Ben Branson, Founder, Farmer & Inventor, spent 39 years not knowing his brain worked differently.
In that time, he pioneered the global non-alcoholic drinks movement with Seedlip, the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, taking it from his kitchen to 35 countries, 30 US states & 7,500 of the best bars, restaurants & hotels in just 3.5 years.
As a television chef, Joe has worked alongside Jamie Oliver, Gennaro Contaldo, Francesco Mazzei and the late, great Antonio Carluccio. He’s also a regular guest presenter on BBC 1’s Saturday Kitchen.
Steve Hargreaves is an award-winning Executive Coach, Author of ‘The Compassionate Leader’s Playbook’, and the Founder and Director of The Compassionate Leadership Company - a coaching, culture, and leadership development company which specialises in helping organisations and their leaders to inspire, craft and sustain high performing, emotionally healthy, compassionate workplaces where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, achieve and stay well.
He continues to lead & shape how we drink with innovations including Sylva, the first distillery & maturation labs making aged non-alcoholic spirits.
Ben’s autism diagnosis in 2022 led to creating The Hidden 20% 🟢, an award-winning neurodiversity charity, podcast & 250k strong community on a mission to include every mind using media, research & advocacy.
Ben’s inspiring story charts the extremes of addiction, institutionalisation & abuse through to proof a different brain, properly understood, can change the world.
With over 20 years of senior leadership experience of leading change and modernising large scale, operational services across local government, regulated care and charitable sectors.
A pioneer in the freedom to speak up movement, undertaking the role of Freedom to Speak Up Guardian for a national health care charity, working to build more compassionate, connected, and collaborative workplace cultures underpinned by high levels of trust and inter-personal safety.
He lives in the UK, on the North Somerset coast with his family, his dog, and his chickens.
Cassie Davison brings more than 30 years’ hospitality experience and 25 years as a founder and owner to her work with hospitality SMEs and the organisations that serve them.
With 20 years’ experience working in professional services roles in further and higher education institutions, Susanna joins CUBO from the University of Sussex where she was Head of the Researcher School.
Sue joined the CUBO Executive in 2019, having chaired the CUBO Marketing Group for 4 years. A senior leader, Chartered Marketer and experienced higher education professional with over 25 years' experience in marketing, 19 of those years spent working across the higher education sector.
She is the author of Stand Out Hospitality, a Business Book Awards 2026 finalist, founder of Kith & Kin, and a hospitality speaker and consultant specialising in founder-led hospitality businesses.
Her work focuses on how hospitality SMEs think, decide, grow and thrive, and why apparently good ideas, products and support sometimes fail to land.
Cassie works directly with founders and established hospitality businesses, helping them make clearer strategic decisions and strengthen the foundations of the business.
She also works with suppliers, funders, technology businesses, BIDs, local authorities, trade bodies and sector organisations whose success depends on understanding hospitality SMEs properly.
Because misunderstanding how founder-led businesses make decisions is expensive.
Products go unused. Support fails to engage. Marketing misses the mark. Investment is directed at the wrong problem.
Having provided both strategic and operational leadership at all organisational levels, and having managed a range of critical student-focussed and -facing teams, Susanna brings a deep understanding of the student experience, and of the strategic and operational challenges faced by further and higher education institutions.
Susanna also serves as an elected Executive Board member and Trustee of the UK Council for Graduate Education, giving her key insights into the management and operation of a non-profit, membership-focussed organisation from multiple perspectives.
She is currently Head of Marketing & Communications at the University of Leeds, where she leads the strategy and delivery of marketing, communications and engagement for key institutional priorities, including commercial growth, campus experience, sustainability and large-scale transformational change initiatives. Sue plays an active role in the wider marketing industry as a Chartered Marketer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and previously as a member of the regional CIM Board.
"I am incredibly excited to be part of CUBO at this pivotal moment in its journey. For many years, CUBO has played a vital role in championing the commercial and campus service professionals who help shape the daily experience of students and staff. As our sector navigates significant financial, operational and societal challenges, the importance of campus experience, commercial sustainability and strong leadership has never been greater. I am excited by the opportunity to build an even stronger, more connected CUBO community, develop the next generation of leaders, strengthen our sector influence, and demonstrate why, now more than ever, campus experience matters."
