Frankie James

Ideas Community

Frankie James is the Co-Founder of Ideas Community, the UK entrepreneurship ecosystem built around one simple belief: back the people brave enough to start something. What began with the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in 2012 has grown into five national programmes reaching more than 100,000 entrepreneurs, from the UK StartUp Awards to the UK Fast Growth Index and the Great British Industry Awards.

Ideas Fest is the beating heart of it all. Frankie dreamed it up during the pandemic as a bit of a gamble, an outdoor festival for business leaders and entrepreneurs, and it has since grown into a two-day gathering of thousands who come to learn, connect and be part of something far bigger than a conference.

When she isn't building the ecosystem, Frankie is usually cooking up an excuse for founders to do something wild together, whether that's an Ideas Table dinner in a new city or an Ideas Extreme adventure like the Sisterhood Rickshaw Rally from Chennai to Goa. She is based in Wales, allergic to corporate nonsense, and happiest when she is putting brilliant people in the same room.