The Board

Richard Stevens

Chairman, Plymouth Growth Board and Devon Chamber of Commerce

Richard Stevens was appointed in May 2012 as Managing Director of Plymouth Citybus. Richard has more than ten years’ senior experience of working in the bus industry in the South West of the UK. Previously Richard served as an Operations/Commercial Director for Stagecoach South West and was Operations Director for First Devon and Cornwall. Prior to that he held a number of managerial roles in Devon and Cornwall and began his transport career in 1990 as a bus driver.

Richard sits on many boards throughout the South West including Destination Plymouth and being Chair of Plymouth and Devon Chamber of Commerce.

Tracey Lee

Chief Executive, Plymouth City Council

Tracey took up post as Chief Executive for Plymouth City Council in October 2012. Her work is focussed on delivering the Council’s ambition of being a Brilliant Cooperative Council, working in a collaborative way across the city and region. Tracey is the lead Chief Executive for the Peninsula Rail Taskforce and is a member of the South West Adult Improvement Board.

In the past Tracey has led on projects such as the development of a national procurement service for Wales and regional shared services including an education achievement service shared by five councils.  She has a BSc (Hons) in Biology and a PGCE from Nottingham University and an MBA.

Ann James

Chief Executive, NHS

Ann commenced her role as Chief Executive with Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust in September 2012. Ann enjoys her role as Health and Medical champion for the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and sits as part of the Plymouth Area Business Council.

She is also a Director of the South West Peninsula Academic Health Science Network, a member of One Plymouth, Board member of Health Education South West Leadership Academy and committed to leadership development. In 2014 Ann was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Health by Plymouth University.

Gareth Hart

Plymouth Social Enterprise Network

Gareth is the founder and Director of Iridescent Ideas CIC. Gareth led the bid that saw Plymouth recognised as the first 'Social Enterprise City' in the UK. He is a champion of social enterprise in the South West and is the chair of Plymouth Social Enterprise Network and co-chair of the Heart of the South West LEP Social Enterprise Group. Gareth chairs the People, Communities and Institutions Flagship of the Growth Board.

He lives in Plymouth and writes regularly on social enterprise themes for various publications. He is a keen cricketer and has two young daughters.

Jackie Grubb

Principal and CEO, City College Plymouth

Jackie became the Principal of City College Plymouth in the summer of 2019. She previously was the Principal at City of Westminster College, part of the United Colleges Group. She has a wealth of experience in further education having commenced her career as a lecturer more than 30 years ago. As well as being Principal at City of Westminster College, she has been Deputy Principal atBasingstoke College of Technology, Director of Curriculum at Swindon College and an Additional Inspector for Ofsted.

David Ralph

Chief Executive, Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership

Previously, David had spent 5 years as CEO of the Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire (D2N2) LEP from 2013 where he oversaw the development of the D2N2 Strategic Economic Plan and sector strategies, 3 Growth Deals with HM Government to deliver a £1mbillion capital investment programme, securing and implementing £200m ESIF programme, the Derby and Nottingham Enterprise Zone, the D2N2 Skills Deal and Time for Innovation programme, community fund and led the executive team to develop the HS” East Midlands hub.

Before the East Midlands, David was CEO of the Have Gateway Partnership working closely with local stakeholders including the ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich and BT Adadastral Park across Suffolk and Essex and prior to that was Chief Exec of the Barton Hill New Deal for Communities programme in Bristol and the Nelm Development Trust in Norwich.

David is a keen sailor, walker and trail runner.

David Young

Managing Director, The Una Group

David is an experienced entrepreneur with a background in finance, marketing and in delivering business growth. He is now Group Managing Director and founder shareholder in The Una Group Ltd with companies spanning commercial property, business support services, technology and environmental services. Recently having built a 3.5 MW energy from waste plant in Plymouth, as part of a national roll-out of similar plants.

He has a simple business philosophy – have fun, make some money and do some good! He is married with 4 sons, lives in Saltash and enjoys sailing, walking, cycling, squash and time with the family.

David Draffan

Service Director for Economic Development, Plymouth City Council

Educated in Sheffield, David then studied Law at the London School of Economics, between 1991 and 1994, specialising in Mercantile and Company law. In 1995 David joined Marks & Spencer on their Graduate Management Training Programme and was fast-tracked into Store Management. During the next 4 years he worked in South Wales, the West Midlands and Gloucester. While working in Gloucester David represented Marks and Spencer on the newly formed City Centre Partnership working with City Centre Management to manage the loss of footfall caused by the then newly opened Cribbs Causeway ‘Mall’

In September 1999, David became Plymouth’s first City Centre Manager and then in 2004 was appointed to Managing Director of the City Centre Company, employing 10 people, which was created to manage one of the UK’s first Business Improvement Districts.

Over the next five years David was also closely involved with many major projects such as the £200m Drake Circus shopping redevelopment, the creation of a new £1.5m Piazza in Armada Way, the £3.2m City Centre shared space scheme and a second BID renewal in 2009.

In 2009 David joined Plymouth City Council as Assistant Director of Economic Development, a brand new service, created in response to Plymouth’s ambitious growth agenda. In January 2012 the Economic Development Department was significantly increased in size and David gained new responsibilities for Corporate Property, Capital Strategy, Events, Arts, Culture and Heritage overseeing a multi-million pound capital programme including many major projects such as the creation of The Box.

Stuart Elford

Chief Executive, Devon & Plymouth Chamber of Commerce

Stuart Elford is the Chief Executive of the Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. He is a Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (CMgr FCMI) with extensive experience of leadership roles in the public, private and third sectors, having helped numerous businesses and charities grow and succeed.  He is passionate about Plymouth and using his commercial expertise to make a difference to the area in which we live and Work.

Stuart believes integrity and values are paramount and likes to build partnerships and work together to deliver sustainable solutions. Stuart was Chair of St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth from 2010-2017and has been a Director of the Chamber since 2016. Stuart is a private pilot, a sailor and an occasional jogger - although he says he hasn’t the time to do any of these things.

Greg Lumley

Director, Drake Circus

Greg is Drake Circus Centre Director. He has had more than 26 years of experience in the retail sector, and as part of his Drake Circus role he is also overseeing the wider Plymouth estate for British Land.

He spent three years as Centre Manager at Westfield’s shopping hub in London’s Shepherd’s Bush, during which time he oversaw the opening of the mall in 2008. Before working for Westfield, Lumley was the centre manager for four outlet centres owned by McArthurGlen, while he has also held various store manager positions for retailers such as Blacks Leisure, Barratts and JD Sports.

Lindsey Hall

Chief Executive, Real Ideas Organisation

Lindsey has a track record in the public and private sectors as a social entrepreneur, thinker and leader that has seen her set up and develop products and services across the creative, learning and education sectors.

From building award-winning programmes in the UK to driving ground breaking initiatives internationally, Lindsey has the experience and skills at management, board and executive level to steer social business ideas towards success; Andrew Brewertonmaking money and making a difference at the same time.

Jonathan Keable

Business Consultant and Director, Business Success SW

Jonathan is a certified Business Coach, providing business help, business advice, business coaching and mentoring services to small and medium sized businesses. He has over 30 years Business Management experience in both corporate business and through running his own enterprises; covering Electrical Contracting, Food & Catering Supplies, Dairy Agriculture & Property Sales & Distribution Industries.

He has managed 7 businesses up to £12m in sales and 75 staff. 5 of these businesses he turned around from a negative position to record profit, by creating a thriving business structure, developing the customer base and building great teams.

Karen Friendship

Chair of Plymouth Manufacturers’ Group and MD of Aldermans

Details to come.

Paul Bird

Co-founder, Digital Plymouth

Paul is the Creative Director and co-founder of the multi-award winning Digital Agency called Elixel. Alongside design work, Paul co-founded Digital Plymouth, which helps to highlight the creative talent in the city, where people can learn, share and be inspired.

Rob Warner

Vice Chancellor, Plymouth Marjon University

Rob's academic career began at the University of Wales, Lampeter, where he became Head of Department. Rob then moved to the University of Chester becoming Executive Dean of Humanities, with university-wide responsibilities including curriculum development and postgraduate students.

Academia is his third career, having started his working life at one of the UK’s largest commercial publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, where he led the religious books list, which became highly profitable and dominated the bestseller lists.

Adrian Bratt

General Counsel & Company Secretary​, Princess Yachts

Adrian is a commercial lawyer and joined Princess Yachts in February 2017 having acted for the organisation over the previous decade whilst in a national private practice law firm where he worked predominantly in the manufacturing, retail and energy sectors acting for major national and multinational PLCs.

He served as a Warfare Officer in the Royal Navy for 10 years where he qualified as a navigator and spent operational service in the Gulf, Caribbean, Australasia, the Mediterranean and Africa.

Adrian graduated from Cardiff University with a BSc in Biochemistry and subsequently obtained Post-Graduate Diplomas in Law and then Legal Practice. 

He is also a Chartered Governance Professional.

Judith Petts

Vice Chancellor, University of Plymouth

Details to come

Paul Fieldsend-Danks

Chief Executive, Plymouth College of Art

Details to come

Paul Turner

Chair of Employment and Skills Board and HR Director, Princess Yachts

Details to come

Charlie Heard

Head of Supply Chain/Logistics Strategy Lead, Babcock

Details to come

Ian McFadzen

CEO, Plymouth Science Park

Details to come

Adrian Vinken

Chair of Destination Plymouth

Details to come

James Mackenzie-Blackman

CEO, Theatre Royal Plymouth

Details to come

Karen Cook

Chair, Livewell South West

Details to come