Current role: Board Member
Professor Vikas S. Shah is an award winning entrepreneur, strategist and educator who has built businesses in diverse sectors around the world for almost 20 years. He is also a consultant and advisor to numerous entrepreneurs, business and organisations globally.
Vikas is Managing Director and CEO of Swiscot Group, a leading textiles and commodities trading business with clients globally, he is also founder of the consulting group Thought Strategy and CEO of the film company, Fifty Three Degrees North.
Alongside his business interests, Vikas is Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship on the prestigious Lisbon MBA (with MIT Sloan School of Management) teaching at Católica (Lisbon) and Nova School of Business and Economics. He is a Board Member of The UK Industrial Development Advisory Board (IDAB) which advises the UK Government on the £2.4 billion Regional Growth Fund operating across England, supporting projects and programmes that lever private sector investment creating economic growth and sustainable employment.
Vikas is also a respected speaker, and multi-award winning writer. In his journal, ‘Thought Economics” he has interviewed many of the world’s most influential thinkers including Sir Richard Branson, Buzz Aldrin, Maya Angelou, Noam Chomsky and more than 12 Nobel Laureates in economics, sciences and peace building. Vikas is on the Editorial Board of the Chartered Alternative Investment Association and is a columnist for British Airways Business Life alongside having been a contributor to publications including .net magazine. He is regularly called upon to provide commentary and opinion and has featured in publications including Director, the Economist, The Guardian and CNBC
Philanthropy is a key interest of Vikas. He is a board member of TiE UK North (part of the world’s largest entrepreneurs network) and frequently guest speaks and lectures at entrepreneurship events around the world (including the MIT Global Startup Workshop and the RICE Business Plan Competition). Vikas is also Chair of FutureEverything (one of the world’s most influential festivals and social enterprises, focussed on digital culture) and on the Council of Manchester Digital (the industry body representing digital industries in the North of England). He is a Trustee of Mustard Tree (a charity helping tens of thousands impacted by homelessness, marginalisation and poverty) and is Executive Patron of Manchester Cancer Research Centre. He is also the Founding Patron of Life Fit (a major mental health campaign) and advisor to over a dozen charities in the North of England and internationally.
Vikas has attended Manchester University (UMIST), Manchester Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School and the ICMA Centre (Henley Business School). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturing and Commerce, and a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. Vikas was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in May 2013.