As Chief Executive and one of the founding directors of EMB in 2005, Stephen created and led the formation of the company from initial idea through inception to full operation, including detailed transition into a single regional model from the five previous county-based Business Link operators.

EMB is now a wide ranging, strongly integrated business support services organisation with income of over £20m, over 300 employees and a first class track record of over achievement on contract performance. As a highly experienced general manager Stephen has concentrated on giving EMB operational excellence and a strong service ethos.

With extensive experience across a number of business sectors Stephen speaks with direct authority on companies' support needs. His focus is on providing practical, relevant help to end user businesses along with significant added value to funders over and above contract targets.

As one of the founding Directors of EMB, Danielle has led on the development and implementation of the corporate and governance infrastructure of EMB enabling the successful set-up and delivery of market leading and value for money services.

A professionally qualified accountant with over 19 years experience, Danielle heads the Corporate Services directorate of EMB working at a strategic level with the board, shareholders, partners and stakeholders as part of the executive management team. She was a key player in the transition of the Business Support strategy in the East Midlands, leading on managing the impact on people working in this field. Her team is responsible for the provision of core services including HR, Training and Development, ICT, Financial Management, H&S and Facilities management.

Sean is one of the founding Directors of EMB Ltd and with a strong background in business support at a senior level and is responsible for the Performance & Planning Directorate within EMB.

Sean has a strong understanding of business support issues with experience of balancing this with the needs of key stakeholders and the public sector.

Sean's teams are responsible for business compliance and the development of region-wide systems and processes to underpin delivery of large scale region wide contracts. In addition, he manages £8m in regional grant programmes and is responsible for the application, claims and monitoring process behind these.

Sean takes a lead on the identification and development of good practice across the company, capturing how we do business and building plans and frameworks around which EMB can improve service delivery. He has successfully implemented KPI performance management routines and quality management systems with direct and relevant experience of ISO 9001, Investors in People, Customer First and EFQM Business Excellence for both EMB and his previous companies.

Richard is one of the founding Directors of EMB Ltd. He has a strong business based background at senior and strategic level in small, medium and large organisations and has directed major change management and restructuring projects. His practical experience, supported by significant academic honours, including an MBA, helped him become a competent and insightful adviser. His expertise and knowledge have shaped the development of the structure and values of the client-facing Operations Team in the East Midlands.

Richard led the development of the adviser team structure in the East Midlands implementing EMB's "thinking regionally, acting locally" philosophy. This work included integrating advisers from five former Business Links through the TUPE process into one focused, regionally consistent and locally managed team delivering excellent performance. A core strand of this integration was the development and implementation of a company-wide common business diagnostic framework.

As part of our 'provider plus' ethos, Richard contributes to the development of, and the rapid response to, the changing needs of our customers (funders) and clients (businesses). For example, this has involved work on skills, developing and changing the diagnostic in response to the credit crunch, the transition loans fund and flood recovery scheme. His holistic knowledge of the business support landscape allows him to represent EMB on various national forums and groups, contributing to service enhancement.

As one of the founding Directors of EMB Ltd, Phoebe has led on the development of innovative multi-channel client engagement strategies. These include the successful implementation of the market-leading Enquiry Hub which applies contact centre processes and systems to an enterprise support environment. A key player in the transition of the business support strategy in the East Midlands, she provided customer journey insight which informed system and process development.

A CIM qualified marketer, Phoebe heads the Business Development directorate, working at a strategic level with customers, stakeholders and the EMB board to ensure service relevance and end user satisfaction during a period of significant change. She leads the teams that engage and provide first level service to our clients, which span marketing, new media, events, information and enquiry handling. Collectively these have increased take up of Business Link services in the East Midlands by 41% over the past two years whilst maintaining customer satisfaction at 90%.

Phoebe also leads on relationship development and defines the strategy for effective engagement with public and private sector stakeholders, regularly presenting to large audiences. Her team also has a strong diversity imperative developing new ways to engage hard to reach audiences through creative partnerships and inventive marketing campaigns. An acknowledged expert on enterprise support, Phoebe regularly participates in national task and finish groups, advisory panels and theme boards.