An Evening at Dune London: Building Resilient Businesses

Founder of Dune Shoes

Daniel Rubin is the Founder and Chairman of Dune London, one of the UK’s most recognisable accessible luxury brands, built from a single store into a global business with over 200 locations worldwide.

With more than 50 years in the footwear industry, Daniel’s career spans manufacturing, importing, wholesaling and retail. His journey began in his father’s shoe factory in East London, continuing a family legacy of cobblers that dates back to the late 1800s. Originally training as a Chartered Accountant and starting his career in banking and industry, Daniel made the decision to enter the family trade, despite advice to the contrary, and went on to build a brand that has navigated decades of change in the retail landscape.

Throughout his career, Daniel has experienced both significant successes and costly setbacks, from expanding internationally to overcoming industry disruption, economic downturns and the rapid evolution of consumer behaviour. His approach has always been grounded in adaptability, commercial discipline and a deep understanding of product and customer.

Daniel is also the author of Sole Survivor: How I Built a Global Shoe Brand, a candid account of his journey, sharing lessons on resilience, decision-making and what it takes to build a lasting business in a highly competitive market.    

University of Kent Chancellor

YolanDa Brown OBE DL was appointed Chancellor in April 2024.

YolanDa graduated with a first-class undergraduate masters degree in European Management Science with Spanish from Kent Business School, before going on to achieve her second masters degree and undertake a PhD.

YolanDa’s commitment to music and education has been synonymous throughout her career. As well as releasing critically acclaimed albums and touring with the likes of The Temptations, Jools Holland, Billy Ocean, Dave Stewart and more, YolanDa was Chair of Youth Music for six years and is currently a sitting member of the Arts Council, Chair of the BPI - the representative voice for record labels in the UK – and an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, among other positions. She was also appointed a member of the Arts and Media Honours committee. 

As Chancellor, YolanDa’s duties include conferring degrees, chairing the University’s Court and representing the University on special occasions.

Founder of Jehucal and ASPIRE Alumnus

Emay Enemokwu is the founder and creative director of Jehucal, a London-based fashion label positioned at the intersection of streetwear and luxury.

Starting the brand at 19 with £1,000, he has grown Jehucal into an internationally recognised label, worn by artists including Davido and supported by a global customer base across Europe, North America and Asia.

Through a combination of distinctive products, storytelling, and strategic collaborations, including Levi's, Chivas Regal, The FA Cup and an upcoming collaboration with Saracens. Jehucal has developed a strong cultural presence beyond traditional retail.

Emay is focused on building Jehucal into a globally recognised fashion house, centred around the philosophy of “Till Forever” - creating pieces and a community designed to last.

Co-Founder and Director of UK Must Have Ideas

Amy Knight is a 29-year-old disruptive entrepreneur, owner, and Director of Must Have Ideas, a leading UK e-commerce retail company generating an annual turnover of £80 million.

Specialising in problem-solving home and garden products, Amy started the business from her spare room in Rochester in 2018. Since then, Must Have Ideas has grown into a 250,000-square-foot warehouse and a full-time staff of 200, focused on the highest standards of customer service. 

Must Have Ideas has achieved Trust Pilot’s highest rating of 'Excellent' from 150,000 reviews. It prides itself on top-class customer service, being a family run business and three key promises: quick delivery, 100-day, money back guarantee and an easy returns process.

In 2023 Amy was added to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Europe om Retail and E-Commerce category.

Martin graduated with a degree in Philosophy from University of Kent in the 1980s and started his career as a business journalist, working mainly for trade and industry publications and writing for the FT and The Guardian.

In 2002 he started the Propeller Group PR agency which grew to be a UK top ten independent business comms business, with 50 staff and offices in London and New York.
Over 20 years later, he sold his company in a bank-funded MBO to the directors he had recruited over that time. The company continues to thrive.

From 2015 to 2021 Martin was Chairman of the Campaign for Equal Civil Partnerships, which successfully campaigned for a law change to make civil partnerships available to all couples who want an alternative to marriage. He was awarded an OBE for this pro bono work in King Charles III’s first birthday honours list in June 2023.

Martin is an experienced conference speaker, panel host and podcaster. For several years he hosted the "Dog 'n' Bone" business podcast.

He is now a part-time advisor to business owners and leaders, especially around their go-to-market activity, public profiles and strategic communications. He is also an angel investor in a number of start ups and scale ups.

Going full circle back to his interest in philosophy and critical thinking, Martin is currently on the management team of RationaGrid.ai - a new AI-assisted NFP platform with a mission to improve public understanding and learning around serious concepts, arguments and discourse using AI tools in a not-for-profit, open access environment.

He is a decent chess player, less accomplished golfer and keen paddleboarder. He lives in west London with his civil partner. 

Chair of PRS for Music

Stevie Spring CBE, graduated from Kent Law School in 1978 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2011 for services to women in business. Described by The Guardian as 'a media industry grandee', Stevie currently chairs the music rights organisation, PRSforMusic,  as well as the mental health charity Mind and the pladis advisory board. She is an investor/advisor to three tech scale-ups and a visiting professor at Manchester Metropolitan Business School.

She worked in marketing, television, and advertising before becoming CEO of two international media companies -ClearChannel/Livenation and Future plc. She has served on numerous boards including the £12bn turnover Coop Group; Chaired the British Council for the government and Children in Need for the BBC.

Stevie was named by GQ magazine as one of the UK’s 100 most connected women; and is on the Telegraph/Debretts list of Britain’s 500 most influential people.