Bright spark takes lead on entrepreneur development

NATWEST has appointed a new lead for entrepreneurship in Wales.

Khushboo Patel, right, becomes entrepreneur development manager, overseeing the bank’s entrepreneurship strategy across the country.

She is based at the flagship Entrepreneurial Spark powered by Nat West hub at One Central Square in Cardiff.

Ms Patel replaces Caroline Thompson, who has moved on secondment from Nat West to lead innovation and entrepreneurship movement Be The Spark.

“Nat West is determined to be the leading bank for entrepreneurs – we are working hard to empower UK businesses to start, scale and succeed,” said Ms Patel.

“When the opportunity came up to be part of this exciting vision and lead the entrepreneurial focus in Wales, I couldn’t say no. I want to drive the reputation of our hub at One Central Square as a real centre of excellence on entrepreneurship, and continue to collaborate with a range of our ecosystem partners to create a buzz of activity to help support entrepreneurs in Wales.

“NatWest is a key player in events such as the Great British Entrepreneurship Awards, as well as being one of the first corporate supporters of Be The Spark, and I’ll continue to work closely with Caroline in her new role.

“And we have our own team of business growth enablers running regional ‘Boost’ events to provide support for SMEs. Entrepreneurship is a huge focus for NatWest and I’ll be building on the fantastic work already going on. This is a dream job in my own backyard.”

Ms Patel has worked at NatWest for 10 years, starting on the bank’s graduate programme and moving on to roles in credit risk and relationship management.

Her most recent role was relationship director, heading up the bank’s specialist team in healthcare in Wales.