The GFirst Local Enterprise Board - Biographies

Diane Savory - Chair

•Diane is the former Chief Operating Officer of distinctive fashion retailer SuperGroup PLC. She went from having three Cult Clothing stores in the local area to a nationwide retail roll out and worldwide distribution of the Superdry brand. In March 2010 she took SuperGroup PLC to full floatation on the London Stock Exchange and into the FTSE 250. This led to the company being given the Award for the Best Initial Public Offering in 2010.
•She has also been involved in the management, development and operation of associate business, innovative coffee chain Soho Coffee Company, which built to £2 million turnover from four locations.
•Diane has also been named Gloucestershire Businesswoman of the Year and is a Member of the Institute of Directors and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts.

David Owen - Chief Executive

•David is Chief Executive of economic development company GFirst and Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership. GFirst leads on economic development through investment, skills, connectivity, and promotion in a county that boasts the Cotswolds tourism destination alongside world class brands as diverse as Messier-Bugatti-Dowty landing gear and Superdry clothes. David became Chief Executive of GFirst in 2009 and is also currently a non-executive director of the equity fund South West Investment Group and growing training company GEL.
•David is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Economic Development Council. He is also a previous President of the Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce and former Chairman of the South West UK Business Advisory Group.

Michael Tripp - Vice Chair

•Michael is Group Chief Executive for Ecclesiastical Insurance. He also chairs the Business Advisory Group for Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership. Michael joined Ecclesiastical at the beginning of 2007 from global professional services practice, Ernst and Young, where he was responsible for the firm’s Property and Casualty Actuarial team for the UK company market.  
•A qualified actuary, he has more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry. Michael is also a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Institute of Operational Risk, a member of The Honourable Company of Gloucestershire and Court Member of The Worshipful Company of Actuaries (City of London Livery).

Roman Cooper

•Roman is CEO at Allcooper Ltd, a leading security installation and fire safety firm.  He leads on Skills for Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership. Roman has risen through the ranks of the family firm and took over the mantle of Chief Executive in 2004, having started as an apprentice just three months after the family firm was established in 1987. Allcooper was voted Coutts Family Business of the Year and has a string of industry awards.
•Roman is also Board member of Crimestoppers.
 

Adam Starkey

•Adam is founder and CEO of Green Gourmet Ltd, a food innovation company. He also leads on the GL Ambassadors Programme for Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership.  Green Gourmet Limited started as a one man business straight from university. It generates a turnover of £8m by linking UK and European food processors with UK distribution in the food service market and has achieved an average annual growth rate of 20 per cent for the past three years.
•He also has directorships in Tarnside Consulting, a charity fundraising consultancy and Stroud Brewery, an award winning micro-brewery. Adam was also appointed by the Secretary of State to the School Food Trust.
 

Steve Hawkins

•Steve Hawkins is Director and Site Manager at Moog in Tewkesbury, a worldwide designer, manufacturer, and integrator of precision motion control products and systems. He also chairs the Advanced Engineering Sector Group for Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership. Moog, a US-owned company, which manufactures in Gloucestershire, makes a wide portfolio of advanced products. Its business is split about 70 per cent in aerospace and 30 per cent in the industrial divisions.
•Steve has spent most of his career in senior aerospace management positions and has also worked in more general engineering positions working for John Brown Group and BP.
 

Greg Smith

•Greg is Principal of Gloucestershire College, a college of further education. The college has its main campuses at large purpose-built facilities in Cheltenham and Gloucester, and also several smaller sites around the county. It caters mainly for the 16–18 age group but also offers higher education up to and including HND, HNC and Foundation Degree levels.
•Greg is also a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and chair of the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company. He has also been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Gloucestershire.
 

Stephen Marston

•Stephen Marston is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire. The university currently has currently over 9,500 full and part-time students, and has four campuses located in Cheltenham and Gloucester. Stephen joined as Vice-Chancellor in 2011.
•Before then, Stephen was Director General for Lifelong Learning and Skills in the former Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and prior to that he was Director of Skills Group at DfES. Stephen joined the Department for Education and Science in 1983, where he worked on a range of schools, Further Education, Higher Education, and finance issues in various posts across the Department.

Councillor Steve Jordan

•Steve is the leader of Cheltenham Borough Council and represents Leadership Gloucestershire on the board of Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership. Leadership Gloucestershire (LG) brings together public sector organisations which allocate and spend significant resources in Gloucestershire. Steve was elected Leader of Cheltenham Borough Council in 2008 and has a portfolio that includes responsibility for both economic development and strategic land use.
•Away from council Steve spent over 20 years in the IT industry, as programmer, systems analyst and project manager most recently with Swiss Reinsurance.

Councillor Chas Fellows

•Chas is the lead cabinet member from Gloucestershire County Council with responsibility for the economy. He has been a county councillor since 1997 and is now Cabinet Member for Economy and Environment at Gloucestershire County Council. Chas first became a councillor for Stroud in 1996. He then went on to become deputy leader of Stroud District Council in 2002 and took the office of leader in July 2004.
•He was also an elected member of Gloucestershire Police Authority and was director and chairman of Gloucestershire Development Agency from 2007 to 2009. He is also a committee member of League of Friends for Stroud Hospitals and was given an Honorary Fellowship of Stroud College in 2007.