The Suffolk Business Board was established in May 2024 following the integration of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership functions into Suffolk County Council. It comprises representatives from business, education, the voluntary sector and local government.
Business Board members:
Chair: Mark Pendlington
Deputy Chair: Cllr Matthew Hicks, Suffolk County Council
Doug Field, East of England Co-Op
Oliver Paul, Suffolk Food Hall
Lisa Perkins, Tech East
Peter Brady, Orbital Global
Kelly Boosey, Oxford Innovation
Leanne Gittins, LME Recruitment
John Dugmore, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce
Tom Ball, Ipswich Town Football Club
Hannah Bloom, Suffolk Community Foundation
Paul Ager, Associated British Ports
Marek Hornak, University of Suffolk
Nikos Savvas, Eastern Education Group
Cllr Richard Smith MVO, Suffolk County Council
Cllr Andy Mellen, Mid Suffolk District Council
Cllr Neil MacDonald, Ipswich Borough Council
Want to know more about our new Chair of the Suffolk Business Board, Lisa Perkins?
We sat down with Lisa for a quick 60-second Q&A to hear about her career journey, her ambitions for Suffolk, and the opportunities she believes can drive growth across the county.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ?
I joined BT as a graduate and enjoyed a 25y+ career in a variety of technology driven roles, culminating in driving research and innovation around an effective ecosystem to promote new solutions to big challenges. I continue that quest today at an expert innovation company, Plexal, who drive mission led innovation and consequential growth.
๐๐ก๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐จ๐ฅ๐คโ๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ?
Well, I would say this wouldnโt I! I think the biggest opportunity is to double down on our core strengths of energy, shipping & logistics and agrifood and to create innovation clusters that bring together academia, industry and entrepreneurs to apply digital technologies to realise new solutions and to promote growth for companies, to attract and retain talent for high value jobs and to solve societal challenges.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐๐ซ๐?
I hope to deliver. I would like to turn our strategy and our ambitions into reality. I have a great board with huge expertise and passion and between us we can work in collaboration with the key stakeholders in the region to choose the best interventions for change.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ?
I would like to see everyone getting behind Suffolk, our strategy and our strengths and to shine the brightest spotlight on everything that we achieve. I would like to see people on the rooftops shouting about all that Suffolk has to offer!
๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ค?
There is so much to choose from! Place, People and Possibilities. But Paddleboarding down the river Deben is up there!
We’ll be sharing more 60 second interviews with our Business Board over the coming weeks – and you can learn more about all of them here.
WHERE BIG
IDEAS HAPPEN.
