Cllr Tim Oliver (Chair)

Surrey County Council Leader

Tim Oliver is the Leader of Surrey County Council and Chair of The One Surrey Growth Board.

First elected to Elmbridge in 1999 he served Esher for 20 years until standing down in 2019. He was a County Councillor from 2005-9 and then re-elected in 2017.

Formerly CEO and then Deputy Chairman of a legal and professional services business, Tim was extensively involved in driving operational delivery and business development. He is a qualified solicitor and the author of three legal text books.

He has held many non-executive roles including on a wide range of not-for-profit boards .Tim is actively involved in the Charity sector as Vice President and previous Chair of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices and Chair of trustees Working Families.

tim.oliver@surreycc.gov.uk Connect on LinkedIn

Philip Hammond MP

Former Chancellor and Surrey MP

The Rt Hon Philip Hammond was Chancellor of the Exchequer between 13 July 2016 and 24 July 2019. He was elected Conservative MP for Runnymede and Weybridge in 1997.

He was previously Secretary of State for Transport from May 2010, when he was appointed as a Privy Counsellor. Prior to this, he held a number of shadow portfolios. He was elected to Parliament in 1997 and was Secretary of State for Defence from 2011 until July 2014. Philip served as Foreign Secretary from July 2014 until July 2016.

Philip had a business career in small and medium-sized companies in manufacturing, consultancy, property and construction, and oil and gas, both in the UK and abroad.

office@philiphammond.org.uk

Claire Coutinho MP

Member of Parliament for East Surrey

Claire Coutinho was elected as the Conservative MP for East Surrey in December 2019. She is a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak; a Senior Fellow and a member of the Indo-Pacific Commission at Policy Exchange; and a member of the Advisory Board of the modernising think tank Onward.

Claire completed a Master’s degree in Maths and Philosophy at Oxford and started her career at Merrill Lynch and KPMG, before spending six years on public policy, including within Government as a Special Adviser to HM Treasury

claire.coutinho.mp@parliament.uk

Joanna Killian

Surrey County Council Chief Executive

Joanna Killian joined Surrey County Council in March 2018. She is Head of Paid Service for the organisation and is responsible for all work carried out by the Council.

Joanna has more than 30 years’ experience in the public sector and has deep experience in delivering transformational change, cost reduction and service improvement. She has expertise in achieving improved outcomes through partnerships as well as across public sector systems.

Cllr Joss Bigmore

District / Borough Leader (Guildford Borough Council)

Joss Bigmore is Leader of Guildford Borough Council, he is Lead Member for Planning Policy having previously held the Finance and Assets portfolio. He has an Economics degree and spent 20 years in the City trading Equity Derivatives, although now focuses on Angel investing opportunities.

joss.bigmore@guildford.gov.uk

DR Claire Fuller

Senior Responsible Officer - Surrey Heartlands

Senior Responsible Officer Dr Claire Fuller is a GP by background was Clinical Chair of Surrey Downs Clinical Commissioning Group until her new appointment to the role of Senior Responsible Officer for the Surrey Heartlands Sustainability and Transformation Partnership.

Now at Surrey Heartlands she leads the delivery of plans to transform care for a population of more than 850,000 people.

syheartlandsccg.contactus@nhs.net Connect on LinkedIn

Julie Kapsalis

Chair - Coast to Capital LEP

Julie has worked in economic development for almost 20 years with a particular focus on enterprise, skills and social inclusion. She served as an advisor to the UK Government’s task force on women’s enterprise and has recently contributed to the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship including developing the expert in residence programme and the pilot to gender disaggregate LEP data. As well as Chairing Coast to Capital, she is Chair of the grouping of six South East LEPs – Catalyst South.

She is a Board Member at Gatwick Diamond Business, Ambassador for the Institute of Directors and Trustee of the Worthing Theatres & Museum. She is also former Chair of the Chichester Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Julie works in Further Education and training and has played a central role in the expansion of the Chichester College Group through both its commercial businesses and mergers. From April 2022, she is taking on a new role at North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot) which will include establishing the region’s Institute of Technology working in partnership with businesses.

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Michael Queen

Chair - EM3 LEP

Michael was formerly Chief Executive of 3i Group plc, the global investment company where after 25 years he retired in 2012 having developed 3i’s activities in the infrastructure sector through founding 3i Infrastructure plc.

In 1994 he was seconded to the HM Treasury to help to develop the potential for the Private Finance Initiative in the NHS as Head of the NHS Private Finance Unit. In 2002 Michael was Chairman of the British Venture Capital Association.

Between 2010 and 2012 he was a member of the Prime Ministers Business Advisory Group.

He is currently Chair of the University of Surrey and Chair of the Council of University Chairs. He is a Director of BTL Limited, a company developing the Thames Tideway tunnel, Chair of Coller Capital Limited, a Director of TAQA, a Saudi based industrial company, and is also an advisor to an Indian Private Equity Group.

Between 2012 and 2018 he was President of Surrey 100, a Business Angel Group attached to the University of Surrey where he invested in a portfolio of early stage technology companies. Michael has a BA (Hons) Industrial Economics from Nottingham University and is a Chartered Accountant.

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Professor G Q Max Lu

President and Vice-Chancellor - University of Surrey

Professor Max Lu has been President and Vice-Chancellor of University of Surrey since April 2016. His responsibility is to lead the University, define its academic direction and strategy, and ensure that it is well managed.

Previously he was Provost and Senior Vice-President at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, and serves as Director of the Boards of UK Research and Innovation and National Physical Laboratory, and as a member of the Leadership Council of the National Centre for Universities and Business. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey and active in many local arts, charitable and community organisations.

j.telford@surrey.ac.uk Connect on LinkedIn

Professor Paul Layzell

Principal of Royal Holloway University

Professor Paul Layzell is Principal of Royal Holloway, University of London and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of London. Living and working in Egham, Surrey, Paul is a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey and an Ambassador for the Community Foundation for Surrey.

A professor of software engineering, originally based in North-West England, Paul wrote early papers on cloud computing. Later he played a key role in the merger of universities in Manchester which created an economic powerhouse to drive the north-west economy.

Since moving to Surrey, Paul has led the growth of Royal Holloway from 8,000 students to 12,000, which an independent economic impact report shows supporting over 3,000 jobs across the County and an annual economic contribution of over £20om to the County.

Paul has been Chair of AQA, the largest examination board for GCSEs and GCE A-Levels in England, Eduserv, an IT Services company and, London Higher, the body representing universities in London.

pam.kaur@royalholloway.ac.uk Connect on LinkedIn

Frances Rutter

Chief Executive Officer and Principal - NESCOT

Frances is the CEO and Principal of North East Surrey College of Technology, a general FE and HE college. She is a qualified Solicitor with a strong background in local government. Before joining the education sector Frances was CEO of Epsom and Ewell Borough Council. As an FE Principal, Frances is an active member of the Surrey Employment Skills Board and chairs the Gatwick 360 skills board.

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Tim Wates

Director - Wates Group

Tim Wates is a Director of Wates Group one of the UKs leading privately owned Construction, property services and development Companies. Wates Head office is in Leatherhead.

Tim is a Chair / non-executive director of two SMEs, is a trustee of the Clink charity, a member of the Advisory board for the Judge Business School at Cambridge University and a trustee of various Family Charitable Trusts. He was Chair of the Coast to Capital LEP for six years until July 2020 and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Surrey.

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Chris Lee

CFO - Jellyfish

Went to school in Redhill and then Reigate College 6th form.
Studied Economics at Loughborough University whilst working with and being sponsored by BAA and involved in the building and set up of Terminal 5 and the Heathrow Express rail link.
Started with Jellyfish in Reigate 16 years ago and have helped build Jellyfish from starting in early pay per click services to now being a global business with 40 offices in 25 countries. We have a team of 2,500 fantastic digital experts providing a full range of leading digital services to global brands and partnering with Google, Meta and Amazon.
Hugely supportive of the local community and Surrey as a whole.

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Jean-Philippe Launberg

Strategy & Business Director - Gordon Murray

Throughout my career I have been fortunate to have worked on a wide variety of vehicle and powertrain projects, and strategic expatriate assignments around the world. This experience has enabled the development of a broad set of technical, managerial and leadership skills and behaviours that I am ready to apply to accelerate transportation (and not just automotive) efficiency, electrification and drive profitable sustainability.

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Charles Amies

Acting Director - Homes England

A chartered surveyor, Charles has held various senior commercial property related roles over 15 years in the private sector, before moving to public sector housing focused delivery in the public sector, latterly with Homes England.

Charles has extensive experience across the south and east of England leading teams through the process of acquiring, de-risking, providing infrastructure and disposing of public sector land in the market for residential led development.

Currently, Charles is leading one of Homes England’s new business and relationship management teams focused on supporting private and public sector partners in unlocking the building of new homes in the South-East and South-West. This includes working up a pipeline of opportunities where use of the Agency’s funding, people, powers and know-how can serve to overcome barriers to delivery.

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Paul Harwood

Investment Director in Southern Region - Network Rail

To Follow

Louise Punter

Chief Executive of Surrey Chambers of Commerce

Louise Punter became Chief Executive of Surrey Chambers of Commerce following 17 years working in manufacturing and business services. After a 5-year career break from Metal Box, she then spent 3 years as the Marketing Director of an international conformity assessment organisation, Bureau Veritas. To ensure strong representation of Surrey businesses, Louise sits on many different boards including the One Surrey Growth Board, the Surrey Skills Leadership Forum, the Civilian-Military Partnership Board and works with the Economic Development departments of the County and Borough Councils. Her passion is to help businesses at every stage of their development by connecting them, promoting them, supporting them and representing their voice to government. Surrey Chambers is a key organisation supporting businesses with both exporting and importing.

louise.punter@surrey-chambers.co.uk Connect on LinkedIn

DR Julie Llewelyn

Vice Chair - Surrey Community Foundation

As an NHS diabetes physician Julie Llewelyn has first hand experience of the very real impact of social deprivation on health in parts of ‘Hidden Surrey’. Her previous role as a Trustee for Whiteley Village in Hersham further confirmed the vital importance of community for the well-being of the elderly population in Surrey. Julie is chair of the Hambledon Community Fund, one of the Community Foundation’s Area Funds.

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Sue Lawrence

Chair - Institute of Directors (Surrey)

Sue is an IoD Chartered Director and Fellow and has been an IoD member since 2008. She has written two handbooks on company meetings and committees and edited the Good Governance Guides on boardroom dynamics, strategy and risk management on behalf of The Chartered Governance Institute.

She has a portfolio of non-executive directorships and appointments as an independent trustee to employee-owned companies, straddling sectors such as architecture, construction, professional services and regulated financial services.

Chair.surrey@iod.net Connect on LinkedIn

Steve Sharratt OBE

CEO - DBE Energy 

Steve was a corporate finance lawyer before moving into business management roles and has invested in and sold a number of businesses in the construction sector over the past 20 years. Steve is a member of the CBI Decarbonisation Board and chairs the Energy & Climate Change Policy Committee. Steve has worked in the waste and anaerobic digestion sectors for over 10 years in the UK and was awarded an OBE for services to business in 2009. Steve is CEO of IBMS Group which owns and builds businesses driving sustainability, including DBE Energy, a ground breaking renewable energy facility based in Cranleigh. He sits on the Surrey Growth Board and the Surrey Greener Futures Board.

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Tim Wates (Chair)

Director - Wates Group

Tim Wates is a Director of Wates Group one of the UKs leading privately owned Construction, property services and development Companies. Wates Head office is in Leatherhead.

Tim is a Chair / non-executive director of two SMEs, is a trustee of the Clink charity, a member of the Advisory board for the Judge Business School at Cambridge University and a trustee of various Family Charitable Trusts. He was Chair of the Coast to Capital LEP for six years until July 2020 and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Surrey.

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Andrew Smith OBE

Corporate Affairs Director - Pinewood Studios

Andrew joined Pinewood Studios in June 2008 as Corporate Affairs Director. Prior to this, Andrew was Managing Partner of The Policy Partnership. Andrew is currently a member of the Film Skills Council, the British Film Commission Advisory Board, the British Screen Advisory Board and BAFTA.

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Graham Gibson

Chief Claims Officer - Allianz UK

Graham joined Allianz as Director, Claims in June 2008 with responsibility for customer service delivery and technical integrity and he is a member of the AZ Commercial Executive Committee. Over and above his claims responsibilities Graham has ownership of Procurement & Workspace Services, Complaints and Fraud at a company level. Recently he became responsible for the Inspection Services Engineering business.​
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Graham represents Allianz in a number of market initiatives and was formerly a member of the Civil Justice Council, a Director of the Claims Portal, the Chartered Insurance Institute’s, Claims Faculty Advisory Board and a Director of AGF. Currently, he is the Chairman of Thatcham, the Chairman of Allianz Pensions Trustees, The Chairman of AEIS Ltd and a Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau. ​

In addition he is a member of the Allianz Global Claims Committee which sets the Strategy for Claims at a group level.​
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Graham is a regular speaker at industry seminars and a contributor to trade press articles.

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Richard Grainger

Chairman - Liberation Group

Richard worked in the City of London for over 25 years. Having qualified with Price Waterhouse, Richard joined the corporate finance department of Hill Samuel Bank in 1987 prior to moving with the team to Close Brothers Corporate Finance (“CBCF”) in 1996. Richard was Chief Executive of CBCF during its most successful growth period between 2001 and 2007. During this time, Richard was involved driving the growth of the UK business and developing and expanding Close Brothers International. Previously, he ran the Leisure and Retail Team and founded their Restructuring Team. Richard sat on the Management Board of Close Brothers Group plc for six years and finished as Chairman of CBCF in June 2009.

An Oxford graduate and a qualified Chartered Accountant, Richard is currently Chairman of Liberation Group, the brewer, pub owner and drinks wholesaler and Chairman of McKay Securities PLC, a Property Investment Trust (REIT). He is a trustee of Horatio’s Garden, a spinal injuries charity. Previous roles include the Chairmanships of Safestore Plc, Palmer & Harvey PLC, Ipes and Harrington Brooks.

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Jean-Philippe Launberg

Strategy & Business Director - Gordon Murray

Throughout my career I have been fortunate to have worked on a wide variety of vehicle and powertrain projects, and strategic expatriate assignments around the world. This experience has enabled the development of a broad set of technical, managerial and leadership skills and behaviours that I am ready to apply to accelerate transportation (and not just automotive) efficiency, electrification and drive profitable sustainability.

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Alison Addy

Head of External Engagement and Policy - Gatwick Airport

In almost 27 years at Gatwick Airport, Alison’s career spans planning, airport development, and
community engagement. Since 2020 she has led Gatwick’s External Engagement and Policy
team, focusing on building relationships with external stakeholders to identify and understand
the key issues and influence policies relevant to Gatwick’s business recovery and future plans,
both locally and nationally. This includes a strategic focus on the theme of people, community
and economy within our sustainability strategy – Decade of Change to 2030

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Becky Coffin

Director of Sustainability and Communities - Heathrow Airport Ltd

Becky knows how to develop an approach that is integrated into the core of the business and genuinely delivers commercial value in the fast-moving retail environment. Her 17-year career combines in-house roles as a Corporate Responsibility Manager and Head of Sustainability with an Associate Director position in consultancy. An IEMA-Registered Environmental Auditor, Becky’s leadership and project management skills are complemented by international technical experience including ethical supply chain, REACH compliance, responsible timber sourcing and eco design, alongside corporate strategy and change management in one of the global retail leaders on sustainability. Her work at Kingfisher has received multiple industry awards, including several for sustainability reporting which she has overseen for more than six years.

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Richard Maughan

Senior Director, UK Policy and Public Affairs - Pfizer

Richard Maughan works at Pfizer as Senior Director, UK Policy and Public Affairs.

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Chris Lee

CFO - Jellyfish

Went to school in Redhill and then Reigate College 6th form.
Studied Economics at Loughborough University whilst working with and being sponsored by BAA and involved in the building and set up of Terminal 5 and the Heathrow Express rail link.
Started with Jellyfish in Reigate 16 years ago and have helped build Jellyfish from starting in early pay per click services to now being a global business with 40 offices in 25 countries. We have a team of 2,500 fantastic digital experts providing a full range of leading digital services to global brands and partnering with Google, Meta and Amazon.
Hugely supportive of the local community and Surrey as a whole.

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Dominic Wake

Head of Market Access and Corporate Affairs - Sandoz

Over 15 years’ experience in communications, government affairs, market access, policy and marketing, in pharmaceuticals and professional services. Roles at AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and H+K Strategies.

Strategic leader skilled in communications, patient group liaison, healthcare policy and access and a respected people manager.

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Mark Leftwich

Market Leader, Personal Health - Philips

Mark has been with Philips for nearly two decades and holds a formidable track record in accelerating the growth strategy across the business and contributing to the company’s role as a responsible UK business, from taking steps to combat the systemic health inequalities faced across the UK, to working with schools to improve the quality of the air our children breathe and in the face of national crisis, supporting our National Health System’s resilience in delivering life-saving care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Philips Foundation lead for UK and Ireland, Mark plays a key role in delivering projects focused on improving the lives of the communities

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Mike McNicholas

Managing Director, Infrastructure - Atkins Global

Mike McNicholas is the MD of Infrastructure for Atkins Global

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Jackie Williams

General Manager - Astellas Pharma

Jackie Williams is general manager for Astellas Pharma

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Ben Jenkins

Community Affairs Manager - Asahi Beer

Ben is the Community Affairs Manager for Asahi Beer.

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Fran Waite

Program Manager, Community Operations - Amazon

Experienced Communications and Community Relations Manager with a demonstrated history (10yrs+) of working in operational environments. Skilled in Corporate Communications, Employee Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Social Media, and Public Relations. My passions lie in story-telling, writing creatively and showcasing the great work of Amazon associates. Excellent communication skills and a BA in English Language and Literature from University of Liverpool.

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Duncan Matthews

Divisional Land and Planning Director - Berkeley Group

Duncan Matthews is the Divisional Land and Planning Director at the Berkeley Group.

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Matt Webster

VP, GM - Criterion

Matt Webster is the Vice President and General Manager at Criterion, an Electronic Arts company.

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Kevin Page

Operations Director - Cap Gemini

Operations Director for our Cloud & Custom Build Division of Capgemini UK. Responsible for managing all the operations of CCA including policies, budgeting, and purchasing whilst overseeing day to day activities and setting strategic goals. Active within local community having helped to establish a CIO, bringing together volunteers, local authorities, agencies and faith communities to work for the good of our town (Woking).

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Chris Hurren

Office Managing Partner RSM UK

Chris is the Office Managing Partner of the RSM Guildford office, providing services across the county. RSM is a leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services to middle market leaders, globally.
Chris has been working with larger owner managed and private equity backed businesses for over 25 years. Chris is passionate about the local business community and keen that he and his local team at RSM help put Surrey on the map as one of the best places to do business in the Country.

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Yvonne Spencer

Director of Science Transformation - APHA

Yvonne Spencer is the Director of Science Transformation for the Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA).

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