NP11 Members

Roger Marsh OBE, Chair of Leeds City Region LEP and Chair of NP11

Roger Marsh has been Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) since 2013 and during that time has led the LEP through a period of significant transformation, including securing the country’s largest ever Local Growth Deal with Government.

Roger chairs the NP11 which brings together the 11 Northern LEPs to work with the Northern Powerhouse Minister to support the Government’s vision for the Northern Powerhouse. He is currently also a Member of the Williams Rail Review Expert Challenge Panel and Chair of both the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund Strategic Oversight Board and European Structural & Investment Fund Local Sub Committee. Before joining the LEP, Roger was Senior Partner at PwC and boasts over 30 years’ experience in the private sector. In 2015, he was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list for Services to Business and the Economy.

Christine Gaskell, Chair of Cheshire & Warrington LEP and Vice Chair of NP11

Christine has spent most of her career in the Motor industry and from 1995 until 2012 she was a Member of the Board at Bentley Motors Limited with responsibility for over 4,000 employees worldwide.  Under Christine, Bentley invested significantly in improving the skills and capability of its workforce, winning regional and national recognition for its programmes.

Christine has been actively involved in promoting learning and skills and in 2012 she was awarded an MBE for services to training and apprenticeships.  In January 2019 in the New Year’s Honours List Christine was awarded a CBE for her services to Cheshire and Warrington.

Christine was appointed as the first Chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership in March 2011.  She is Vice Chair of NP11 and sat on the LEP Review Committee.  Christine is also a member of the Industrial Strategy Board; the Transport for the North Board and the Digital Skills Partnership Board.

Amongst her other appointments, Christine holds a number of other non-executive roles and is also Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire.

Lord Richard Inglewood, Chair of Cumbria LEP

Richard Inglewood is a Cumbrian non-affiliated Member of the House of Lords. He was previously Chair of the boards of Cumbrian businesses Carr’s Milling Industries plc, CN Group Ltd and Gen2.

Lord Inglewood has also held a number of ministerial positions during his career. He was the minister for broadcasting and for tourism during his time as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of National Heritage in the late 1990s. He has also served twice as a regional MEP, first for Cumbria and Lancashire North and then for North West England.

He is President of Cumbria Tourism and has been Deputy Lieutenant for Cumbria since 1993 and Vice-Lord Lieutenant for Cumbria since 2012.

Lord Inglewood was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and the Cumbria College of Agriculture and Forestry. He was called to the Bar in 1975, is a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA).

Mike Blackburn, Chair of Greater Manchester LEP

Mike is Chair of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership which sits at the heart of Greater Manchester’s governance arrangements, and ensures that business leaders are empowered to set the strategic course, determine local economic priorities and drive growth and job creation within the city region.

Mike also has a number of non-executive roles including being a board member of Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Chair of the Institute of Directors (IOD) in the North West and a non-executive Director of Transport for the North.

Mike lives in the North West and until January 2018 was Chair of BT’s NW Regional Board, a role he held from 2007, and also Head of Digital Government in the UK until 2018.

Mike was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2015 for services to the economy in the North West.

Lord Christopher Haskins, Chair of Humber LEP

Lord Haskins brings a wealth of commercial, political and economic regeneration experience to his position of Humber LEP Chair.

He is the former Chair of Northern Foods and Express Dairies, former Board member of Yorkshire Forward Regional Development Agency (1998-2008) and is also currently a non-executive Director of JSR Farms Ltd as well as being a member of the Lords ‘Cabinet Office Equality and Reform Group Board’ and Pro-Chancellor of the Open University.

As well as chairing the LEP’s Board meetings, Lord Haskins also leads meetings with Ministers and is the LEP’s voice in Whitehall and Parliament.

Steve Fogg, Chair of Lancashire LEP

Steve Fogg has a wealth of experience from a career forged at BAE Systems, from apprentice to engineering, then moving through operations and programme management to his current role as Managing Director of Corporate Shared Services and a Member of the UK Management Board.

He also holds various executive and non-executive Board membership roles, including Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership, Chair of the Fylde Coast Responsible Business Network, Member of the Worldskills Advisory Group on Social Mobility, Diversity and Inclusion and is a Member of the National Apprentice Ambassador network.

Asif Hamid, Chair of Liverpool City Region LEP

With expert industry knowledge gained over a 30-year career in some of the world’s leading outsourcing businesses, CEO and founder of The Contact Company, Asif Hamid MBE has redefined standards of customer experience since establishing company 13 years ago. Leading the company from just 12 team members to over 1,500 employees across multiple locations, Asif is a pioneer of new approaches to customer contact.

Demonstrating his commitment to business and community development, Asif sits on several regional boards, and is Honorary President of the Wirral Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Liverpool City Region LEP. In 2017, Asif was awarded an MBE for his services to Small and Medium Enterprises in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Asif has a strong passion for the development of people. As one of the leading entrepreneurs in his field, his expertise is highly sought by local and national commercial organisations, as well as by Members of Parliament.

Andrew Hodgson, Chair of North East LEP

Andrew has held Chief Executive positions in the energy and subsea sectors, and has been awarded three Queen’s Awards for Industry.

He joined the North East LEP board in 2011 and took over as Chair in 2016, where he works to help drive forward the vision of the North East Strategic Economic Plan to create 100,000 more jobs, and works with key stakeholders to ensure the region’s economy is strengthened.

He also Chairs the North East Employment and Skills Board, is a trustee for the International Centre for Life and the Northern Education Trust. He is a former North East Business Executive of the year and EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and has received an OBE for his work in manufacturing.

Andrew is currently Chair of Avid Technology, a high growth EV component developer and manufacturer.

James Muir, Chair of Sheffield City Region LEP

In 1983 James joined a manufacturer of tableware, spending his first year working full time in the factory, after which he was posted to set up the company’s sales and distribution subsidiary in the German market.

He later joined Ford Motor Company and held various sales and marketing positions, and in 2001 he moved to Mazda, establishing their own company in the UK. Later, as President and CEO of Mazda Europe he led the turnaround from loss-maker to Mazda Corporation’s most profitable business unit in the world.

In 2009 James joined Volkswagen Group as President & CEO of SEAT based in Barcelona and tasked with revitalising its ailing brand. He later moved to Wolfsburg, Germany, running the VW Group’s owned national sales companies across more than 20 countries world-wide.

Paul Booth, Chair of Tees Valley LEP

Paul Booth OBE is the Chair of the Tees Valley LEP, which is fully integrated into the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

Paul worked in the chemical industry for more than 40 years. Born on Teesside, he started his career as an apprentice with ICI and retired in 2016 as the Chair of Sabic UK Petrochemicals as well as its European Director for Government Policy and Public Affairs.

He is a member of the CIA Council, ex-Chair of the North East Process Industry Cluster, one of the industrialists on the new UK CGP, and a Board Member for Plastics Europe North.

He sits on the Board of Governors for Teesside University and was previously a member of Redcar and Cleveland Technical College, NSAPI (National Skills Academy) and the TTE Training School. Paul is also Honorary President for SCI (Society of Chemical Industry) in the UK.

David Kerfoot MBE DL, Chair of York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP

David founded The Kerfoot Group jointly with his wife Elizabeth in 1980 using £300 capital which grew to sales of over £80 million on a global basis exporting to over 50 countries. The group’s main markets are food manufacturing, cosmetics and aromatherapy, its head office being in Northallerton. The Group was sold to French agricultural giant Avril in 2015.

As a passionate social entrepreneur, David has a long history of community service. Currently he serves as Chair of the LEP, Chair of the Pendragon Community Trust, trustee of a food bank and founder of an initiative called Smile for Moldova which supports people in the poorest country in Europe. He is also a patron of the Samaritans and a lifelong activist in the Prison Service as well as being a trustee of Breadline. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire and High Sheriff of North Yorkshire in nomination for the year 2020.

David is passionate about helping small business and developing our regions, recently giving evidence at Parliamentary Committees on these subjects.