Government announces Tom Adeyoola as preferred candidate for UKRI innovation wing after delayed recruitment process
The tech company founder Tom Adeyoola has been named as the government’s choice for next leader of Innovate UK.
The science minister Patrick Vallance said on 25 March: “With his experience in technology entrepreneurship and digital transformation, Tom Adeyoola is the right person to ensure Innovate UK delivers real impact—backing pioneering businesses, scaling up breakthrough innovations and ensuring the UK leads in the industries of the future.”
Adeyoola replaces Innovate UK’s interim executive chair, Stella Peace, who took over when the last permanent leader, Indro Mukerjee, stepped down in September 2024. Mukerjee had led the innovation funding agency, a part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), for three years.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology started the recruitment process for a new permanent executive chair in April last year, but the process was delayed because of the general election in July 2025.
Industry experience
Adeyoola founded the company Metail, a technology company for the fashion industry, in 2008. It was sold to its lead investor in 2019. He has alsoworked with Innovate UK to improve diversity in grant funding as co-founder of Extend Ventures, a not-for-profit investor helping entrepreneurs form companies.
As head of Innovate UK, Dsit said Adeyoola will be expected to help businesses “turn cutting-edge ideas into solutions”. Alongside running grants schemes for businesses, the agency oversees the UK’s Catapult Network—which connects businesses with R&D expertise—and runs the £100 million Innovation Accelerator programme—a pilot scheme to boost innovation in the Glasgow city region, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
Adeyoola said: “Innovate UK plays a vital role in catalysing the businesses that will shape the UK’s future economy—whether through cutting-edge technologies, the creative industries, or AI.
“I look forward to working with partners across the ecosystem, industry and government to ensure our investments have a multiplier impact, driving innovation that fuels economic growth and strengthens the UK’s position as a global leader in science and technology.”
Budget unclear
The science department said Innovate UK supported over 450,000 innovators in 2023-24. While the government said the agency is a part of plans to boost economic growth, there is a question mark over its budget for the 2025-26 financial year, with Dsit yet to confirm UKRI’s allocation funding amid warnings from its outgoing chief executive Ottoline Leyser that budgets will be tight.
Leyser said: “Tom Adeyoola’s appointment is excellent news for Innovate UK and the whole of UKRI. His experience and insight as a technology entrepreneur and business leader will bring enormous benefits and expertise to the organisation at this critical time.”
Adeyoola’s appointment is subject to a pre-appointment security hearing by the department, expected to take place on 8 April. If confirmed, as expected, he will step down from all his other existing roles, except as a member on Channel 4’s board and a school governor.
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