Andrea Winders

Andrea Winders is the Head of Inward Investment for Life Sciences and Healthcare at MIDAS, Greater Manchester’s Inward Investment Agency. In her role, she focuses on promoting Greater Manchester as a leading location for life sciences and healthcare investments. She works closely with international partners, businesses, and governments to understand the drivers to attract and retain growing life science organisations, then pairs with UK research and regulatory bodies to provide the necessary information, connections, space, and opportunities to design, test, and commercialise innovative products.

A creative Manchester-based entrepreneur and expert in tech, infrastructure, and smart cities, Andrea has a diverse background that led her to this position. She started her career in sales, holding many executive and managerial positions in companies like Spicers, Lyreco, and Office Depot.

In 2005, Andrea founded Pink Ladies, a no-cash, innovative digital female-led taxi service to provide a solution with reduced risks for passengers and drivers, resulting in several national awards, including 42-under-42 for Innovation, Woman of the Year finalist, Start-up of the Year finalist, Big Difference Award, and culminating in a meeting with HRH Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of services to women’s safety.

With much experience in bringing innovative technological solutions and having made a community network of government and public departments, she joined Sunderland City Council as the Executive Director of Enterprise Investment to ignite the city’s smart agenda.

This role led her to pursue her passion to work with organisations and technologies that empower cities and citizens. She then joined the Smart Cities Council in Nov 2022. Andrea held the title of Executive Director of Smart Cities Council and managed the organisation’s growth and drove objectives for the expansion of the smart agenda throughout the country.