Relishing the role of Portfolio Holder for Economy...

I am really relishing my role as the council’s Portfolio Holder for Economy and doing everything I can to support the wonderfully strong and diverse business community of our county.

Since becoming a member of Warwickshire County Council in May I have fully realised how important the role of councillor is helping and supporting the general public of the county. 

As Portfolio Holder for Economy, I am getting up to speed with what this all means. I am fortunate that my long experience in business is very relevant and beneficial to helping the Council deal with the challenges faced by businesses. 

I was born in Coventry in 1958 before, at the tender age of eight, moving down to Bognor Regis to which my family relocated. My mother hailed from there while my dad was a musician who performed a lot at Coventry Theatre before his work there became intermittent due to acts bringing their own orchestras. Dad started to teach music as well as perform…I managed to play “Stranger on the Shore” on the clarinet in front of the school, but that was the height of my musical aspirations! 

My academic forte was always mathematics which boded well for the career I embarked upon – Sales. I was fortunate enough to join the blue-chip company Mars Confectionary at the age of 20 in 1978. I did a stint in the office there which gave me a great insight into how offices work and information is processed and stored. Due to the competitiveness for promotion, I even sat the MENSA test and found I have an IQ which was one point less than Einstein! 

A lack of career progression frustrated me so, after seven years, I looked elsewhere for my first break into management. I went from chocolates to snacks and worked for Golden Wonder as an Area Sales Manager. In the meantime, I was married and we had four children which put the pressure on me to “get up the ladder” 

Over the next few years, I worked for the likes of GKN, Egmont Publishing and Hallmark Cards. Egmont were known for publishing the Mr Men books and I was Sales Director for them which gave me my first experience of strategic vision and planning.  

The sale of Egmont to Reed International rendered me redundant for the first time in my life, however it wasn’t long before I was back in work as Sales Director for a family-owned business called Gemma International. I was made the Managing Director of the company but after five years, much of it on the road, sadly it resulted in the breakup of my marriage. I reflected a lot on what had happened and what the future held and, in 2004, decided to leave Gemma International to set up my own consultancy business. I  moved back to the Midlands, to Nuneaton, and was lucky enough to meet my partner, now of 20 years, Claire.

My consultancy was aimed at SME businesses across all sectors and it proved a success until Covid hit. Businesses ceased trading and my services were no longer needed. Despite 17 years of positive trading, I closed the business down in 2022 but was soon back working as a consultant again for a business that was just setting up and needed some initial help. That was an 18-month contract which took me to March 2024 when I threw myself fully into politics with Reform UK.

Now I am really relishing my role as the council’s Portfolio Holder for Economy and doing everything I can to support the wonderfully strong and diverse business community of our county. Maximising employment and therefore minimising jobseeking has a big effect on the local economy, and despite our county being one of the strongest in this respect, improvements can always be made through the implementation of training and skills development. This in turn helps benefit businesses to recruit the right people which improve businesses performance.  

The council also constantly looks at new business opportunities and how to supply help and support to businesses in their early days of establishment. The better the economy, the better earnings are for the workforce, so continued success will bring benefits to our economy by attracting skilled workers into the area. 

In Warwickshire, we are proud to have one of the strongest county economies in the country. I am looking forward to the work ahead to make more dreams possible for business owners and to improve the benefits of the county workforce.