Board members Archive - North East Local Enterprise Partnership

Lucy Winskell OBE is His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Tyne and Wear.

She was previously Pro Vice-Chancellor (Employability & Partnerships) at Northumbria University where she was a member of the Executive team since 2010, having made the transition into higher education following a 28-year career as a litigation lawyer.

Lucy’s non-executive career has been focussed on economic growth and regeneration within the North East.

Her regional roles have included Board Member of the North East Regional Investment Fund and North East Access to Finance (both supporting SME growth); non-executive Director of Government Office North East; Chair of the North East Industrial Development Board; Board Member of ING; and Chair of Board, North East England Chamber of Commerce.

Lucy was Chair of the Board of the North East England Chamber of Commerce (NEECC) for six years, standing down at the end of that term in October 2020.

She has also been a strong advocate for the region at a national level. As a member of Arts and Humanities Research Council she highlighted the importance of the cultural and creative sector in a regional economy, and as Vice Chair of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) she has ensured a regional voice forms part of BCC’s lobbying and policy work.

You can read Lucy’s Register of Interests here.

Heidi Mottram CBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Northumbrian Water Group Limited and Northumbrian Water Limited since 2010.

This follows on from an excellent track record in the rail industry where her career began with British Rail in the mid-1980s. She progressed through a variety of senior leadership roles in British Rail and, following privatisation, in Great North Eastern Railway, Midland Mainline, Arriva Trains Northern and Managing Director of Northern Rail, the largest train operator in the UK.

She was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list 2010 for services to the rail industry and a CBE in the Birthday Honours list 2018 for services to the water industry and business community.

Mrs Mottram is currently a Board Member of Centrica, Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), and WaterUK, Vice-Chair of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Newcastle University Council and Chair of Castle View Enterprise Academy and Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust, as well as a Member of CBI President’s Committee, CBI Thriving Regions & Nations National Steering Committee, CBI NE Regional Council, ICE Infrastructure Client Group, National Rail Awards, Northern Accelerator Strategic Advisory Board, The Royal Anniversary Trust and a Trustee of WaterAid UK.

Under her leadership NWG achieved the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of Sustainable Development in 2014 and has been the only water company to be listed on the World’s Most Ethical companies list ten times. Northumbrian Water has twice been named the UK’s Utility Company of the Year under Heidi’s leadership. The Company was also named as Water Company of the Year in 2018 and 2020 as well as being awarded the British Quality Foundation’s UK Excellence Award 2018, one of the highest accolades any business can achieve.

You can read Heidi’s Register of Interests here.

Dame Norma Redfearn DBE took up a four-year term of office as Elected Mayor of North Tyneside in May 2013, and was re-elected for a further four years in May 2017.

As the Authority’s principal public spokesperson, her role is to give political direction to the Council, appoint Cabinet and Deputy Mayor, decide on the scheme of delegation, Chair meetings of Cabinet and represent the Council on external bodies.

Dame Norma has always lived in North Tyneside and has a real passion for the borough in addition to an extensive track-record in Local Government.

Before becoming the Elected Mayor she represented Riverside Ward in North Shields as Ward Councillor between 2004 and 2013. During this time Dame Norma also served as the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Learning.

A graduate of Newcastle University, she has had a 30 year career in teaching, both in primary and secondary education. This included 14 years as a headteacher and four years in an education advisory capacity, before moving into education related consultancy.

You can read Mayor Redfern’s Register of Interests here.

Emily is the Group Head of Colleague Relations & Policy at Lloyds Banking Group. She was previously the Director of Public Affairs at Virgin Money.

Emily and her family are based in the North East of England. She is the Deputy-Chair of the CBI North East Council, having been its Chair from January 2019 to December 2020. She is the Chair of the Group Board at Gentoo, a large housing association in Sunderland and she is a member of the Board at the Sage Gateshead, an international music venue in the North East. She is also a Leadership Fellow at St George’s House, Windsor Castle.

Emily led the work on the Gadhia HM Treasury Review into the representation of women in senior roles in the financial services sector. She was awarded an MBE in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to gender diversity in the financial services sector.

You can read Emily’s Register of Interests here.

You can read Colin’s Register of Interests here.

A multi-award winning entrepreneur who has helped establish several hundred businesses in the North East. Ammar is Founder and Chairman of Asian Business Connexions and President of the Federation of Asian Business alongside being a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management (FInstLM), and Royal Society of Arts(FRSA). He has a particular interest in enterprise education as Chair of Governors of a Primary School, Chair of the Progression Forum and a visiting Professor of Practice at Newcastle University, and having helped launch the Primary Inspiration through Enterprise (PIE) Project Charity.

Ammar is the North East LEP Board’s local SME representative.

You can read Ammar’s Register of Interests here.

You can read Phil’s Register of Interests here.

Ellen is Chief Executive of Education Partnership North East, the largest multi-site College within the region providing education and training to over 13500 students and apprentices from across the region.

Ellen is passionate about social mobility, and during what she describes as her ‘second career’ she has held numerous senior positions within education in Greater Manchester and the Yorkshire and Humber regions.

Ellen has also had a long and successful ‘first career’ working within private and public health services across the country. She has also held numerous board positions in the not-for-profit and University sectors within and external to the North East and continues to contribute nationally to help influence education policy and reform.

You can read Ellen’s Register of Interests here.

Alan started his career at Nissan Sunderland in 1991 as a graduate Engineer in Trim and Chassis.

Following several promotions, Alan started the first of three foreign service assignments in 2005 at Nissan plants in Barcelona and Avila. 2009 saw him move to Russia where he was based at Moscow and St Peterburg.

He returned to the UK in 2011 as General Manager, Production Engineering and was Involved in several successful model launches including Qashqai.

In 2015 he returned to Spain and in 2016 was promoted to Vice President of Nissan’s Industrial Operations, followed by a move in 2018 into the Alliance as Global Director of Production Engineering.

Alan returned to Nissan Sunderland Plant in 2020 as Vice President Manufacturing UK, before rising to Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, for the Nissan AMIEO region (Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania) in 2023.

You can read Alan’s Register of Interests here.

Archives: Board members

Board members

Lucy Winskell OBE

Board members

Heidi Mottram OBE

Board members

Elected Mayor Dame Norma Redfearn

Board members

Emily Cox MBE

Board members

Colin Hewitt

Board members

Ammar Mirza CBE

Board members

Phil Redman

Board members

Ellen Thinnesen OBE

Board members

Alan Johnson