Why choose the QCA Director Growth Programme?

The new QCA Director Growth Programme provides the essential toolkit for success in the boardroom of growing companies.

This intensive, two-day course is designed to equip directors with the skills to make their mark in an often fast-changing environment, led by expert educators and supported with practical case studies and guest speakers.

Expert Facilitation

Benefit from the knowledge and experience of leading practitioners.

Murray Steele, Programme Director 

Murray Steele has been a leader in the development of directors for over 25 years. He launched Cranfield School of Management’s Executive Director Programme in 1987 and its Non-Executive Director Seminar in 1997. He has also developed and delivered programmes for the Financial Times (since 2011); the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (since 2002); the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (since 2001), and numerous in – house programmes. In total, over 12,000 directors have attended his programmes, both in the UK and internationally.  

His development programmes are underpinned by 30 years of practical Chair and NED experience. He has held over 20 Chair and NED positions covering virtually every type of organisation. Currently, he is Chair of Octopus Apollo VCT, the second largest VCT in the UK with AUM of £430 million, which is FTSE listed and invests in unquoted tech companies and Surface Generation, an advanced manufacturing technology company. 

Patrick Dunne OBE, Boardelta 

Experienced Chair, serial social entrepreneur, VC and PE investor. Chair of board consultancy Boardelta and the charities Royal Voluntary Service and ESSA – Education Sub Saharan Africa.

Patrick’s executive experience was with Air Products and with FTSE 100 private equity 3i Group plc, where during a 26-year career as an investor and leader he was Communications Director, a member of its Operating Committee and Chair of its Operational Risk Forum.

He has supported boards across a wide range of sectors in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and North America in transforming the effectiveness of their boards through Boardelta. A member of the Higgs review and author of the award-winning “Boards”, he has also helped to establish many successful courses on board skills including for the BVCA, Invest Europe and the Financial Times. He is the co-author of “Five Generations at Work: How We Win Together, For Good.”

Patrick has a passion for education and is a former member of the General Council of the University of Warwick, a Visiting Professor at Cranfield School of Management, an Associate Fellow at Warwick Business School and a member of Founders4Schools. He is also a former Chair of the Oversight Board for the Chartered Management Consultant and trustee of the Chartered Management Institute.

He was also the founding Chair of the EY Foundation, chaired Leap Confronting Conflict, smart materials business D3O and was the founder of Warwick in Africa.

Patrick was awarded an OBE in the King’s 2023 Birthday Honours list for services to charity and philanthropy in Africa and the UK.

Patrick is a regular speaker on similar programmes at the Financial Times and BVCA on board dynamics.

Simon Witney, Travers Smith and LSE

Simon is a senior consultant and chairs Travers Smith’s ESG and Impact Group. Simon has particular expertise in sustainable finance and corporate governance, especially in the private markets.

Throughout his career Simon has been a prolific writer and regular speaker on company law and corporate governance and over the last 25 years or so he has advised private equity and venture capital, as well as the UK Government, on a wide range of fund and transactional matters. He has a market-leading reputation in the private equity sector, with both Real Deals magazine and Private Equity International magazine having named Simon amongst the most influential figures in private equity.

Simon has previously been a member of the BVCA Council, was chair of the BVCA’s Legal and Accounting Committee between 2010 and 2016, and has also chaired Invest Europe’s Tax, Legal and Regulatory Committee. He is now a member of the BVCA’s Accounting, Reporting and Governance Committee, the Policy Committee of UKSIF (the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association) and the ESG Committee of the City of London Law Society (CLLS).

In addition, Simon is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor in Practice in the Law School at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also teaches on the LLM programme. Simon’s book, “Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment in Private Equity”, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2021.

Simon is a regular speaker on similar programmes at the Financial Times and BVCA on the legal responsibilities of directors.