Here East reveals inaugural ‘East London Innovators’ community showcasing depth of talent in East London Boroughs

• The inaugural showcase from Here East highlights the most innovative individuals, business and community leaders from across East London
• Campaign exhibited portraits of the Innovators open to the local community

Wednesday 27 February: Here East, today launched its inaugural ‘East London Innovators’ showcase, identifying outstanding Londoners who are making a significant contribution to the business, cultural and social landscape in east London.

The initiative showcases the innovative work being done throughout the east London boroughs and includes founders of disruptive businesses, industry changemakers, as well as leaders of non-profit social initiatives, and education and youth projects. 

Amongst these are Wayne McGregor, multi-awarding winning dance choreographer, Hayden Wood and Amit Gudka, founders of Bulb, a major industry challenger in the green energy sector, Kadine James, tech lead at Hobs 3D and Cemal Ezel, founder of Change Please, the coffee social enterprise dedicated to combating homelessness.

Further innovators include Bobby Kasanaga, founder of the Hackney Wick Football Club, a community led team praised for combatting peer pressure and youth crime, and Miriam Goodacre, founder of Clean for Good, the ethical cleaning company securing fair pay and workers’ rights for cleaners across London.

The campaign was launched by [Delancey’s Here East] to showcase the individuals who are disrupting their sectors and bringing positive change to their communities. The campaign includes a full report featuring the 50 Innovators, a portrait exhibition being held at Here East and will involve a series of community engagement projects throughout the year.

Here East now has 3,700 people working and studying across the campus and is home to some of London’s most innovative businesses. Among those based here are Ford Smart Mobility, Studio Wayne McGregor, UCL/Bartlett School of Architecture, MatchesFashion.com as well as BT Sport and Plexal – a world class innovation centre. In addition to this, Bird the electric scooter company has recently moved to Here East and the V&A has announced they will be opening the doors to their Collection and Research Centre on the campus in the future.

East London has long been an epicentre of innovation and in recent years, it has undergone a remarkable transformation – from being chosen as the home of the 2012 Olympics to becoming a testing and trial ground for innovation across London. The east is constantly changing and that change is due to the phenomenal people who are working on the ground to make things happen and disrupting their local sectors.

The cohort was selected by a judging panel featuring Theo Blackwell, Chief Digital Officer at London City Hall, Russ Shaw, Founder of Tech London Advocates, Julian Blake, Director and Editor of Digital Agenda, Tommy Ekman, Innovation Lead at Plexal and Jules Coleman, Founder and CTO, Resi.

Gavin Poole, CEO of Here East, said: “At Here East, we see innovation in all shapes and sizes – whether it through sport, education, technology, business, or community based projects. We launched the East London Innovators campaign to draw attention to these individuals throughout east London who are making a huge contribution to the business and culture of the surrounding boroughs and beyond – and who are using their skills, knowledge and passion to solve real life problems. We had a huge number of applications and these finalists were chosen based on collaboration, community and impact.”