A business ‘SuperConnector’ who has helped thousands across the North East of England to start and grow their ventures is marking a decade staging some of the region’s most successful events.
However, for Paul Lancaster, the champagne is on ice – as he’s warned the region has “gone backwards” in key areas despite a boom in entrepreneurial ambition.
Having enjoyed a varied career – including a spell as an international DJ and music producer – Paul moved into events with the inaugural Newcastle Startup Week festival in 2017.
The success of the five-day, multi-venue festival saw it become one of the North East’s flagship business events which repeated again in 2018 and 2019 along with the monthly Founders’ Friday events before the pandemic forced him to move everything online. In January 2024, he returned to in-person events with the popular, monthly half-day PLATFORM events and last summer’s five-day UK Startup & Scaleup Week festival in Sunderland.
Now preparing for his 100th major event in June, Paul says the biggest reward has been seeing others succeed.
“One of the greatest thrills you can have in business is helping someone bring their ideas to life and fulfil their potential” he said.
“I recently checked and can see that I’ve directly helped just under 4,000 different entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders through consultancy, coaching, mentoring, matchmaking, signposting and events over the past ten years and I’m proud to think I’ve played even a small part in their story.”
“Sometimes I won’t hear until months later that somebody secured funding, landed a major client, hired someone or found an investor because of a conversation started at one of our events or an introduction that I’ve made.”
His contribution to the region’s business community hasn’t gone unnoticed.
At his recent full-day PLATFORM Conference in Newcastle, Paul received a ‘High Sheriff’s Award for Meritorious Community Service’ to businesses across Tyne and Wear from the current High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear, Ammar Mirza CBE.
The award recognises years spent bringing founders, investors and organisations together.
Prior to that, Paul won ‘Collaborator of the Year’ at Dynamo North East’s Dynamites awards in 2016 and 2017, was runner up in 2018 and won the ‘PROFILE’ category in the North East Times ‘Impact Awards’ for the work he did to promote the local business community on a regional, national and international level in 2019.
A 2019 ‘Impact Report’ produced with Newcastle University concluded that Newcastle Startup Week had positively influenced the region, with 80% of event attendees feeling more motivated and inspired and 75% saying they were more likely to think the North East was a good place to start and grow a business.
Yet fast-forward to 2026, and Paul believes the wider regional picture is mixed.
“In several key metrics, the North East hasn’t really improved over the last decade – poverty, job creation and opportunity gaps are still huge challenges” he said.
“Where we have improved is in business startup and scaleup activity. There are more ambitious founders here now, and more people speaking confidently about building companies in the North East.”
“But the North East can be too dependent on waiting for Government direction or grant funding and is still too public-sector led at times. The business ecosystems that succeed most in the UK and around the world are entrepreneur-led, with the public sector there to support rather than control.”
Paul, who briefly returned to employment in tech recruitment after the pandemic before relaunching events full-time in 2024, says he remains optimistic about the future – provided the region backs its business owners and leaders.
“There is opportunity everywhere” he added
“But entrepreneurs need to be trusted to unlock it with local and national government removing barriers, opening doors and playing a supporting role.”
