Board of Directors
The Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership board comprises five local business leaders, one of whom is Chair, and five senior elected members from each of the Buckinghamshire local authorities. The board provides clear direction and defines priorities for economic development interventions in Buckinghamshire.
The members of the Buckinghamshire LEP Board are:
Andrew M. Smith – Chair
Director of Corporate Affairs, Pinewood Group Ltd
As Director of Corporate Affairs, Andrew has been instrumental in the development of the Pinewood site and development of the international reputation of the studio and in particular in developing strong investment links.
A Board member of Buckinghamshire LEP since 2012, Andrew has been instrumental in guiding and supporting the growth of the LEP and his knowledge of the film and creative arts sector has been invaluable in the development of this growth area for Buckinghamshire. Andrew, who lives in Stoke Poges, is also a Non-Executive Director of Buckinghamshire Business First.
Adrian Brown - Vice Chairman
Managing Director, Berkeley Strategic
As the Managing Director at Berkeley Strategic, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Berkeley Group Plc, Adrian Brown is responsible for the long-term land business of the Group. Adrian has successfully promoted numerous large-scale development schemes for the Group over the past 21 years and brings a wealth of highly relevant expertise and experience to add real value to the Buckinghamshire LEP Board. In addition, Adrian was a board member of the Aylesbury Vale Advantage and latterly Chair of the Buckinghamshire Advantage Board.
Martin Tett
Leader, Buckinghamshire Council
Martin is Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council. His responsibilities include overall policy direction and strategy, communications, external relations with Government and representative bodies.
He leads on the counties economic development. Before joining the County Council Martin worked in business for twenty eight years. He is a Governor of a school in one of Buckinghamshire’s most deprived areas.
Eman Martin-Vignerte (Diversity Champion)
Head of External Affairs, Governmental and Political Relations at Bosch
Eman Martin-Vignerte was born in Qatar and studied Electrical Engineering at the Paderborn University, Germany, and Medical Equipment Engineering at the University in Ulm, Germany.
She joined Bosch in 1999 as a software engineer to work on common rail diesel engines, where she developed software and hardware for the Electronic Diesel Controls (EDC). In 2004, she moved to the automotive division responsible for Hyundai customers, to become a team leader for change management activities. Three years later she took on responsibility for business development for Healthcare Telemedicine in the UK. As of 2013, she is the Head of External Affairs, Governmental and Political Relations at Bosch.
Richard Harrington
Ex officio private sector Board Member
Richard has lead responsibility for the business led Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership, including the development and implementation of a Bucks plan to align public and private sector investment and secure and invest European and UK Government funding to build the conditions for sustainable economic growth across Buckinghamshire and by collaborating with neighboring areas.
A Chartered Town Planner and Chartered Surveyor specialising in public private delivery, prior to the LEP Richard led a successful public private local delivery vehicle that translated planned employment, infrastructure and housing growth from the Sustainable Communities Plan into tangible outcomes on the ground.
Gareth Williams
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, Buckinghamshire Council
After a 20 year career in the City where Gareth was Managing Director at Deutsche Bank and Nomura, he became a Councillor in 2017. Gareth is now Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration for Buckinghamshire Council.
Prior to that, as Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health upon formation of the Unitary Council, Gareth helped to lead a lot of the partnership work between the Council, Health and the VCSE sector in its response to the challenges of Covid.
Philippa Batting
Managing Director of Buckinghamshire Business First
Philippa Batting is currently Managing Director of the largest business representative organisation in Buckinghamshire with more than 14,000 businesses now in its membership. Philippa brings a wealth of entrepreneurial and results-driven experience in addition to an extensive network of business connections to the Buckinghamshire LEP Board.
Hiren Gandhi
Partner, Blaser Mills Law
SME Champion
Hiren Gandhi is currently a Partner at Blaser Mills Law, a Legal 500 and Chambers UK top ranked law firm primarily based in Buckinghamshire, where he oversees the business development and marketing functions for the firm, playing a key role in the strategic growth of the firm and across all of its teams. Prior to joining Blaser Mills, Hiren worked for several other law firms, advising multi-national corporates such as Shell, Nissan, and Jaguar-Land Rover. Hiren is also currently Vice-Chairman and Non-Executive Director on the board of Buckinghamshire Business First.
Clare Pelham
Chief Executive, Epilepsy Society
Prior to her position as Chief Executive of the Epilepsy Society in November 2016, Clare was Chief Executive of Leonard Cheshire Disability for five years. Before joining the charity which supports disabled people in the UK and around the world, she was the first Chief Executive of the Judicial Appointments Commission and held senior civil service positions at the Cabinet Office, Home Office and Department for Constitutional Affairs.
She has also worked in the private sector at IBM and was a member of the executive committee of Coca Cola GB and Ireland where, as Director of Active Lifestyles, she was responsible for the company’s partnerships with the voluntary sector.
Steven Broadbent
Cabinet Member for Transport, Buckinghamshire Council
Steven has a strong international business background in Hospitality, Software Development, Research, Consultancy and Property development, having worked for large FTSE 100 companies, SME’s and as an entrepreneur in his own business. As a Director he assumed primary responsibility for strategic planning and commercial growth.
Steven is a councillor representing the Greater Hughenden ward and through his executive cabinet role plays a key part in the economic development, asset management and regeneration of the Wycombe district; not least the substantial capital investment programme in the area.
Jenny Craig
Principal and CEO, Buckinghamshire College Group
Jenny is the Principal and Chief Executive of the Buckinghamshire College Group. Jenny has a strong leadership and management background in Further Education holding a number of senior positions including Deputy Principal and Vice Principal of Curriculum and Quality. Prior to her time in Further Education Jenny worked in Corporate Banking with Barclays Bank.
Jenny is a passionate advocate of technical, professional and vocational skills, education and training. She is dedicated to enabling all students to flourish, thrive and achieve more than they ever thought possible through creating inspirational learning experiences. She strongly believes that colleges should be at the heart of the community they serve, working closely with employers and wider community stakeholders to transform lives and drive local and regional economic success and social well-being.
Emily Dingle
Chief Operations Officer, URA Thrusters Limited
Emily is COO of URA Thrusters, a sustainable space propulsion company based at Westcott Venture Park. Prior to this, Emily spent 15 years in the Civil service, mainly working at the UK Space Agency as a UK delegate to the European Space Agency and other international committees.
Emily takes a keen interest in the development of engineering talent in Buckinghamshire. She is a strong supporter of apprenticeships and encouraging young people to think about careers in STEM. She also chairs the Westcott Space Cluster, helping space and engineering business support and learn from each other.
Martina Porter
Director, All Spring Media
Martina has nearly 20 years’ experience of the independent film sector. She has also considerable experience of developing and delivering training programmes for entrants to the creative industries, right through to professionals wishing to update their skills.
In 2011 Martina set up All Spring Media as a media education consultancy. Prior to that Martina managed the Film and Digital Media Exchange, a £2.5 million project based at the University of Hertfordshire designed to build a bridge between education and the film and digital media industries.
