Dr Gregory Burke

Described by Cranfield MBA magazine as 'one of the UK's leading social entrepreneurs’ Gregory acquired his disability out of the blue as 16 year old. He had severe encephalitis and was in hospital and rehabilitation for over 3 and a half years.

Upon leaving rehabilitation in 1994, he won a place at King’s College Cambridge to read History, despite not having any education at all during his illness and rehabilitation and despite not having sat any examinations.

While still a student, Gregory founded “DisabledGo”, later renamed AccessAble.co.uk, in response to a national consultation he conducted as to why disabled people were so excluded from society.

A principal reason was the institutional (mis)understanding of disability and a lack of relevant and sufficient detailed access information to enable disabled people to make up their own minds whether a venue was suitable for them.

For the last 24 years, AccessAble has striven to correct this. It provides Detailed Access Guides on a genuinely pan-disability basis to 475+ large organisations including 100+ universities, 100+ local authorities, 100+ NHS trusts and 100+ national businesses including many household names. In the last year, well over 6 million disabled people used AccessAble.co.uk.

AccessAble’s chief executive for 12 years, Gregory remains its Executive Chair.

Driven by his desire to tackle inequality and exclusion, Gregory trained as an Equality and Discrimination barrister. He was called to the Bar in 2012.

Gregory mentors aspirant barristers. He sits on the Bar Standards Board Disability Committee and is actively involved in helping the Inns of Court and the wider profession become more accessible and inclusive.

He is regularly featured in the national media, shining a spotlight onto how attempting to access venues can be a disabling experience for many people and what to do about it.

Gregory has been Named as one of the top 100 most influential disabled people in the UK, on the Shaw Trust #DisabilityPowerList100 in each of the last 5 years.