promise podcast at the Earlham Institute on Norwich Research Park! This event looks at the latest developments in genomics and brings together industry, academia, and Knowledge Transfer Partnership experts from Innovate UK.   Your host, Mike Rigby, chats to all these fine folk, including Director of the Earlham Institute, Professor Neil Hall and Helena Saunders of Syngenta. Melissa Salmon and Marine Folgoas represent PhD candidates and Tozer Seeds-embedded Jamie Pike tells us more about KTPs, alongside Innovate UK's Mike Lloyd. We'll also hear from Georgie Oatley about Tropic's banana-based work!   For more on the Earlham Institute, click here. You can find more information, contact details and listen to the Eastern Promise back catalogue here. Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: We welcome the two leading lights of the Cambridge Tech Podcast, all-round ecosystem lynchpin Faye Holland and MD of the iconic Bradfield Centre and NFL fan, James Parton!  We'll discuss how they do what they do, the importance of Faye's rolodex and what drives their pod forward!  Host Mike Rigby has been itching to interview Faye and James since day one of Eastern Promise so please listen, so maybe now he'll stop going on about it! You can hear the most recent episode of the Cambridge Tech Podcast here, on Apple, Spotify, and Audible. To listen to more of the Eastern Promise podcast, or to drop us a line via our contact form, visit the Eastern Promise website here. Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: You didn't think we'd forgotten about Cambridge Tech Week, did you?  Certainly not!  In fact your own (and you're welcome to him) Mike Rigby hits the anything-but-mean streets of the Cambridge Guildhall for 'Innovation Alley', and what an incredible experience it is... We chat to some of the hottest names in new tech, some of the sharpest spin-outs, the most brilliant innovators and we say 'wilkommen' to visitors from the German tech sector.  Digital twins, AI, photonics, battery tech, it's all here!   AND THIS IS JUST PART ONE!  Come back next week for part two, where we chat with the dynamic duo behind the Cambridge Tech Podcast!   At Cambridge Tech Week 2025, we meet... Cambridge Enterprise Entopy FiveD Form The Future CIC HutanBio Illumion Orca Paicon Prospectral The University of East Anglia To listen to the Eastern Promise back catalogue and to contact the show, click here. Eastern Promise is proudly supported by Mills & Reeve and is a Podding Shed production..

This Week: We peek behind the scenes at one of the most consequential research institutes in the world, let alone the UK or the East of England!   Nestling at the heart of the Norwich Research Park, the John Innes Centre is home to the UK's greatest concentration of plant and microbial science and scientists - but that's not all!  No siree... My co-host for our Royal Norfolk Show episodes joins regular roving microphone wielder Mike Rigby to look at just a fraction of the work being done inside the centre, including Bioimaging, Genotyping and the Insectary!  We also take in the social side of the John Innes Foundation, created though bequest by a Mr J. Innes.   It was a struggle to keep this recording under an hour and it only just makes it. The recording was also bedevilled by technical issues, hence the delay bringing it to you and for which we apologise to you and the JIC.   But wait!  We do find time for helicopters and fish!  And the link will surprise you... For more information about the John Innes Centre click here. To contact Eastern Promise or listen to our back catalogue, click here. Eastern Promise are proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.

This Week: When Innovate Cambridge call and say "we'd like to talk about the HUGE week ahead for the city and both the tech and life science ecosystems", you drop EVERYTHING!  And so, dear listener, we did... So it was that your host, Mike Rigby, dropped in on The Glasshouse - home of Innovate Cambridge - to find out how the fun, inclusive and enigmatic branding unveiled last year is launching now, just as Cambridge Tech Week and the inaugural BioCentury Grand Rounds - Europe take the city by storm in ONE SINGLE WEEK (15th Sept. to 19th Sept. 2025)! Dr Kathryn Chapman, Executive Director of Innovate Cambridge will be telling us about the huge importance of this moment and the vote of confidence it represents for the city.   And then! Chair of Innovate Cambridge, Prof. Andy Neely and Michelle Lamprecht of Cambridge Innovation Capital join Mike to talk through the branding campaign for the Cambridge Innovation Study, just how widely it's being spread, and the power of a unified ecosystem to make a huge difference for everyone.   To find out more about the Cambridge Innovation story, including the film introducing the story, click here. To listen to the Eastern Promise podcast back catalogue, or to contatct us, click here.    Eastern Promise is proud to be supported by Mills & Reeve.