Meet the people who run Notts’ police, fire, hospitals and councils

Across the public sector there are many figures whose job it is to ensure services are run to the best of their ability.

Below we’ve highlighted some of the county’s most important.

John Buckley, Chief fire officer

John Buckley has been chief fire officer since 2014, having undertaken a number of roles within the service since joining in 1994. Over the last year his highlights have included the completion of the new London Road Fire Station. The new station project was commissioned under John and is soon to be finished, with crews moving in soon. This is one of the largest projects that John has started and finished during his term as chief fire officer.John also hosts a number of ‘Chief’s Challenge’ events to raise money for The Fire Fighters Charity. So far this year he’s raised more than 5,000 through events organised by staff from across the county.

Ted Cantle, Nottingham Castle Trust chairman

Ted Cantle is a former chief executive of Nottingham City Council and set up the Institute of Community Cohesion which became the UK’s leading authority on community cohesion and intercultural relations. He has established a foundation to build on this work and to develop policy and practice on interculturalism and community cohesion. In 2001, he chaired the Community Cohesion Review Team looking into the causes of summer disturbances in northern towns and cities. His report made around 70 recommendations. The concept of community cohesion was subsequently adopted by the UK Government.

He has been developing the idea of ‘interculturalism’ for the new era of globalisation and super-diversity the subject of his new book Interculturalism: The New Era of Cohesion and Diversity. Mr Cantle was a board member of the Environment Agency for England and Wales from 2000 to 2008 and deputy chairman from 2005 to 2008. He is currently chair of Nottingham Castle Trust and a visiting professor at Nottingham’s Unis. He holds honorary doctorates from Oxford Brookes and Portsmouth Universities. He is married with two daughters and lives in Nottingham

Ian Curryer, Nottingham City Council chief executive

Over the past year Ian Curryer, the chief executive of Nottingham City Council, has been a key player in the Midlands Engine negotiations and led negotiations with the Government on a devolution deal for the D2N2 area. He is a member of the Core Cities Chief Executives Group and has expanded his international work in particular with China, where Nottingham has been recognised as the UK’s most China Friendly City.Mr Curryer is also a board member of GB Basketball, helping to shape the future of the sport following the Olympics.Originally from Stevenage, Ian has lived and worked in Nottingham for more than 30 years.

Read more: These are the safest train stations in Nottingham1

Sue Fish, Chief Constable

Sue Fish joined Nottinghamshire Police in 1986 as a police constable, working in both uniform and detective roles, with 21 of her 30 years serving Nottinghamshire. Secondments saw her lead the national Tackling Knife Crime and Serious Youth Violence programme. She returned to Nottinghamshire in 2012 as assistant chief constable before taking up the post of deputy chief constable in June 2013. She is the national policing lead for business crime, and private security industry liaison, which connects private sector Security providers and law enforcement.

She is also the national lead for information sharing. She was awarded the OBE for services to policing in 2008, and was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2016, when she was promoted to Chief Constable. She is married to James, and has three children.

David Greenaway, Vice-chancellor of University of Nottingham

Professor Sir David Greenaway chairs the Russell Group of the UK’s top 24 universities committed to maintaining the best research, outstanding teaching and learning experience with strong links to business and the private sector. Nottingham university has campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. A professor of economics, he chaired the ‘Shape of Training’ a national review of the training and professional development of sectors in the UK, coordinated by the General Medical Council. He was chairman of the Armed Forces Pay Review Body from 2004 until 2010 and a member of the Senior Salaries Review Body from 2004 until 2010 which advises the prime minister on the pay of the senior civil service, judiciary and senior military. Other roles have included adviser and consultant to major international agencies, including The World Bank, OECD, WTO and United Nations. He is a board member of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership

Ruth Hawkins, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, chief executive

Following her appointment as chief executive in 2014, Ruth Hawkins led Nottinghamshire Healthcare to achieve Foundation Trust status in March 2015, making it the first NHS trust providing high secure psychiatric services to be authorised. Under her leadership, the Trust has also been awarded a 148m contract to deliver community healthcare services in Nottinghamshire and has been approved to build a 21m mental health unit for children and young people, due to be completed in 2017.She has also represented the trust in the development of the local Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

Ian Harrison, UK Trade & Investment, regional director

Ian Harrison leads on the promotion and delivery of international trade services within the region, heading a team offering expertise and contacts for businesses looking to export their products and services overseas. As well as now working within the new Department for International Trade, he liaises with ministers, spearheads a programme of events and is responsible for delivering the Government’s ongoing Exporting is GREAT initiative in the East Midlands. The five-year campaign aims to inspire and support 100,000 additional UK businesses to sell their goods and services overseas by 2020. With more than 25 years’ experience of dealing with publicly-funded business support, Ian also worked for the former Department of Business Innovation and Skills. He represents the region on trade matters in Whitehall.In his current role, he liaises with an extensive overseas network, supports work on the Midlands Engine initiative and leads a team of international trade advisers who assist would-be exporters in the East Midlands.

Richard Henderson, EMAS acting chief executive

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) provides emergency 999 and urgent care for the 4.8 million people across the region. Every day it receives around 2,000 calls from the public, police, fire and health and social care services – a call every 43 seconds. Richard Henderson is the current EMAS Acting Chief Executive. Joining the ambulance service at the age of 18, he progressed from transport services providing journeys for patients with routine hospital appointments, through to a frontline ambulance role as a technician then paramedic to qualified paramedic, team leader, divisional general manager, and director of operations. During his time as Director of Operations, Richard was elected as chair of the National Ambulance Service Director of Operations Group. He oversees the day-to-day running and ambulance strategic vision and planning for EMAS.

Read more: Who’s big in Nottingham’s entertainment & leisure industries?2

Peter Homa, Nottingham University Hospitals chief executive

PETER Homa is chief executive of Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) and Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ahead of their proposed merger. He joined the NHS as a hospital porter in 1979 before starting the national management training scheme two years later. His extensive healthcare management experience includes 25 years in chief executive roles at local and national level. He has a degree in economics as well as a masters and a doctorate in business administration.

Dr Homa was elected president of the Institute for Health Services Management in 1998 and was given a CBE in 2000 for his contributions to the health service. Also a member of the NHS national Leadership Council, he is one of the longest-serving CEOs in the NHS.

Dave Keen, Nottinghamshire Police Federation chairman

Dave Keen is the chairman of the Nottinghamshire Police Federation, the voice of the ranks of Nottinghamshire Police Force, covering almost 2,000 colleagues from the chief inspector to police officers. As part of his role he is also the discipline liaison officer covering issues on gross misconduct. Mr Keen joined the police force on July 18, 1988, working in the city centre until 2002.In 1999 he was commended for disarming a mentally ill man who pulled a gun on him in the back of a police car and further commended in 1995, 2000 (twice), 2007 and 2010. In 2002 he joined the specialised ANPR unit and in 2005 joined the firearm response unit, leaving in 2014. In 2015 he became the treasurer of the county Federation and chairman earlier this year.

Asha Khemka, Principal and chief executive, West Nottinghamshire College Group

DAME Asha Khemka took up her post as principal and chief executive of West Nottinghamshire College Group in 2006. It is now one of the largest colleges in the country with more than 32,000 students, 12,000 apprentices and a budget of around 65m.Dame Asha received recognition for her contribution to further education and to the regeneration of the ex-mining communities of North Nottinghamshire. In 2009 she was awarded an OBE and in 2014 she became the first Indian-born in living memory to be appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 2014 she was named ‘Woman of the Year’ by the Prime Minister, David Cameron.

Anthony May, Chief executive, Nottinghamshire County Council

At the helm of Nottinghamshire County Council since April 2015, Anthony May has been responsible for leading the authority through a time of significant change. He is responsible for the provision and performance of 440 statutory and discretionary services to 796,200 residents, including the range of services for children, public protection, social care and highways as well as many discretionary services relating to the social, environmental, and economic well-being of the area. Overseeing the Council’s overall 1.2bn budget, he has led the implementation of innovative new ways of delivering services, to improve their efficiency and long term sustainability. These include Inspire, a new Community Benefit Society for libraries and cultural services, which has helped reduce costs by 475,000. Another is Via, a new public sector partnership with Cornwall Council to deliver highways services in Nottinghamshire. These changes enable the new entities to trade commercially and provides a more sustainable future.

Read more: Meet the people who help put Nottingham on the map3

Heather Mayfield, Nottingham Castle Trust chief executive

Heather Mayfield is leading the delivery of more than 3 million in funding towards a 24 million project transforming Nottingham Castle, arguably regarded as the most important cultural project in the county. Born in Nottingham, she began her career as an intern at the Castle Museum working in the exhibitions unit. In 1979 she joined the Science Museum as a museum assistant.She led development projects including the 50 million build and fit-out of the Wellcome wing at the Science Museum in London and the set up of the National Media Museum in Bradford. In 2010-2012 she directed the delivery of three new galleries in the Wellcome Wing with a budget of 10 million. Her last project at the Science Museum was a 15 million gallery on communication. She managed a department of more than 200 staff with a budget of 10 million a year. She is an adviser and mentor internationally to museum re-development projects. She is an expert in the dissemination of contemporary science in a museum, specifically in the use of dialogue to discuss and interrogate complex ethical issues in science, engineering and medicine.

Edward Peck, Vice-chancellor of Nottingham Trent University

Professor Edward Peck is CEO of one of the largest organisations in the city, directly employing about 3,500 people and creating an additional 6,500 jobs in the local economy. Its 30,000 students are a key source of skills, talent and energy to public, commercial and industrial enterprises locally, nationally, and internationally. He sits on the boards of D2N2 and the Creative Quarter and recently joined the Strategic Leadership Group of the Midlands Engine. The University is putting together formal partnership arrangements with public and private organisations to optimise their collaboration for the benefit of the City, County and Region. NTU is co-founder of Bio-City, co-owner of Notts TV, and recently acquired the Confetti Media Group. Its Chancellor’s Dinner has become one of the major networking events of the year in recent years.

Sir Martyn Poliakoff, Scientist

As a university research professor-turned-YouTube star, Sir Martyn Poliakoff has taken chemistry around the world to millions of people.Professor Poliakoff, Based at the University of Nottingham’s Faculty of Science, he has more than 820,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel, in which he uploads videos each week about science news, interesting molecules and the world of chemistry.He joined the university in 1979 as a lecturer in inorganic chemistry and created his first YouTube clip with video journalist Brady Haran in 2008.They originally intended to produce a short clip for each of the 118 elements in the periodic table.But after proving popular, the professor went on to produce hundreds of educational clips under his Periodic Videos channel, which have been viewed more than 138 million times.His videos have made him so recognisable that he has been stopped by fans in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Beijing. He was awarded a CBE in 2008 and was knighted for his services to chemistry in 2015.Professor Poliakoff, who is the brother of renowned playwright Stephen Poliakoff, lives with his wife Janet in Beeston.He promoted chemistry at Nottingham in Parliament Day, a one-day takeover of Westminter by the city’s institution and businesses, in October.

David Ralph, Chief Executive of D2N2

David Ralph leads a team to support the D2N2 Board, a public/private/HE Partnership, to develop and deliver the D2N2 Strategic Economic Plan the underpinning strategy to drive forward economic growth and seek devolved funding from the UK Government and the EU. David has taken the lead on making a bid to Government this year for 107million of Government Local Growth Funding, as part of a 426million investment package for the area. He is also a director of Marketing Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, the Rebalancing Outer Estates Foundation, Nottingham Enterprise Zone Devco and a board member of Nottingham College. As well as establishing Smart Anglia he is on the Advisory Board at the NTU Business School and is a Senior Visiting Fellow (Business and Leadership) at the University Campus Suffolk, having lectured at both UWE and the University of Westminster. Prior to D2N2, David was chief executive of Haven Gateway Partnership, where he was also Chairman of Innovation Martlesham. and a Director of East of England Tourism and Inspire East the Regional Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Communities. Before that, David spent over 10 years working in some of the UK’s most dis-advantaged housing estates as Chief Executive of the NELM Development Trust, the Norwich NDC programme and Community at Heart, the Bristol New Deal for Communities programme and as Director of Create in north west London.DAVID has been Chief Executive of D2N2 (Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire) Local Enterprise Partnership since March 2013.

Read more: Who are the big names in the construction, design and property industries in Nottinghamshire4

Robert Rees, John van Geest Cancer Research Centre director

Robert Rees is a professor of tumour biology and the director of the John van Geest Cancer Research Centre at Nottingham Trent University.

He has been a cancer research scientist all his life and moved to Nottingham in 1973 to join the cancer research centre as a research scientist, leaving in 1977 before returning in 1996. The purpose-built centre on College Drive, in Clifton, was opened in 2010 and largely funded by a 7.65 million donation from the John and Lucille van Geest Foundation, which has since donated millions more. Cancer treatments have improved dramatically over the years but the centre is attempting to develop new approaches to treat and manage aggressive forms of cancer in collaboration with internationally-recognised centres.

Mandie Sunderland, Chief nurse

A registered general nurse with a wealth of clinical experience in intensive care, in 2013 Mandie Sunderland was named by the Health Service Journal as one of the 50 most influential women in the NHS. In 2014, Ms Sunderland was appointed chair of the Clinical Reference Board, a sub group of the national NHS Supply Chain Customer Board whose remit is to support the delivery of 150m savings to the NHS through better procurement practice. She was appointed chief nurse at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust in February 2015, her fifth executive director position after posts in the North West and West Midlands. Ms Sunderland is also a member of Lord Carter’s Procurement and Efficiency Board, and recently joined the Florence Nightingale Foundation Expert Reference Group.

Paddy Tipping, Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner

Former Sherwood MP Paddy Tipping returned to the post as Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner this year. Results showed 21.8 per cent of the electorate turned out in the 2016 elections, a five per cent rise from the previous election in 2012. The Labour politician represented Sherwood for 18 years in Parliament and will be ensuring the police force runs effectively until the next PCC elections in 2020, setting local priorities and managing the budget. He has promised to maintain neighbourhood policing, tackle cyber-crime and put measures in place to stop a terrorist attack happening in Nottingham.

Recently the city division of the Nottinghamshire Police Force has been scrapped, prompting a row between the City Council and Paddy Tipping and the chief constable, Chris Eyre. A report revealed the number of offences had fallen from 72, 436 in 2014/15 to 72,410 crimes in 2015/16., although violent crimes had reportedly risen by nine per cent.

John Van de Laarschot CEO of Central College and New College Nottingham

John van de Laarschot is CEO of both Central College Nottingham and New College Nottingham which are set to merge by the end of the year. He was most recently CEO of Stoke City Council, following more than 20 years in the private sector where he worked nationally and internationally with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Pedigree and Spandex. He began his career as a mechanical engineer at Coca-Cola before taking on leadership positions in private sector businesses and consultancies. In 2005 John took the helm of Torridge District Council before taking the top job at Stoke in 2010.

During his time in The Potteries, Stoke was ranked in the UK’s top three areas for inward investment.and in the top 20 regions in Europe in terms of future economic potential Now in Nottingham, top of his agenda is to oversee the successful merger between Central and ncn, scheduled to take place in December this year.

References

1. ^ These are the safest train stations in Nottingham (www.nottinghampost.com)
2. ^ Who’s big in Nottingham’s entertainment & leisure industries? (www.nottinghampost.com)
3. ^ Meet the people who help put Nottingham on the map (www.nottinghampost.com)
4. ^ Who are the big names in the construction, design and property industries in Nottinghamshire (www.nottinghampost.com)