Chamber announces new President at AGM
East Midlands Chamber has announced Robert Mayo as its President for 2017/18.
He received the chains of office from outgoing President Geoff Poyzer at the Chamber’s annual general meeting this morning.
Robert is Development Director at Nottinghamshire’s historic Welbeck Estate, with responsibility to bring about the transformation of one of the most significant groups of listed buildings in the East Midlands.
He is a graduate in Art History from the University of Nottingham (1986-89) and has a Masters degree in Conservation Studies from the University of York.
Robert trained and qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and has spent much of his career involved in the regeneration of historic buildings.
Prior to his appointment at the Welbeck Estate, Robert led the Heritage Lottery Fund-financed Piece Hall Transformation Project, in Halifax, a Grade I listed building and the last of the great northern cloth halls.
As well as being a Director at East Midlands Chamber, Robert is Chair of the D2N2 Rural Reference Group, Vice-Chair of North Notts BID and a Director of St Leger Homes.
He is also Place Chair at the North Notts Business Improvement District, or BID, the first of its kind in the country as it will cover the whole of the district of Bassetlaw instead of being limited to a very small area. It will have a budget of £3.5m over five years if successful.
“I would like to extend my personal thanks to Geoff Poyzer, my predecessor, for choosing me as his deputy for the past year and for all his hard work during his 12 months in office.
“I promise to uphold the dignity of this office and to be the best ambassador that I can be for the Chamber, for the region and for business generally.”
Robert has said he has four areas on which he wants to focus during his year in office – Brexit, helping local firms to begin their export journey, the region’s rural economy and promoting the North Notts BID.
Kevin Harris, a partner at international audit, tax and consultancy firm RSM, has been appointed as Vice-President for the year.
He is a strong advocate of Leicestershire and a prominent member of the local business community. He has worked in the accountancy profession for more than 30 years since graduating from university and obtained an MBA in 2004.
Kevin is a ‘hands-on’ business adviser who works closely with the management and shareholders of privately-owned businesses to help deliver their corporate and personal objectives, specialising in helping businesses to determine and execute corporate strategy.
As a strong communicator and being action-orientated, Kevin is used to working alongside a diverse group of people to get things done. He was part-owner of a successful regional accountancy practice before joining RSM in Leicester this year as a Partner.
Kevin is Vice-Chair of the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) and has been heavily involved in helping to attract significant inward investment into Leicestershire in recent years.
Board changes announced at the AGM include Directors Dawn Edwards, James Bowie, Stuart Dawkins and Jaffer Kapasi, who were due to retire by rotation this year, being re-elected unopposed and the formal appointment to the Board of Eileen Richards, Martin Rigley and Lindsey Williams, all of whom were co-opted earlier in the year.
Board members retiring having completed their permitted term under the Chamber’s governance rules were Russell Thompson and Past-Presidents Jean Mountain, Ian Greenaway, David Merifield and Richard Wilkins.
Phil Stanyer, Chair of the Board of Directors, said:-
“I’m delighted to formally welcome Eileen, Martin and Lindsey to the Board. They each possess skills, knowledge and experience that will be of great value to the Chamber.
“And I want to express my extreme gratitude to Russell, Jean, Ian, David and Richard, who have all been loyal and devoted supporters of the Chamber and I hope will continue to be our good friends.”
Also at the event, two local business were presented with their British Chambers of Commerce East Midlands Regional Awards. They were Mansfield-based R.E.A.L Education, which won the Education and Business Partnership Award, and Retford-based iCON Aerospace, which won the High Growth Business of the Year Award.
Both were winners of the same categories at this year’s East Midlands Chamber Business Award. Later this month they will discover if they have been successful in the national finals of the BCC Awards.
