14 business leaders appointed to advise AGMA

The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) has appointed fourteen business leaders from across Greater Manchester to the new Business Leadership Council.

These senior members from the private sector, along with the chairman, John Early, will advise AGMA’s Executive board on on-going policies and priorities, to help ensure the future well being of the city region and where necessary, make recommendations to the Executive Board.

The fourteen members of the Council include:

Ian Austin, Managing Partner, Halliwells Landau
Chris Oglesby, Chief Executive, Bruntwood
Stephen Corcoran, Chief Executive, Speedy Hire
Martin Douglas, General Manager, UK and Ireland, Cargill
Prof Alan Gilbert, President and Vice Chancellor, University of Manchester
Sharon O'Kane, Co-Founder, Renovo
Lynda Shillaw, Director of Property, Co-Operative
Alan White, Managing Director, N Brown
Peter Greenhalgh, Managing Director, DCT Civil Engineering
Paul Latham, UK President, Live Nation
William Lees-Jones, Chief Executive, JW Lees
Neil Smith, Managing Director, Kinetic
David Burns, Chief Executive, Chill Factore
Ken Collett, Manufacturing Director, Money Controls

The Business Leadership Council’s main aims include securing economic growth in key sectors, influencing investment in infrastructure and transport and promoting environmental responsibility and resource efficiency.

Lord Peter Smith, Leader of AGMA said: “I am delighted at the quality of business people who are willing to give up some of their time to help Manchester City Region be a better place to live and work. The search process was extremely comprehensive and extensively advertised which provided some very strong candidates, giving the panel a difficult task in choosing the right team. But under the chairmanship of John Early, AGMA leaders are confident that they will get firm independent advice to benefit everyone.”

David McKeith, President of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, added: “It’s great to see the wide range and high quality of people willing to commit time and energy to the Business Leadership Council. These appointments will bring a powerful mixture of skills and experience to the Council, enabling it to provide a credible, challenging and representative voice for business in the Manchester city region. I am confident that the Council will make a very positive contribution to our future economic success."

John Early, newly appointed Chairman of the Business Leadership Council said: “The objective was to recruit a group of Greater Manchester’s most senior and able business people, who have the ability to contribute to policy in an objective and balanced fashion. With these fourteen people who come from all walks of life, within our business community, I think we have achieved that. Through the group we will have first hand experience from both the sectors identified as the growth drivers of the City Regions economy and those needed to put in place the physical and social infrastructure necessary to deliver that growth.”

In total over 170 applications were received and 26 candidates were shortlisted.

Members of the council will serve for a mixture of terms (2-4 years) to ensure that there is the appropriate level of continuity.