South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

James E Brathwaite, CBE, Chairman

Jim is Chairman of five small businesses in Sussex, Constreco2 Ltd, Community Alerts, Morgan Everett and the local radio stations in Worthing, Splash FM, and Brighton, Brighton and Hove Radio Ltd, and Bright FM in Burgess Hill. After graduating in Zoology and Physiology at Sheffield University, Jim’s early career was in accountancy, marketing and sales with Beecham and Bayer Pharmaceuticals until he started his own business designing training videos for industry in 1982. This led him on to form Epic Interactive Media in Brighton in 1989, which he built up to become one of Europe’s largest multimedia companies, and a listed company, employing 150 staff. He floated the company in 1996 becoming Britain’s first Black CEO of a publicly quoted company.

He was appointed to the Board of SEEDA the Development Agency for the South East of England in December 2001 and in August 2002 was appointed Chairman. Jim is a member of the Court of the Sussex University, Strategic Supply Chain Group, and until April 2006 DEFRA’s Sustainable Procurement Taskforce, and until June 2005 of the UK Trade and Investment’s International Trade Development Advisory Panel, when he was then appointed to the new International Business Advisory Panel until October 2006. From June 2006 to March 2008 he was a member of the DTI’s Environmental Innovations Advisory Group, and from 2006 to 2007 was a member of DeFRA’s Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance. He is a director of the University of Greenwich, Farnham Castle Trustees Ltd, Environment Agency, Public Catalogue Foundation, and until August 2004, was a director of the National Business Angels Network Ltd. He became a member of City & Guilds Council in September 2006. Jim was a member of the national Small Business Council until June 2004, with responsibility for dealing with the Inland Revenue, and of the government’s Export Advisory Committee for the ‘Americas’, and the DTI’s Investment Committee until March 2006, and the DTI’s Manufacturing Forum until 2007. He was a director of Sussex TEC Ltd from April 1993, which then became Sussex Enterprise in 1995, and he remained on the board until December 2002. He was the founding Chairman of Business Link Sussex, holding the post from 1996-2001, and also a founding Director of “Wired Sussex”. He has been: Treasurer of the Caribbean Advisory Group at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Chairman of the Arundel Festival; Governor of Brighton & Hove 6th Form College; a member of the Council of the University of Sussex. He is also Patron of the Asian Business Council and recently appointed to the Action Group on Employer Supported Volunteering. He was awarded the CBE for services to the Sussex economy in the New Year’s Honours 2001. He was also awarded an Honorary Degree from University College Chichester in 2003 and became an Honorary Fellow of City & Guilds in February 2006 and a Councillor in September 2006. In October 2007 Jim was appointed as Honorary Consul for South Africa in the South East England and became a member of the Worshipful Company of World Traders in December 2007. Jim was presented with an honorary award of Doctor of Business from Southampton Solent University in November 2008

Jim lives in Angmering, with his wife Barbara and their four children. His interests include music, skiing and watching all sport especially football and Man Utd.

Directorships/Groups/Committees

• CURRENT DIRECTORSHIPS
• Brathwaite & Co
• Brighton & Hove Radio Ltd (Chairman)
• Community Alerts Ltd (Chairman)
• EXOD Ltd (Chairman)
• Environment Agency
• Farnham Castle
• Farnham Castle Briefings Ltd
• Morgan Everett Ltd (Chairman)
• Regional Satellite Television Ltd
• Rengamedia Ltd
• SEAL (Chairman)
• SEEDA (Chairman)
• Splash FM Ltd (Chairman)
• XL Entertainment plc
• University of Greenwich

• PREVIOUS DIRECTORSHIPS
• Arundel Festival Society Ltd
• Business Link Sussex
• Booklines Ltd
• Citizen TV
• Forbidden Planet
• Floella Benjamin Productions Ltd
• Knowledge Through Entertainment Ltd
• National Business Angels Network Ltd
• MM Showplay
• Small Business Council
• Sussex Chamber of Commerce & Enterprise Ltd
• V-Business International Ltd
• Wired Sussex Ltd
• XS Music

• GROUPS/COMMITTEES/FORUMS
• DEFRA's Sustainable Procurement Taskforce and Chairman of Capacity Building Sub-Group
• DTI Investment Committee
• DTI Manufacturing Forum and Manufacturing Procurement Sub-Group
• SEEDA Business South East
• Strategy Committee of University of Greenwich
• UK Trade and Investment's International Business Advisory Panel
• Member of Court of Sussex University
• Nations and Regions Group
• Patron of Asian Business Council
• Fellow of RSA
• Member of Commonwealth Club
• Member of Reform Club
• Arts & Business Fellowship Member
• Fellow of City & Guilds

Zenna Atkins

Zenna Atkins is an acclaimed Social Entrepreneur. She is an executive consultant for Social Solutions, a social sector consultancy company, dedicated to building capacity and maximising opportunities for the third sector, specialising in social Enterprise development and sustainability. She is Chairman of Ofsted, the children and learners inspection and regulation body, and the Group Chairman of Places for People, a national property development, regeneration and management company dedicated to creating neighbourhoods of choice for all, managing 59 thousand properties, building 1700 new homes a year. She is the Non Executive Director on the Board of the Royal Navy Board and Audit Committee chair. She is also a trustee of the Olympic Legacy Trust and voluntary Chair and trustee of a number of charities including, Dreamwall and 21st Century Legacy trust. She has a national reputation, is a sought after conference speaker and is an advisor on governmental panels and committees, exploring a range of issues including health, social engagement and social entrepreneurship. Zenna is a regular columnist for the guardian and has extensive publications in the health and housing press.

Whilst at college, Zenna and a group of friends created Breadline, an unemployment centre and social enterprise café. This started her passion for sustainable business development and she went on to establish three further organisations; YSHIP (now First base), a flexible non centre based service for young homeless people, PCSP an award winning, internationally recognised youth crime prevention organisation specialising in transferable programme development and Social Solutions her current venture. All her companies are run on a commercial basis and have social benefits.

In 2000 she won Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year South Region and in 2003 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Portsmouth University. Zenna is married and has two fantastic children living with her, a boy aged 13 and a girl aged 9 as well two nearly fully grown and flown step daughters.

Dr Dolores Byrne

Dolores Byrne has spent over twenty five years working in the high technology sector, both in Government and in industry and is currently MD Innovation in QinetiQ, an international defence and technology company.

Dolores graduated in Physics from Queen’s University Belfast and also holds a MBA from Southampton University. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and has served as Vice-President of the Institute of Physics. Dolores was a member of the national WISE Board (Women in Science & Engineering), a member of the board of the MOD Defence Engineering and Science Group and was a school governor for seven years. She is currently a member of the board of AIRTO (Association of Independent Research and Technology Organisations) and of the Science, Engineering and Technology Advisory Council of SEEDA.

Dolores has not undertaken any political activity in the last five years.

Pamela Charlwood

Pamela Charlwood was appointed in December 2006. She brings to the Board the perspective of the voluntary and community sector and her experience of establishing the Connexions service in Hampshire and Isle of Wight, providing information, advice, guidance and support to all young people aged 13 to 19 and ‘connecting’ services for young people across the statutory and voluntary sectors. She has extensive experience of the skills agenda and a strong commitment to matching skills to the needs of employers, particularly through the development of apprenticeships and other training programmes.

Her previous career was in health service management in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, London and the west country; in May 2008 she was appointed as a non executive director on the Board of the Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust, which provides mental health and learning disability services to adults and young people.

She was appointed vice chair of the Trust in November 2008, when she was also appointed to the South East Region Learning and Skills Council. Pamela is also a governor of Treloar College, a national specialist college for disabled young people.

Jeremy Birch

Jeremy Birch was born and bred in Hastings . He has been involved in community and political activity throughout his adult life. He has been a member of Hastings Borough Council and East Sussex County Council for the last 14 years and led the former from 2000-2006. He also serves on the regional council of the Arts Council for the South East and is a non-executive director of Hastings and Rother Primary Care Trust.

Imtiaz Farookhi

Imtiaz Farookhi joined SEEDA's non-executive Board on 14 December 2004. Imtiaz is Chief Executive of NHBC which provides warranty, risk
management and regulatory services to the UK house building and wider
construction industry. He has been Chief Executive at NHBC since 1997.
He was born in Washington DC, and was educated at the Universities of
Kent and London. He has a track record of improving corporate and
operational efficiency and effectiveness.

A former Board Member of the Environment Agency and of the Learning
and Skills Council, Imtiaz has substantial experience in both urban
regeneration and post 16 Education Policy. He has also served on the
Further Education Funding Council, on several public private
partnerships and as a non-executive on a Training and Enterprise
Council and on a Business Link. He is currently Chairman of the
National Skills Forum for Construction and the Built Environment (not
Environmental), and a Board Member of CITB - Construction Skills.

As NHBC's Chief Executive, Imtiaz plays a key role in highlighting
issues facing UK house-building such as skills shortages, sustainable
development and customer service. He has developed and extended NHBC's range of services and restructured its operations with sustained growth in turnover and balance sheet strength. He has also instigated
a review of NHBC's services and a restructuring of its operations.

Robert Goldfield

Robert Goldfield, based in Kent, is Chief Executive of Dover Harbour Board. He joined Dover Harbour Board after a long career in the aviation industry holding positions as Airport Director at Shannon International Airport, Managing Director at Teesside International Airport and Airport Manager at Inverness Airport. Bob has also worked in Asia as Manager of Operations and Technical Administration at Hong Kong International and in the Middle East for the Ministry of Defence in various operational and management roles.

Les Dawson OBE

Following graduation from Brunel University in 1980, Les spent 20 years in various management positions with British Gas and latterly Transco. Les was an author of the Network Code before moving into IT where he delivered the systems that enabled competition for the 19 million UK domestic customers.

In November 2000 he joined United Utilities as an Executive Director with responsibilities for the regulated assets of what was both North West Water and Norweb.

In July 2005 Les was appointed CEO of Southern Water, the largest supplier of water and wastewater services in the South of England.

Les is a Fellow of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Managers and a Member of the Institute of Engineering & Technology. He is a past President of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In the 2009 New Years Honours List, Les was awarded an OBE in recognition of his services to the energy and water industries, as well as his extensive charity work for Wateraid.

Sue John

Sue John, from Sussex, is a languages graduate and TEFL teacher who ran a franchise for "Le Club Francais", teaching French to over 200 children for a number of years in Sussex, before acting as local agent for an Eastbourne-based language school in Brighton & Hove. She was Deputy Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council until May 2007. She developed and chaired the 2020 Community Partnership (Brighton & Hove's LSP) which brings together key players from the public, voluntary and business sectors working to improve quality of life, tackle social exclusion and reduce deprivation in Brighton & Hove. She is Vice-Chair of Resources at the Local Government Association.

Peter Jones, Deputy Chairman

Peter Jones joined SEEDA as a Board Member on 14 December 2003 as a local authority representative. Peter has been a Conservative Member of Rother District Council from 1999 to 2003. He joined East Sussex County Council in 1997 and became Leader in 2001. This has brought responsibility for economic development and regeneration and Peter plays an active role in the Hastings & Bexhill Task Force. He has also been involved in raising funds for an initiative to regenerate the port and town of Newhaven and its French partner town Dieppe, enabling Peter to forge links with the French Department of Seine Maritime and Region of Haute Normandie, and more recently with Malta. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of SEEDA in December 2005.

One of Peter's biggest achievements as Council Leader has been in successfully championing the creation of a new University Centre in Hastings, which opened in September 2003. Prior to local authority work, Peter was a stockbroker in investment research and investment banking.  His involvement with the Conservative Party has led to speaking at political meetings and writing political literature, such as local party manifestos.

Peter is a Commissioner at the Audit Commission and a member of Sussex Police Authority.

Born in Birmingham and brought up in Yorkshire, Peter is a graduate of Strathclyde University in Economics and Economic History (1968) and is married to Jacqui Lait MP.

Keith Mitchell CBE

Keith Mitchell qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1967 and enjoyed a successful career in publishing and professional education until selling his business interests in 1990 to enter public service.

He has served as a County Councillor for the Bloxham Division since 1989. He has been Leader of Oxfordshire County Council since 5 November 2001.

Keith served as Chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly from July 2005 to July 2008 and as Chairman of the English Regions Network, representing the 8 English Regions from July 2006 to July 2008.

He also served as Chairman of the South East County Leaders Group, comprising the eight county councils in the South East Region together with Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

In HM the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours, Keith was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of services to local government.

Alex Pratt, OBE

Alex Pratt, from Buckinghamshire, is a serial entrepreneur who runs seriousreaders.com , which manufactures high-grade reading lights. On secondment to the Government, he created and led the DTI International Innovation team, and acted as a key catalyst for key innovations such as the national brokerage model for business support and re-branding Britain. He has been Chairman of the DTI Business Link National Assessment Panel and of the Business Link in Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Bucks. He was awarded an OBE for Services to Business and Education in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2006.

Keith Riley

Keith Riley is Managing Director, Group Technical Services of Veolia Environmental Services plc and has a wide experience in recycling & waste management, particularly working with local authorities. Notably, he worked with the Hampshire local authorities as Managing Director of Hampshire Waste Services, the private sector partner in Project Integra, that put the County and cities of Portsmouth & Southampton at the forefront of good practice in the UK.

Keith holds degrees in engineering from Queen Mary College, University of London, and in social sciences from the Open University. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Member of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management and is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer. Prior to joining Veolia he worked within both large and small companies, including holding senior positions in some blue-chip engineering companies such as Babcock and Rolls-Royce, where he gained extensive experience working overseas.

Keith is Chairman and Trustee of the Resource Recovery Forum, a Trustee of the Veolia Environmental Trust and Trustee of Hampshire Natural Resources Trust. He also serves as an industrial advisor to several universities on resource and wastes management.

Keith is married with one son and two daughters and has lived within the South-East Region for over 30 years. His main interests are choral music and historical buildings.

Professor Bill Wakeham

Professor Bill Wakeham was appointed to SEEDA's non-executive Board on 14 December 2004. A chemical engineer by training, Bill has been Vice Chancellor of the University of Southampton since October 2001. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Chemical Engineers, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, and the Institute of Physics. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Physicist.

Bill joined the University of Southampton from Imperial College, where he was Deputy Rector from 1997. In a career spanning 30 years at Imperial College he was appointed Pro-Rector (Research) in 1996, and Pro-Rector (Resources) in 1999. He oversaw the College's merger with a series of medical schools and stimulated its activities in entrepreneurship.

Bill was Chair of SEEDA's South East Science, Engineering and Technology Advisory Committee (SESETAC) until 1995, and plays a leading role on the Board of the Southampton Strategic Partnership. Among other professional activities, he is a non-executive Director of COGENT, the sector skills council for chemicals, nuclear, oil and gas, petroleum and polymers; a non-executive director of Meridian TV; and an executive member of the Worldwide Universities Network. He is also a member of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Bill has also authored, co-authored or edited seven books and published over 350 papers in the open scientific and engineering literature in the research fields of thermophysical properties of fluids, intermolecular forces and thermodynamics.

He has an honorary degree from the University of Lisbon, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science by Exeter University, and is a Fellow of Imperial College. In 1997 he was awarded the Touloukian Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was Rossini Lecturer at the International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics, Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2000; and Ared Cezairliyan Lecturer at the International Thermal Conductivity Conference in 2001.

Phil Wood

Phil Wood joined SEEDA as a Board Member on 14 December 2003 as Trade Union Representative. Since 1983, he has been Regional Secretary of the South East Region of UNISON, with strategic responsibility for 125,000 members, 3,000 volunteers and 70 staff dealing with 2,000 employers in the public and private sectors across a range of service industries.

Phil chairs SEEDA's Social Dialogue Forum, and is a member of the South East Trade Union Network. This has provided him with a significant insight into economic, social and workplace issues across the South East. Phil has also been a non-executive director of Sussex Enterprise since 1997, and is SEEDA representative on Sussex LSC.

Over the past 30 years, Phil has had regular involvement with the Labour Party, although not served as agent or councillor since 1983. Phil holds no other public appointments.