BCC Advisory Council
Neville Reyner CBE DL
President, British Chambers of Commerce
Neville Reyner started his working life as an electrician in the Coal Mines of North East Lancashire and progressed to be become a Chartered Electrical Engineer.
He spent 15 years as UK Executive Vice President of Mitsubishi Electric Europe, a global electrical conglomerate, and was responsible for a turnover of £250 million. He left at the end of 1998. Neville also took Mitsubishi Semiconductor in the UK & Ireland from start-up, to a company worth over £150 million in 15 years. Prior to this, he worked with Fairchild Semiconductor and Analog Devices. Neville was the Deputy Chairman of the East of England Regional Development Agency (EEDA) between 1999 and 2003, and over his five year term he championed innovation.
He has a BSc degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Leeds, and a Masters in Business Administration from Cranfield. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers & Commerce, and the Institute of Directors. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.
In the 2001 New Year Honours, Neville was appointed CBE for services to business, and in 2003 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.
Nigel Brewster
Managing Director of Sewell Moorhouse
Nigel Brewster is 36 years old and lives in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. He was elected President of Doncaster Chamber of Commerce in January 2008 and has subsequently been re-elected to serve a further term. His focus as President has been to place the skills agenda as one of the top priorities for Doncaster Chamber and it continues to develop innovative approaches with local and regional partnerships addressing the issues of skills gaps, worklessness and social inclusion through economic engagement.
His current role as Managing Director of the recruitment group Sewell Moorhouse sees him manage all operations in the office network across Yorkshire and the North West whilst managing the business' Accountancy, Engineering and Executive Search disciplines. He joined Sewell Moorhouse in 1997 as a Trainee and after successive promotions was promoted to his current role in 2008. In his spare time, he is a keen supporter of Doncaster Rovers Football Club and amongst other charitable commitments he is a Trustee of the club's Community Foundation which works with children across the area promoting health, fitness and the development of aspiration and social skills through sporting activities.
Derek Chartres
Managing Director of Business Services Group
Derek is Managing Director of The Business Services Group, providing Business Services and Facilities, Logistical Support and Print Solutions to businesses across the south for 20 years.
A Director of Portsmouth and South East Hants Chamber, and of the South East Regional Chambers of Commerce, Derek has some 18 years experience serving on Chamber Boards, including the roles of Chairman and President. He is a former Enterprise Agency Chairman, founding non-executive director of Young Chamber, and immediate past Chairman of the British Chambers of Commerce, Accreditation Board.
His career includes service as a RAF Provost Officer, Local government officer and in Sales and Regional sales management.
Michael Hall DL
Deputy Chairman of Chesterfield Royal Infimary
Appointed 5 July 2005, Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director of Chesterfield Royal Infirmary
Originally from Manchester, Michael qualified as a chartered accountant in 1963 and has worked in most aspects of commercial financial management. Michael joined the University of Derby in November 1991. His role as deputy vice-chancellor encompassed the implementation of a commercial approach and attitude.
Following his retirement in 2002, he served as Acting Chief Executive of Derby Cityscape and subsequently, as Chair of Business Service East Midlands. During this time Michael was asked to chair a committee formed to explore the possibility of merging the boards of North and Southern Derbyshire Chambers of Commerce, and became the first president of the Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce, where he is still a member of the board of the enlarged organisation for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. He has served on the national committee of the British Chamber of Commerce for the past five years, chairing their National Audit Committee.
Michael's other interests include foundation governor of Derby High School and the Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth, chairman of the Derbyshire Community Foundation, trustee and finance director of the Arkwright Society in Cromford.
Mick Mayor
Managing Director of Team Leyland International Ltd
Managing Director of Team Leyland International Ltd a company he set up 14 years ago and he is also the current Chairman of Chambers of Commerce North West.
Tony Randall
Managing Director of the Heritage Glass Group
Tony has been involved with the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce for the past eight years in the capacity of non-executive director and for the last three years President and I have agreed to do a further three years in this role.
He is Managing Director of the Heritage Glass Group based in Shropshire and have been involved with this company for eleven years and previous to that was in the retail sector for 17 years working at senior level with private and group operational roles.
Heis a retail marketeer, a motivator and driver of new concepts and is involved with several charities and hold trustee positions in the educational sector.
Kath Boullen
Chief Executive of St Helens Chamber
St Helens Chamber provides services to improve the economic prosperity of businesses and people in the area. Activities include representing 1,250 Member companies, Business Support, Training, Enterprise Development and supporting new business starts. The Chamber has 175 staff and an annual turnover of £11m.
Kath is a member of the Programme Monitoring Committees for the North West European Programmes, the North West Learning & Skills Council and the Regional Skills & Employment Board.
Prior to joining the Chamber, Kath worked for the Government Departments at area, regional and Head Office level on a range of training and enterprise initiatives.
She has also worked for a Regional Tourist Board on various business development initiatives.
Robert Collier
Chief Executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce
Robert Collier joined Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce as Chief Executive after six years as Managing Director of Tourism South East based in Hampshire, commuting there each week from his home in Aberdeenshire.
Prior to that he held a number of part-time posts in Aberdeen while studying for his MBA at Durham University Business School. He was previously managing director of RGIT in Aberdeen and held a number of tourism-related posts throughout England.
Peter Scott
Chief Executive of Dorset Business
Peter Scott has been Chief Executive of Dorset Business since 2004. He serves as a Board Member of both the South West and South East Chambers of Commerce; as Chair of the Business Growth theme group for the Dorset MAA; as a Governor of Bournemouth & Poole College; and as a member of the Court of Bath University representing BCC.
His early career positions included FMCG marketing (in the food industry), and economic analysis for textile trade associations. He spent many years representing the U.S. cotton industry, developing overseas markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He established a niche consultancy practice in 1995 providing project management services for major NGO's, working in Central Asia and the Caribbean, and was appointed as President of the Liverpool Cotton Association in 1998 (of which he is an Honorary Life Member).
Subsequently Peter established a confederation of trade associations for the U.K. paper manufacturing industry, and went on to work as a consultant for clients included the Commonwealth Business Council (involved with corporate governance and inward investment programmes), and the SWRDA-backed Enterprise Pavilion incubation facility at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth.
Peter's published papers include the themes of economic development, agribusiness, commodities, the environment, and business restructuring.
Andy Rayner
Past President of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce
My career has seen me work for the Co-operative Movement for over 30 years in various positions and.most recent as a Store Manager of a flagship Department Store in Ipswich I have a good understanding of modern day retailing, customer loyalty/membership which has many synergies with the chamber movement.
Andy hasrepresented the retail sector within Suffolk Chamber for a number of years and I am also a current Board Director, and past President.
Michael Salter
Chairman of Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Mike Salter has a long history of top level leadership in the oil and gas industry both in Scotland and internationally. He served as Vice President/General Manager for all UK and European operations for Bawden Drilling (UK) Ltd in the 1980s. From 1990 to 1995, he was Chief Executive in the UK for Smedvig Limited before joining Abbot Group plc, initially as Development Director, but was later appointed Chief Operating Officer in 1997.
After retiring as a Director and Main Board member of Abbot Group at the end of July 2007 he remained on board in a part time capacity as Chairman of Bentec - the Group's land rig building company based in Germany until the end of March this year. He is Non-Executive Chairman of the ASCo Group Ltd. He also holds a number of other non executive and advisory roles including Chairman of Ferguson Modular Ltd, Red Spider Technology Ltd and CQS Rig Finance Fund. Mike is the immediate past President of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce.
Chris Slocock
Chairman of South West Chambers of Commerce
Qualifying first as a Zoologist and then training as a Surveyor Chris started his own development and construction company in the UK and Australia he is now chairman of a group of companies that range from Printing and Publishing to Residential and Commercial property with considerable experience in the SME sector of business. Chris is a Past President of Dorset Business (the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Dorset), and is currently a non executive director on the Dorset Business board and Council.
He serves on the advisory Council of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), as the BCC Business Representative for the South West.
Chris is also Chairman of South West Chambers of Commerce where he is focused on regional issues and developing a focused voice for the South West to help develop and build a Culture of Enterprise and Success with particular emphasis on the knowledge economy and a joined up Chamber movement at the heart of that process.
Chris has a pragmatic approach that is passionate about what he calls “The One Voice Agenda” and a “Fair Deal For Business” specifically focusing on what he calls a “Community Economic Strategy”, a sustainable scale and way of doing business that represents the right balance between Government, Commercial and Social interests at Community levels, locally and Regionally, with particular reference to the SME group of businesses.