Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott today announced the board members for England's new Regional Development Agencies. Together with their Chairmen they will drive forward a new co-ordinated regional approach to economic renewal.

Board members have a wide range of expertise including business, local government, rural affairs, education, trade unions and the voluntary sectors.

The board members of the West Midlands Regional Development Agency will be:

Alex Stephenson  [CHAIRMAN]

Alex Stephenson. Age 53. Managing Director of Rover Group Power Train (a company within the Rover Group). Previously held other positions at Rover and (up to 1988) with Perkins Engines. Active interest in the UK Institute for Manufacturing. Governor of South Birmingham Further Education College. Member of Engineering Policy Committee at the University of Central England. Mr Stephenson does not hold any political or other Ministerial appointment.

Richard A Barnes

Richard A Barnes, 50, has been the Group Finance Director of Waterford Wedgwood plc. since 1993. In 1997 he was appointed as member of the Rosenthal A.G. Supervisory Board. Governor of St Joseph's College in Stoke and previously held senior finance posts with Ford of Europe, before joining Waterford Wedgwood in 1988. Mr Barnes does not hold any political or other Ministerial appointment.

Professor Kumar Bhattacharyya, CBE

Professor Kumar Bhattacharyya, 58, is the Professor and Director of Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, which he established in 1980. Other posts currently held include Honorary Professor of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Honorary Professor at the University of Technology, Malaysia, and at the Ministry of Machinery in Beijing, China. He is also a member of the Prime Member's Council for Science and Technology and a trustee of the Institute of Public Policy Research. He is an adviser at Board level to a number of UK and overseas companies and adviser to a number of overseas Prime Ministers. He is also a member of various Trusts and Charities. Mr Bhattacharyya has previously served as a member of the West Midlands regional committee of Further Education Funding Council; a member of the National Consumer Council and as a non-executive Technical Director of Rover Group. Mr Bhattacharyya does not hold any political or other Ministerial appointment.

Michael Bird

Michael Bird, 49, is the Leader of the Conservative Group at Walsall Council and a member of Policy, Resource Management, Social Services, and Town Centres and District Centres Committees. He is Managing Director of Dordon Brick and Tile Cutting Limited; Director and Secretary of Maybrook Interiors Ltd and acts as a consultant to Snow Stuff Limited. He previously served as a member on the board of the Black Country Development Corporation and Walsall City Challenge. MrBird is the Chairman of the West Midlands Police Local Consultative Committee for the Aldridge area and a governor of several local schools. His previous business interests have included Birmingham Badge Co. Ltd; Blackwood Associates Ltd; K.J. Watkins and Co. ; Kims Legal Services; and Sign and Graphic Machinery Ltd. Mr Bird's political activities are detailed above. He holds no other Ministerial appointments.

Albert Bore

Albert Bore, 52, has been a Labour member for Ladywood ward of Birmingham City Council since 1980. He is a lecturer in physics at Aston University and his current directorships include: Birmingham Economic Development Partnership Ltd; Birmingham Credit Union Development Agency Ltd; Media Development Agency for the West Midlands Ltd; Birmingham Technology Ltd ; Birmingham Technology (Property) Ltd; Birmingham Technology (Services) Ltd; the National Exhibition Centre; NEC Finance Plc and Summerfield Foundation. He is also the Vice Chair of West Midlands Development Agency (WMDA). Mr Bore's other political activities include, President of the Socialist Group of the Committee of the Regions. He was previously Group Secretary of Birmingham Labour Group. Mr Bore's political activities are detailed above. He holds no other Ministerial appointments.

Susan (Sue) Davis

Susan Davis, 44, is the Labour Chair of Education and Training, in Telford and Wrekin Unitary Authority. She was the Leader of Shropshire County Council from 1993-97 and was the first Chair of West Midlands Local Government Association. She is a member of the UK delegation to the Committee of the Regions and a member of Shropshire Pension Fund Committee. Ms Davis's current local authority appointments include Director of Telford Trust (which manages sports leisure and community facilities in south Telford), and Meeting Point Trust (which manages community offices and meeting room facilities in Telford Centre). She is also a non- executive director of Shropshire Health Authority. Ms Davis' political activities are detailed above. She holds no other Ministerial appointments.

Dr Tony Harris OBE

Dr Tony Harris, 69, is a Director of Shropshire CCTE and maintains close links with many small businesses. He is currently a Governor of Walford College, Shropshire, and Chairman of the Rural Development Commission's committee for Hereford, Worcester and Shropshire. He was formerly the Principal and Chief Executive at Harper Adams University College and following an academic career in agriculture, he continues to be involved as a member on many boards with agricultural agendas. He has also undertaken a number of agricultural and education based consultancies since his retirement in 1994. Dr Harris does not hold any political or other Ministerial appointment.

James Hunt

James Hunt, 58, is the Chair of Midlands TUC and Regional Secretary of Transport and General Workers Union and also Chair of the West Midlands Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Committee. He is a Director of the West Midlands Development Agency and a member of the West Midlands Industrial Development Board. Other current appointments include membership of the Governing Executive Board, Ruskin College Oxford, and of the Employee Panel Industrial Tribunals. Mr Hunt's political activities are detailed above. He does not hold any other Ministerial appointment.

Professor Christine King

Professor Christine King, 54, is the Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of Staffordshire University. (Her academic background is in History and Theology and she is an expert on Nazi Germany). She is also a board member on the West Midlands Further Education Funding Council, and a Council Member of North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce. Professor King is a member of Stoke on Trent City Forum and Chair of the Common Purpose Advisory Board, Stoke on Trent. She was previously a member of the Arts Advisory Panels, a prison visitor and a Non Executive Director of an NHS Trust. Professor King does not hold any political or other Ministerial appointment.

David Sparks

David Sparks, 50, is a Labour member of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (MBC) and a former member of the West Midlands County Council. He is the Chairman of the Leisure and Development Committee at Dudley MBC and Chair of the Economic Regeneration Committee Local Government Association. He is Vice Chair of the West Midlands Enterprise Board and of Groundwork Black Country. He is also currently a Director of the following organisations: Business in the Community; Black Country Museum; Dudley Zoo and Castle; Dudley Canal Trust and Business Link, Dudley. Mr Sparks' political activities are detailed above. He does not hold any other Ministerial appointment.

Sukhvinder Stubbs

Sukhvinder Stubbs, 36, is the Chief Executive of The Runnymede Trust. She is involved with the Department for Education and Employment's Task Force on raising ethnic minority achievement levels, Lord Rogers' panel for millennium villages, Chair of the European Network against Racism and as a trustee for DEMOS. Ms Stubbs was previously a board member of the Black Country Development Corporation; Community Development Manager at English Partnerships; Chair of the Secondary Education Commission in Birmingham and Appeals Director for the British Dyslexia Association. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Ms Stubbs does not hold any political or other Ministerial appointment.

David Thompson

David Thompson, 44, has had a career predominantly with Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries, culminating in an appointment as Managing Director in 1986. He is a member of the Council of the Brewers and Licensed Retailers Association and a partner in a family farming enterprise in Shropshire and Staffordshire. He is a Parish Councillor at Boningale, Near Albrighton, Wolverhampton and his political interests include being a member of Wrekin Conservative Association and Wolverhampton SW Conservative Association. He was Chairman of the Midland Counties Wholesale Brewers Association 1988-90 and was the first Chair of the Wolverhampton Training and Enterprise Council (1991-96). Mr Thompson's political interests are detailed above. He does not hold any other Ministerial appointment.

Brian Woods-Scawen

Brian Woods-Scawen, 52, is a member of the Supervisory Board of Pricewaterhouse Coopers and is Chairman of the Midlands Region. He is Deputy Chairman of the Birmingham City 2000 and Chairman of its Education and Learning Committee. He serves on the West Midlands Regional Council of the CBI, the Council of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Advisory Board of the Warwick Arts Centre, the West Midlands Committee of the Lord's Taverners and the Steering Group of Birmingham Discovery Centre. He is Vice-Chair of the West Midlands Euro Preparations Task Force and the first Chairman of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Advisory Council. Mr Woods-Scawen does not hold any political or other Ministerial appointment.
 

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