Melanie Lewis Appointed to Liverpool City Region’s New Business and Enterprise Board

Wed 4 Oct, 2023

Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced the appointment of Melanie Lewis, Chief Executive of Shakespeare North Playhouse, to the newly formed Business and Enterprise Board for the Liverpool City Region.

Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced appointments to a new Business and Enterprise Board for the Liverpool City Region.

The new board has taken over the role of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in providing a voice for business in the area.

Business leaders from across the city region and its key growth sectors have been named on the new board. There are also reserved places for representatives from further and higher education and the region’s visitor economy.

The board has been appointed after an extensive recruitment process, carried out over recent months, which attracted applications from 65 high-calibre candidates. In appointing the Board, the Combined Authority has worked hard to ensure gender balance, ethnic diversity, and geographic representation across all six areas of the Liverpool City Region.

Speaking about the new Board, Mayor Rotheram said:

“Thriving local businesses are the backbone of our economy and, for our area to flourish, we need them to succeed. Through our new Business and Enterprise Board, we have pulled together a team that boasts decades of hand-on experience at leading organisations and, it’s my hope, that their knowledge and insight will help us to join-up our thinking with fresh ideas to grow our economy.

“I want the Liverpool City Region to be the home of ‘good’ business and I’m looking forward to seeing where the Board will take us on our journey to making our area the best place in the country to live, work and run a business in.”

The new board is made up of:

David Meyerowitz (Chair) Chief Executive Haier Europe, Ruth Hartnoll (Deputy Chair) Matchstick Creative Co Founder and CEO,
Rachael Hennigan Principal and Chief Executive Officer Hugh Baird College,
Trevor Leeks Operations Director JLR Halewood,
Utubakwu Michael Ushie CEO Prime Atlantic,
Melanie Lewis CEO Shakespeare North Playhouse,
Lynn Haime CEO Baltic Creative,
Jennifer Van Der Merwe Director of Kindred-LCR,
Mohammed Tawhidul Islam Managing Director Islam & Co Chartered Accountants,
Prof. Mark Power Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Liverpool John Moores University,
Prof. Tim Jones Vice-Chancellor, University of Liverpool,
Ruth Wood Interim CEO, Mersey Maritime,
Rachael Baker Managing Director, JJ Smith & Co

Councillor Paul Wharton, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Business, said:

“We’ve made a huge effort to find a diverse range of business leaders from across the city region who can make sure that the business voice is at the heart of our decision-making process.  We’ve been able to appoint a group of very impressive individuals who I’m sure will come together as a cohesive and effective board.”

 

David Meyerowitz, Chair of the Business and Enterprise Board, said:

“I’m hugely excited to get to work with my fellow board members to help shape the strategic direction of the Liverpool City Region’s economy.  This is a genuinely representative, high-level leadership group, and I look forward to working with them to identify opportunities to stimulate economic growth, productivity and competitiveness across our city region.”

 Ruth Hartnoll, Deputy Chair of the Business and Enterprise Board, said:

“This is a really exciting time for businesses in the Liverpool City Region.  We’ve brought together a diverse, talented group of business leaders who I’m sure share my enthusiasm to help the Combined Authority create the conditions for local businesses of all sizes, and from all sectors, to thrive.  I can’t wait to get started.”