Earlier this summer we opened applications to our new Members Board and after a careful selection process, we have appointed seven people to represent each level of membership. In addition, we have made a special appointment to link us up with secondary education in the city, plus we are in the process of securing representatives from all our Regional Partners.

The purpose of the Members Board is to give our members and partners a greater opportunity to shape the direction of Sheffield Digital. Our successful applicants all have real passion for the future of Sheffield’s digital industries and bring experiences and insight that will help our organisation to make a positive impact.

Meet your representatives

Paul Massey is the representative for Individual members. With more than two decades of experience in the digital domain, Paul currently works as Lead Software Engineer at MoJ Digital, as well as running not-for-profit film studio, 3studio. He pours all of his experience into a number of mentoring roles, including the Sheffield Digital mentoring scheme and working with HMP Humber to mentor prisoners. Paul describes Sheffield Digital as having played ‘a pivotal role’ in fostering the growth and potential of the regional tech scene, and now he is excited to contribute to our future success and strategic direction.

Paul Robinson, a freelancer working in UX Design and Product Management, will represent the interests of his fellow Freelance Members on our board. Paul describes his membership of Sheffield Digital as “life changing” due to the opportunities it has presented and how it has expanded his professional and personal networks. He is keen to develop our offer to freelancers, and has lots of ideas around new resources and support mechanisms. Paul also wants to explore how we could help create better relationships, awareness and opportunities between businesses and freelancers in Sheffield.

Samson Opaleye from Applatch is representing start-ups in the city, driven by the need to ensure that the struggles and unique requirements of local tech entrepreneurs are known to community leaders. He explains,

“Having firsthand experience as a startup founder in Sheffield, I have witnessed the unique challenges and opportunities that small businesses face, particularly in the tech space. Being part of the board allows me to bring a fresh perspective from a startup viewpoint and contribute to shaping an environment that supports innovation, fosters collaboration, and promotes diversity.”

He adds,

“A priority I would like to address is creating a process to help Sheffield-based startups navigate the key factors that determine a successful journey from the idea stage to achieving product-market fit.”

Jilly Cross is the representative for micro-companies just like Bravand, the digital design and build agency she founded in London and moved to South Yorkshire in 2023. Reflecting on her reasons for applying to our board, she says:

“Since our move to Sheffield from East London just over 18 months ago, I have been blown away by the talented, friendly, passionate and collaborative spirit that makes up the Sheffield digital ecosystem. Our Sheffield Digital membership has been instrumental in enabling us to become a part of this city’s wonderful community, feeling right at home in a very short amount of time. 

“Knowing the benefits of membership myself, I’m passionate about contributing to a member-led strategic arm of Sheffield Digital to truly represent the association members in any way I can. Personally, I’m particularly keen on how members like Bravand can find, engage and develop younger talent, supporting the Sheffield Digital leaders of tomorrow and ensuring the city remains at the forefront of digital creativity.”

Pierre Drezet from INX is our representative for Small Companies. As a “technology-first innovator and consultant” he has 25 years’ commercial experience combined with an academic background. Pierre is keen to share learnings that stretch back to working in a dot-com era tech PLC to founding start-ups in Sheffield. He has closely observed the evolution of machine learning, IoT and no-code software, and has a deep understanding of how companies of all sizes can develop surging technologies to underpin their business.

Jonny Rippon, managing director of Hive IT, will be representing the needs of other Medium Companies. Jonny has been a long standing supporter of Sheffield Digital and brings “first hand experience of the benefits and challenges of membership and engaging with the Association.” In addition to the 20+ years’ experience he has in Sheffield’s tech sector, Jonny believes in the power of collaboration and maintains good relationships with other non-tech organisations including charities, government and educational institutions.

Sam Chapman from The Floow joins the board as representative for Large Companies. Sam is closely aligned with the goals of Sheffield Digital, explaining: 

“Sheffield Digital performs an important role in the region bringing together the digital sector aiding communication, collaboration and representation. I have a shared passion to also support and grow the region’s digital sector which I have long championed.”

Considering priorities he’d like to address in his new role, Sam adds: “I’m keen to encourage better recognition of exemplar organisations and international impact from the region’s digital sector to further encourage regional growth and investment.”

Hannah Chaplin has been appointed to the Members Board in her remit as a Computing and IT teacher at the UTC (and an Individual Member). Hannah is passionate about connecting education with industry to ensure that Sheffield companies are getting employees with the skills that they need to be successful. This drive is rooted in her own experience of running tech companies in Sheffield, where recruitment was a constant pain point.

We are in the process of appointing a board member to represent Enterprise Companies and hope to share an update with you soon. In addition to members, our new board will also have reps from Sheffield Digital’s Regional Partners:

• The University of Sheffield
• Sheffield Hallam University
• Sheffield College
• Barnsley DMC
• Sheffield City Council

Next steps

The first Sheffield Digital Members Board meeting will take place at the end of September and during this meeting we want to establish how members can communicate with their representative. This will ensure that our new board is truly a platform for all members’ voices to be heard.

We are also hoping to welcome our reps to upcoming events, where you can meet with them in person. This includes the next Senior Leaders Dinner and the next Meetup for Individuals and Freelancers. We’ll keep you posted about these once we’ve secured dates.

This is the start of an exciting new chapter for Sheffield Digital and we cannot wait to see the direction that our new Members Board will lead us in. Thank you to all who took the time to apply.