Sarah Waddington CBE is the Chair of the IoD North East (North) branch and a director of Wadds Inc. where she advises creative agency management teams on company direction to deliver sustainable growth.

She is a both a Chartered director and Chartered PR practitioner and holds over 20 years’ experience in helping organisations to articulate their purpose, engage stakeholders, create value and deliver social impact.

Dawn is an accomplished professional, serving as Regional Director for the North of England for Make UK. With a strong background in the manufacturing sector, Dawn is deeply passionate about driving innovation and growth within the industry. As a dedicated STEM Ambassador, she actively works to inspire and engage the next generation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Throughout her career, Dawn has embraced diverse roles including business coaching, where she has empowered individuals and teams to reach their full potential in business. her expertise also extends to managing high profile public funded programs, successfully delivering impactful initiatives aimed at making a difference within communities.

With a wealth of experience and a relentless drive for excellence, Dawn continues to play a vital role in shaping the future of manufacturing and fostering a culture of learning and development within the North.

Engineering and Manufacturing Network is dedicated to building and strengthening the engineering and manufacturing community in North East England, helping businesses and people to solve problems, gain knowledge, forge relationships and discover new opportunities, to support their success . and create a better future for the sector and the region. Positioned at the heart of the sector, EMN

• Help smaller and emerging businesses overcome growth challenges and avoid pitfalls, providing impartial peer to peer support;

•  Assist large scale and multi-national companies grow stronger roots in the north east engineering and manufacturing landscape – strengthen their local supply chains whilst sharing their wealth of experience for the benefit of the whole community; 

• Provide individual personnel from engineering and manufacturing businesses with access to their peers, draw on specialist expertise, improve working practices to become more effective and efficient;

• Provide a members question and answer service…as a network of peers, someone will have an answer to your challenge or query.  Just Ask!

Ailsa, as Director of Development at EMN has 20 + years’ experience working across numerous public and private sector initiatives supporting the growth, innovation capabilities and scalability of SMEs within various sectors. EMN listen to the real-life challenges of thousands of SMEs.

“What I have learnt most in my career to date is the power of listening. Hearing and understanding the needs of the market is fundamental to our success and I’m here to listen, to understand the needs of the members, prepare for all eventualities and open doors to new opportunities.”

Elaine is the CEO of The Entrepreneurs’ Forum, responsible for ensuring North East entrepreneurs are inspired and encouraged through a local programme of events and peer to peer mentoring.

Elaine’s has helped hundreds of north east entrepreneurs and is particularly interested in encouraging female founders to grow their businesses.   She works alongside the business support community to ensure that entrepreneurs get access to the support they need to thrive.

John was appointed chief executive of North East Chamber of Commerce in October 2021. He has served on the Chamber’s board, council and as president from 2017 to 2019. Prior to his appointment as Chamber chief executive, John held senior roles in the region, specialising in corporate affairs, economic development, and strategic communications.

During his 12 years as corporate affairs director at a multi-national manufacturing and energy business, John regularly represented the company and wider industry at the highest levels of the British government and in international trade associations. In 2013, he founded his own communications business and over eight years managed its growth and diversification, establishing one of the leading firms of its kind in the region.

Having broad experience across large organisations and growing his own small business, John is well-placed to understand the challenges and opportunities facing businesses across the region. He is a member of the British Chambers of Commerce Business Council, representing all 53 chambers in the national network. Alongside leading the Chamber, he is a member of The Prince’s Trust North East development committee, helping young people in the region create a better future for themselves through employment, education and enterprise. These experiences fuel John’s passion for a stronger, fairer North East.

Joanne joined NOF in 1996 and now has 27 years working in the energy industry in senior roles, a strategic thinker with a can do attitude, turning ideas into actions. Specialisms include business development, networking, international business, events & marketing and not for profit organisational development. Joanne is a confident business planner with strong commercial skills and is well-travelled having led over 80 trade delegations overseas.

With an extensive network of contacts across the energy industry including offshore wind, oil & gas, nuclear and the new energy transition areas of hydrogen and CCS, she has regular engagement with developers, operators and major contractors in the industry and connected into major projects.

Joanne is well versed in energy industry challenges and a key supporter of net zero and energy security for the UK and is passionate about supporting members and the supply chain with local and UK content at the heart of the conversation.