Board of Directors
The Board is responsible for overseeing the Chamber's day to day operations. It meets monthly, approves the business plan and monitors performance against targets set in the plan. It receives reports from Senior Managers and the Chief Executive.
Current Board Members (click on each name for more information):
The Earl of Derby DL (President)
Neil Scales (Chair) - Merseytravel
Vincent Owen (Vice-Chair)
David Wade Smith
Michael J Prince
Brian McCann - Vanguard Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors
Dougal Paver
Jack Stopforth - Chief Executive, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
Earl of Derby RL, President
Edward Stanley was born on 10th October 1962. Educated at Eton, he joined the Grenadier Guards in 1981-1985. He was married in October 1995 to the Hon. Caroline Neville, daughter of The Lord Braybrooke. They have one daughter, Henrietta Mary Rose, born in February 1997 and a son Edward John Robin born 21st April 1998.
He succeeded his uncle as the 19th Earl of Derby in November 1994 and is heavily involved in local activities and number of charities and organisations.
He has been President of the Board since 1995.
Neil Scales, Chairman
Neil Scales is Chief Executive and Director General, Merseytravel.
Holding the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Master of Science in Control Engineering and Computer Systems, a Diploma in Management Studies and the Degree of Master of Business Administration, Neil is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, a Fellow of the Society of Operations Engineers, and a Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Before joining MPTE, he was an independent Transport & Engineering Consultant working inter-alia for the World Bank, for the European Commission on various transportation projects in Europe and as an Expert Witness for a number of clients in the UK.
Prior to that Neil was the Managing Director of Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company Ltd, and previously was Director of Engineering for GM Buses Ltd, following various engineering roles within Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive.
Neil is a member of the Commission for Integrated Transport advising government on transport policy and is also the Chairman of ITSO (the Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation).
He was elected Chair of Liverpool Chamber in 2010
Vincent Owen
Please check back for more information about Vincent Owen.
David Wade Smith
David Wade-Smith was born in Yorkshire and began a career in retail in the 1980s. He played an instrumental role in the strategic development of independent retailer Wade Smith culminating in its sale to Arcadia Group in 1998.
David is the founder and Chairman of Livesmart Ltd, specialising in delivering solutions in areas such as transport, ticketing, access-control and membership products to businesses and the public sector.
David has played a primary role in the regeneration and renaissance of the city of Liverpool, In addition to his role as Chairman of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce in September 2005 he was appointed Chairman of Tourism for Merseyside at The Mersey Partnership.
Furthermore David is a founding member of the Board of Liverpool Vision (Regeneration) and BusinessLiverpool (Economic Development & Inward Investment). After serving on the successful Board of the Liverpool bid team for European Capital of Culture David is now a Board member of TATE Liverpool and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society.
He has was Chairman of the Board at Liverpool Chamber from 2005 to 2008.
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Michael J Prince
Michael is a partner with legal firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, based in their Liverpool office.
He is Chairman of the North-West Corporate group operating out of the Manchester and Liverpool offices. He has more than 25 years' experience as a corporate lawyer including five years as legal adviser to 3i Group PLC. He advises private and public companies on corporate and corporate finance issues, particularly private equity and development capital, London Stock Exchange public issue work, takeovers, mergers, acquisitions and disposals. He also advises on joint ventures (UK and international).
Michael is experienced in many sectors including transport, retail, property development, house building and construction, distribution and logistics, football clubs, chemicals, banking, insurance, stockbroking and financial services. He writes regularly for the media and speaks at conferences on corporate issues. He also acts as a non-executive director for a number of companies.
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Brian McCann
Mr McCann is a Partner with Vanguard Corporate Finance.
Please check back for more information about Brian McCann.
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Dougal has spent his entire career in PR consultancy, having studied marketing at Manchester Polytechnic before returning to Liverpool. His early career with SBA saw him focus on regeneration-related clients - both public and private sector - and this has remained a key area of expertise.
Dougal rose to become a shareholder and director of SBA before undertaking a management buyout in December 1997 to establish Paver Downes. A second buyout, of the agency's PR division, followed in June 2006, leading to the establishment of Paver Smith. The agency is now considered the market-leader in Liverpool and is growing strongly.
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Jack Stopforth
Chief Executive, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
Jack joined the Chamber as Chief Executive in March 2005. Before that he was managing director of the Cumbria Inward Investment Agency for eight years. He was born in Liverpool and spent his early career as a development economist in London. He returned to work in Merseyside between 1978 and 1997, first as Chief Economic Adviser to Merseyside County Council and latterly (1986 to 1997) as owner manager of two public affairs, public relations and advertising companies.
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