What is your background?
Brought up in market trader family, my working life started early serving customers during the school holidays & weekends. This helped instil a strong work ethic and an understanding of the importance of meeting customer needs.
Upon leaving education after my GCSE’s I went into sales and account management with Canon & 20:20 Mobile, before joining Li & Fung; who are the owners of Black Cat & Standard Fireworks. During my 12 years, I have led the UK business through a restructure, helping return it back to profitability.
I am currently the GM for the UK business, but I will always retain a keen interest in customer relationships, much to the dismay of my sale team.
What inspired you to join Huddersfield Unlimited?
Frustration! Huddersfield is a great town, but it doesn’t seem to attract the investment and business development that some of our neighbouring cities enjoy. I want to be able to work with businesses to help them understand the value of the region and encourage them to locate and develop their businesses in the area, creating jobs and vibrancy for the town and surrounding areas.
Explain your role within Huddersfield Unlimited?
Having recently joined the team, my focus is to help represent Huddersfield Unlimited with key decision-makers to attract investment and regeneration to key parts of the town. Once we have businesses starting up in the area, my focus will switch to helping them establish themselves and develop their workforce.
What do you think are Huddersfield’s main strengths and how can they be capitalised on?
Huddersfield is perfectly located between several major cities, with access via both road & rail. I believe we can make Huddersfield a destination for businesses that wish to provide services to both cities but be in an area with reduced overheads and access to a skilled and committed workforce.
What is your vision for the town in 2030?
A Town where it’s people can continue to be proud of its rich heritage, but with an optimism of its future, with a rich variety of businesses and great career opportunities to allow them to stay in the area.
If you could have one wish for Huddersfield, what would it be? E.g. this could be a specific development, cultural or other outcomes.
I would like to see the regeneration of St Georges quarter, to make it a vibrant hub for the town centre. If we can make this happen, I believe we will attract more people to enjoy the town centre and help drive further improvement for the whole town.