New NWDA chair set to be named
THE new chairman of the North West Development Agency will be named this month.
The new Department of Business Innovation and Skills is expected to reveal the successor to Bryan Gray – who has been in the role for the last six years – before the recess of Parliament on July 21.
Mr Gray was scheduled to retire last year, but like several other RDA chairmen, was asked by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to stay on to lead the region through the worst of the recession.
In 2008 he was paid £106,931, of which £78,931 was salary and £28,000 was pension contributions.
Based in Warrington, the NWDA is responsible for stimulating the economic growth and regeneration of the region.
Insiders see the appointment as being a two-horse race between Robert Hough and Felicity Goodey.
Both candidates have strong credentials, but contrasting backgrounds in the region.
Mr Hough, a former corporate lawyer, is known for his long career at Peel Holdings, the privately-owned property giant which is one of the biggest land-owners in the North West.
He has been on the board of the NWDA since December 2007 and is currently chairman of New East Manchester, the Urban Regeneration Company.
Ms Goodey spent nearly 30 years with the BBC, before leaving journalism to become one of the first directors of the NWDA. Although no longer on the board, she has won plaudits for her leadership of the Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company, and played a key role in luring the BBC to Salford’s mediacity:uk.
