Dr Fiona Whitehurst is a Senior Lecturer and Director of (Research) Impact at Newcastle University Business School.  

Fiona’s research focuses on engaging with small and micro-enterprises to understand their processes and practices through in-depth qualitative research. She leads Newcastle University’s Captured programme, which was recognised by AACSB International in their 2018 “Innovations that Inspire” Challenge, and has supported over 125 small businesses since 2016. 

She led the Newcastle team’s research project from May 2020 involving in-depth qualitative data collection at regular intervals with 20 small businesses based in North East England. This highlighted significant challenges for small business owners in understanding and implementing COVID-19 regulations and the financial, administrative and emotional cost of responding to ever-changing guidance.   

Within this project she will be involved in the qualitative interview research; stakeholder engagement to pilot the survey and maximise responses; and working with the FSB to ensure that the research informs the way in which regulation and related guidance relevant to small businesses is formulated and communicated post-pandemic.