NEW ANGLIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Leader, Mid Suffolk Council
Andy was born and raised in Suffolk. He studied at Writtle Agricultural College and later gained a Masters from Imperial College through distance learning. His career has largely been in agriculture but has included six years spent working in Africa: teaching in Nigeria and as an aid worker in Malawi, including the coordination of a large scale food aid programme working with the UN World Food Programme. Returning to Suffolk in 2006, he set up a business producing food sustainably for local sale, which he continues to run in his spare time. In 2019 he was elected on to Mid Suffolk District Council representing the Green Party, and in 2021 he was also elected on to Suffolk County Council. In May 2023, he led the campaign which saw the first ever elected Green majority on a local council in the UK. View Andrew's Register of Interests here
Job Titles:
- Leader, Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Carl was first elected as a member of Great Yarmouth Borough Council to represent the Bradwell North Ward in May 2015. He has held various positions on the Council including Cabinet Member of the Environment, Chairman of the Environment Committee and Deputy Leader. In May 2019 he became the Leader of the Council, a position he still holds. He was first elected as a Member of Norfolk County in 2019 to represent the Breydon Division. View Carl's Register of Interests here
Job Titles:
- Chairman of New Anglia LEP
CJ Green is Chair of New Anglia LEP. She is Co-Founder and Executive Director of BraveGoose, a technology driven Human Resources Advice solution. Her career has been predominantly in HR in both the public and private sector. She was previously Chief People Officer and then Chief Executive Officer of a Suffolk-based firm with a global workforce of 26,000. CJ is also a Trustee of Pepal who connect non-government organisations and global corporations to find solutions to social issues, she believes strongly in the capability of business as a force for good and feels passionately that the eastern region is an example of what is possible in that regard. View CJ's Register of Interests here
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive of Norfolk Community Foundation
Claire Cullens has been the Chief Executive of Norfolk Community Foundation since the beginning of 2018 and previously worked as the Foundation's Development Manager. Claire has a wealth of experience in business development from a varied and international career that included establishing markets for confectionery in both Japan and Russia. She is passionate about making Norfolk a better place for everyone. During her time in Norfolk she has been active in the voluntary sector as a Business Mentor for the Princes Trust, a governor at the Hewett School and recently as a Director of Pro Help. Claire is chair of the LEP's Skills Advisory Panel.
Job Titles:
- Principal & Chief Executive, College of West Anglia
David holds qualifications in business & management, education and finance and is an experienced FE leader. He has been in his current post for over 15 years, having previously been principal of a smaller college for four years and held management posts in two other colleges. Prior to taking up his current post, David gained further private sector experience, leading the financial benchmarking service across FE for the Tribal Group. Under David's leadership, the college has prioritised curriculum development to meet the needs of local and regional employers. The College of West Anglia (CWA) has achieved many awards for engagement with employers and apprenticeship provision. Recent success includes becoming the first ever UK college to achieve the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award. David is the WorldSkills UK regional ambassador for the East of England and CWA are the leading college for WorldSkills success in the region. David represents the college on a number of external bodies and became a member of the Department for Education Further Education Principals Reference Group in 2022. He is proud to have developed and empowered a strong team; the college is currently rated ‘Good' by Ofsted. He has strong financial management skills and much experience of managing infrastructure developments. "Through astute financial management and strong alliances, the principal has secured sufficient funding to improve significantly the college's accommodation and resources" (Ofsted 2019). View David's Register of Interests here
Dominic is CEO of Britbots (www.britbots.com), a seed fund investing in and mentoring some of the fastest growing robotics companies in the UK. Having previously worked in engineering and software, Dominic is a champion for the British robotics industry and brings expertise in this growing sector to the LEP board.
Job Titles:
- Vice - Chancellor from the University of South Wales
Professor Helen Langton joined the University of Suffolk as Vice-Chancellor from the University of South Wales where she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor and a Professor in Children's Cancer Nursing Education.
Helen has held a number of senior posts in universities in the UK and has a range of experience across health and social care, science, social science and education. Helen has been a member of a number of national boards and bodies including with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Department of Health and the Quality Assurance Agency. Helen is Chair of Governors at an independent school, member of the UK Health Education Advisory Committee for the Office for Students and Research England and just became a trustee of East Anglia Children's Hospice. Internationally Helen has held board membership for the Academy of Health Care Improvement, and the De Souza Nursing Institute in Toronto, Canada and is an Editor of the International Journal of Child Health Care.
Johnathan has more than 15 years' experience in the energy sector. He has been a director at Lowestoft-based Opergy since 2010, working with start-ups and social enterprises to multinational firms and government bodies across all areas of clean growth, technology commercialisation and strategy development.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Legal Director of Kettle Foods Ltd
- Legal Director, Valeo Snack Foods
Kathy is Legal Director of Kettle Foods Ltd, the premium snack manufacturer known for brands such as KETTLE Chips and Metcalfe's popcorn.
She joined Norfolk-based Kettle Foods in 2004 and as well as heading up its legal function she is also a member of the executive board which manages the company's activities in the UK and the rest of Europe.
Kathy is also a director of the group's Dutch subsidiary which manufactures vegetable chips.
Prior to joining Kettle Foods Kathy spent eight years in the electricity industry in a number of in-house counsel roles based in Suffolk.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chair of New Anglia Advanced Manufacturing
Katy Davies is currently Deputy Chair of New Anglia Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering group, the LEP's vehicle to promote best practice and advanced in the region's rich and diverse manufacturing sector. Katy was most recently Managing Director of CamdenBoss Limited, a privately owned £12m turnover manufacturing company based in Mildenhall, Suffolk, and is a keen supporter of early careers and future talent as a school governor and Enterprise Advisor to Mildenhall College Academy. A Chartered Accountant by background, Katy has always worked for or with privately owned businesses predominantly in the manufacturing and engineering sector, spending eight years working for the Marshall group of companies in Cambridge working within all divisions (Holding company, motor group and aerospace) before moving into operations leadership. Prior to this she cut her teeth working for Deloitte in Cambridge where she advised entrepreneurial and privately-owned businesses. She graduated from Sidney Sussex, Cambridge with a degree in History. View Katy's Register of Interests
Job Titles:
- Leader, Norfolk County Council
Kay was elected as Leader of Norfolk County Council on 9 May 2023 having been re-elected for a second time as a County Councillor in 2021, so has served 10 years with the authority. She has also been a South Norfolk District Councillor for the past 12 years and held the position of Deputy Leader from 2018 up until becoming Leader of Norfolk County Council. Her political career has been a long one, having fought the parliamentary seat of Norwich North in 2001. Kay's background is in legal where she had a career in the Marine Sciences Industry in Great Yarmouth, latterly holding the position of Group Company Secretary. She has also travelled and worked in both Egypt and Brazil. She is married to Michael and has three grown-up children. She has lived or worked in every in part of the county and currently lives in South Norfolk. View Kay's Register of Interests here
Job Titles:
- Leader, Suffolk County Council
Matthew Hicks was elected as the Leader of Suffolk County Council in May 2018. He is also currently the Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Infrastructure and Broadband. Matthew was elected as the County Councillor for the Thredling division in 2013. He was appointed as the Assistant Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services in May 2014. Matthew was subsequently appointed as the Cabinet Member for Environment and Public Protection in May 2015.
Job Titles:
- Leader of Norwich City Council
Mike Stonard is Leader of Norwich City Council. He has been a City Councillor since 2012 and previous cabinet portfolio responsibilities have included Finance, Economic Development, Environment, and Transport. His professional career was in the NHS, where he held several Chief Executive positions in trusts in Norfolk and Suffolk. He is Chair of the Board of Trustees of local charity Future Projects, which provides services and support to some of the most vulnerable people in Norfolk. He also is a Director of several local companies. View Mike's Register of Interests here
Job Titles:
- Leader of Ipswich Borough Council
Neil MacDonald is the Leader of Ipswich Borough Council where he holds the Place and Economic Development portfolios. He is from the North of Scotland and moved to Ipswich after graduation to work at BT Adastral Park. He had a 35-year career in technology specialising in data centre infrastructure and cyber security. He is now keen to foster a prosperous and sustainable future for Ipswich and realise the undoubted potential of the town. View Neils's Register of Interests here.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Shorthose Russell
Pete Joyner began his career working in public relations in London and Cambridge before returning to Norwich in the mid-2000s. He is Managing Director of marketing communications agency Shorthose Russell, leading the growth of the agency and its sister travel and tourism arm Thissaway. He has extensive experience of delivering communication and digital strategies for local, regional and international brands across the private and public sector.
Job Titles:
- CEO of Orbital Global
- CEO, Orbital Global and VirtTuri
Peter Brady is CEO of Orbital Global, CEO of VirtTuri and Co-Founder of Innovation Labs Group. Stowmarket-based Orbital Global is made up of three divisions: Orbital Media, a leading digital marketing agency; Orbital Research, which is engaged in pioneering healthcare research; and Orbital Innovations, which specialises in AI, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and gamification technologies. Innovation Labs is a rapidly expanding network of modern coworking locations that offer unique innovation, technology, and business scaling support from experienced mentors. Current locations include Stowmarket, Sudbury, the University of Suffolk (Ipswich) and Woodbridge. In addition, Peter is Chair of the LEP's Council for Digital Tech, sits on the New Anglia Innovation Board and represents the Innovation Labs on the Connected Innovation Network. He recently attended the LEP board to provide an update on the work of the Council for Digital Tech. View Peter's Register of Interests here.
Job Titles:
- Founder, Scarlett & Mustard
Sandy runs high end food business Scarlett & Mustard. Scarlett and Mustard makes a range of award-winning sweet and savoury condiments, which are stocked in some of the most prestigious foodhalls around the world including Harrods, Selfridges, Partridges, Booths and Lakeland.
Sandy is New Anglia LEP's SME business board representative, making sure that the interests of SMEs are represented.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, MLM Group
- Member of Our Building Growth Group
Steve Oliver has been part of MLM for 25 years. MLM has grown from a small structural consulting business in Ipswich to a national and international company employing 375 people in 12 UK offices and in Europe, South America and the Middle East. He currently leads the company's overseas activities and is also a director of MLM Consulting Engineers Ltd.
Steve is also an active member of our Building Growth Group which seeks to address barriers to growth in the construction sector.