Black Business Series Launch

This exclusive event offers a unique opportunity to:

• Network with successful Black alumni entrepreneurs at all stages of business growth.
• Share your expertise and experiences with recent graduates and fellow alumni.
• Explore partnership opportunities with the University of Greenwich and other organisations.
• Contribute to creating a sustainable ecosystem of support and mentorship.
• Be part of an initiative aligned with Greenwich's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Meet our speakers

Roneish Myers, Founder of MoneyHeave

BA Hons Accounting and Finance, 2014

Roneish is the founder at MoneyHeave, a financial wellbeing company. She has worked in the world of finance for over a decade. She has attained a first-class degree in accounting and finance in 2014 and held various roles in finance, most notably at Netflix, St Ives Plc, and CPM UK. Since launching in 2020, MoneyHeave has achieved some great things:

• A community of over 5500+ professionals, entrepreneurs and students.
• Hosted and delivered a number of personal finance workplace and private workshops, seminars, courses, programs, coaching clinics, one to one coaching and consultancy services both in person and online.
• Worked with a number of clients such as Ares Management, Tate Modern, CBRE, the University of Greenwich and more!
• Produced a range of digital products including e-books, courses, workbooks to improve the financial health of employees, service users and students.
• Featured in a number of newspaper articles including Forbes, The Daily Mail, The business magazine and more!

Roneish is also the Chair of the University of Greenwich Global Majority Alumni Community and shares her expertise and experience with alumni, students and staff.

Duval Middleton, Chief Executive Officer of Gumipod Group

BA Hons Architecture, 2011

87% of the global gum chewing consumers dispose of their gum in public/private places… but why? The answer is because we have nowhere to discard it, at that precise moment when we need to dispose of it. This leads to gum residue, on public flooring, under chairs/tables, etc.

Gumipod Group has developed the world's first plastic chewing gum packaging with an integrated bin.

Developed by Duval Middleton, an entrepreneur determined to clean up Britain’s streets – he is hoping his innovative Gumipod product, which was successfully patented in 2021, is the answer to preventing chewing gum being discarded on the nation’s streets, estimated to cost the Government and councils over £60 million each year to eradicate and clean.

Its innovative design has two compartments, in which fresh gum is stored in the top section and used gum placed in a separate section underneath. The packaging is said to be fully recyclable at end-of-life and food-grade compliant, as well as small enough to fit in a pocket or handbag.

Paula Francisco, Founder of VPRoyals

BSc Criminology and Criminal Psychology, 2015

VPRoyals is a natural, organic haircare line designed specifically for women with textured hair, with a special focus on kinky and coily hair types. Our products are crafted with rich butters and nourishing oils, including Shea Butter, Mango Butter, and a blend of essential oils, to deeply hydrate and condition each strand—without the use of added water. This unique formulation helps lock in moisture more effectively, promoting healthier, more resilient hair.

Our mission is to make VPRoyals more accessible by bringing our products to local shops, so our customers can enjoy convenient access to the care their hair truly deserves.

Dr Carlton Brown, CEO of Aspire Consultancy

Dr Carlton Brown has been helping businesses deliver profitable growth for over two decades. With more than 25 years' experience in selling and sales management, he is well positioned to guide organisations towards sales peak performance optimisation.

Dr Brown’s experience is a unique combination of senior corporate leadership experience within FTSE100 organisations and building start-up businesses. He has extensively researched how to help organisations develop the required skills, knowledge and strategies to create peak performance sales teams.

Among his many career accomplishments, Dr Brown has published peer-reviewed articles on business performance, supplier diversity, and the Black Entrepreneur Report.

He is also the author of The Race Paradox, which explores why organisations fail on race. His commitment to supporting diverse business leaders led Dr Brown to found UK Black Business Entrepreneur Conference, a dedicated space to addresses systemic challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs while celebrating their contributions to business and society, from unlocking access to funding to influencing policy reform.

Carlton is CEO of Aspire Consultancy and founder of Marshall & Brown, a company that has won 4 UK Great Taste Awards. He holds an MBA and PhD in Business Performance Management and currently serves as Executive Director on the board of the Association of Business Mentors (ABM) and Board Member of the National Windrush Museum.

Register to attend

This is a free event; however, please register in advance via the button below.

We welcome guests outside of the immediate university community who are Black business owners and entrepreneurs or organisations who are wanting to support our alumni.

Get involved

If you’d like to express your interest in being involved – whether in the series launch or future workshops, please complete the short form which will be shared in your event registration confirmation email.

If you’re unable to attend and would like to be involved in future workshops or have ideas around this event series, please contact the Alumni and Fundraising team at alumni@gre.ac.uk.

This initiative is part of our Global Majority Alumni Community Events Programme and aims to support the university’s commitment to create a diverse and culturally inclusive community. Your involvement contributes directly to building a more diverse, equitable business landscape at Greenwich and beyond.