LEP NETWORK - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chairman Cheshire & Warrington LEP, Chair NP11 Group of LEPs
Clare co-founded, developed and sold Academee, a global leadership development consultancy, to Oliver Wyman, a division of Marsh and McLennan Companies in 2008. Retained post-acquisition as Global Partner of Sales and Market Development within this Fortune250 group.
Job Titles:
- Chairman D2N2 LEP, Chair East Midlands Regional Group of LEPs.
- Chairman of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership
Elizabeth Fagan became Chair of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership in July 2018. Elizabeth is the recent former Non-Executive Chairman of Boots, having been appointed as the first female Managing Director of Boots in 2016. Elizabeth sits on the board of the Office for Students, the independent regulator for higher education in England. She is also a Non-Executive Director of the Australian listed pooling solutions company Brambles.
She is President of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers and is a member and past President of Women in Advertising and Communications Club. Elizabeth was also a member of the ASA Council for six years. In August 2013, she became a Fellow of the Marketing Society and, in the same year, was awarded a Cosmetic Executive Women UK, Achiever Award.
Elizabeth has been awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science by Nottingham Trent University and in January 2020 received a CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours list for her services to gender equality in business.
Elizabeth is the nominated Chair for the East Midlands Regional Group of LEPs: D2N2, Greater Lincolnshire; Leicester.
Jayne joined the LEP Network in June 2015.
Her background is in marketing communications, event management and providing business support at a senior level.
She has worked for large corporates and SMEs and in a variety of industry sectors including, training, market research, digital print, automotive, IT services, recruitment, financial services and construction.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, Coast to Capital LEP and Chair of Catalyst South Regional Group of LEPs
- Managing Director of Chichester College Group
Julie has worked in economic development for over 15 years with a particular focus on enterprise, skills and social inclusion. She served as an advisor to the UK Government's task force on women's enterprise and has recently contributed to the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship including developing the expert in residence programme and the pilot to gender disaggregate LEP data.
She is a Board Member at Gatwick Diamond Business and Trustee of the Worthing Theatres & Museum. She is former Chair of the Chichester Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Julie is Managing Director of Chichester College Group with responsibility for a portfolio of commercial businesses including a chain of childcare nurseries, examination board and international education.
Julie previously worked as director at the South East England Development Agency, managing a portfolio of contracts including Business Link and Finance South East. Prior to this she has a background in consumer marketing and PR. In 2012 she fulfilled a long-held ambition to work on the London 2012 Olympics and managed a legacy programme to encourage volunteering and community engagement in sport.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of Yeo Valley Farms Ltd & Yeo Valley Ltd
- Chairman, Heart of the South West LEP Chair, Great South West Group of LEPs
- Trustee of the Bridgwater Education Trust
Karl is the Chair of Yeo Valley Farms Ltd & Yeo Valley Ltd having previously been the Executive Chairman of Yeo Valley Farms Production Ltd until June 2020. Karl has been with Yeo Valley since 1996 having joined from the Quarrying Industry and before that having served in the British Army. Karl has been a key member of the leadership team that has seen Yeo Valley grow to be the UK's largest organic food brand and one of the largest, independent, family owned dairy businesses in the UK. Prior his role as the Executive Chairman he had been Managing Director since June 2017 and prior to that Joint Managing Director from November 2013. Prior to this Karl was the Finance, IT and Procurement Director since 2006.
As well as his role at Yeo Valley Karl is the Chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, sits on the SW CBI Council, is a member of the Somerset Growth Board and sits on the Advisory Board for the South West Food Hub.
Karl is also a trustee of the Bridgwater Education Trust, a body aiming to raise the aspiration, motivation and attainment levels of the young people of Bridgwater in Somerset and trustee of ‘Feeding Bristol', a charity working to eliminate food poverty and food insecurity in the city of Bristol. He is Governor of the Merchants Academy school in Bristol and Member of Trustees of Churchill Academy and Sixth Form. He joined the board of Trustees of South Bristol Youth earlier in 2021 and will take over as Chair in June 2021.
Mark Livesey joined the LEP Network in December 2019 from Cheshire and Warrington LEP, where he held the joint role of Chief Executive Marketing Cheshire and Deputy Chief Executive Cheshire and Warrington LEP. Mark joined the LEP in July 2016 from the Department for Communities and Local Government. His civil service career included serving as the Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords and successive housing and planning ministers. During his civil service career, Mark was also responsible for Coastal Communities, High Streets and Town Centres, during which time he set up and launched the Great British Coast brand, the Great British High Street brand and launched the national Great British High Streets competition. Mark currently sits on the Board of the Institute of Economic Development and on the Community Board of the Digital Poverty Alliance.
Mike took up the role of Communications Manager in July 2015.
Prior to this Mike worked for FTSE 100 business Babcock International Group as their PR and Public Affairs Manager working in the Support Services Division with a particular focus on their skills and learning business. Previous to this Mike worked in corporate communications for Centrica plc and BAE Systems.
Mike's communications experience includes working for BBC News , including a stint as political researcher with BBC Westminster, and working in government communications as press secretary for the energy minister, Home Secretary, and International Trade Minister.
Job Titles:
- Policy Manager in January 2023 Following Working at New Anglia LEP
Natasha joined the LEP Network as Policy Manager in January 2023 following working at New Anglia LEP for over 5 years. There she was the Skills Manager working with education providers in Norfolk and Suffolk and many stakeholders including the local authorities, DWP, business intermediaries and the third sector. She established the apprenticeship levy transfer scheme and Skills Bootcamps for the LEP plus provided the secretariat for the Skills Advisory Panel and a number of sector skills groups.
Natasha has worked in land-based Further Education colleges for over 15 years and roles driving apprenticeship uptake and career inspiration. She has developed academic curriculum and undertook external examining roles throughout the country.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, Swindon & Wiltshire LEP Chair Western Gateway Group of LEPs
Paul joined the Board of Swindon & Wiltshire LEP in July 2019 and took the Chair in March 2020. He founded Chipside Limited in 2003. Chipside is a rural employer in Brinkworth. The company is a leading UK tech company, providing Mipermit services to both local government and the public across the UK.
Paul has worked with local government on digital transformation projects for over 25 years. He was awarded OBE in the New Year's Honours 2019 for services to promoting UK Technology abroad. In April 2019, Mipermit was recognised with a Queens Award for Enterprise, Innovation.
Paul has lived in Swindon since 1994. The Western Gateway group of LEPs are GFirst, West of England, and Swindon & Wiltshire.
Job Titles:
- Chairman South East Midlands LEP, Chair Ox - Cam Arc Regional Group of LEPs.
Peter Horrocks CBE was Vice-Chancellor of The Open University from 2015 until April 2018. Prior to joining the OU, Peter was Director of the BBC World Service.
At the Open University Peter devised the university's strategy Students First bringing a new ‘digital by design' approach to the university's teaching. He oversaw significant restructuring and the prioritisation of resources for student benefit.
He also chaired FutureLearn, the UK's only higher education open social learning higher education platform. FutureLearn has over 7 million users globally.
At the BBC, Peter held several roles, including being editor of Newsnight and Panorama, Head of Current Affairs, Head of TV News and Head of Multimedia News. He won two BAFTA awards for his journalism.
In 2015 Peter was awarded a CBE for Services to Broadcasting in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, the Marches LEP Chair, West Midlands Group of LEPs
- Director With Laura Ashley
After a successful commercial career as director with Laura Ashley, Sonia moved to the charitable sector in 2003 as CEO of Landau, one of the UKs most prestigious supported training and employment organisation. She has led the charity from a £200k to a £4.5m turnover business and increased in service delivery across the UK.
Job Titles:
- Board Member Register of Interests