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heraldexpress.co.uk
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
HERALD EXPRESS
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heraldexpress.co.uk
Who are area’s movers and shakers? HERE you go, the long-awaited Power 50 list for 2016. These people and their companies or organisations are seen as some of the most influential and powerful in South Devon. They are the movers and shakers who can make a difference, and are making a difference, to secure a healthy and prosperous future for the area. Some people have gone up in the rankings. Others have gone down — but are just as important. Others are making their debut on the list, drawn up in partnership between the Herald Express and local solicitors Kitsons. We have a new, outright number one in Jeremy Christophers, the leader of the district council in Teignbridge where regeneration projects, investment, new homes and new jobs have been right at the top of the agenda. Torbay mayor Gordon Oliver is down to No 4 as the council heads towards a new way of running the town hall in 2019 but he is still key to a new future for the English Riviera and working with partners like Teignbridge. Investment is one of the main themes running through the list and so, too, is South Devon’s largest industry — tourism. The formation of a new English Riviera BID Company is still yet to be confirmed pending the result of an appeal against the ballot process which should be known before Christmas. If the appeal is lost, the company will take shape to
By JIM PARKER Herald Express editor newsdesk@heraldexpress.co.uk Twitter: @TQHeraldExpress drive Torbay’s tourism and hospitality sector with BID steering group chairman Laurence Murrell and tourism company chief executive Carolyn Custerson playing key roles. That’s why they come in at joint No 2. Investment in that tourism industry is also vital for a brighter future. That’s why you will see Andrew and Christina Brownsword in at No 3. They have just bought the Imperial Hotel and have pledged to spend money on restoring it to its former glory. Steve Furness, of Duchy Hotels, is also new at No 14 and fits the same bracket as he invests at the Palace, Paignton, Headland and Belgrave Sands hotels. Peter and Lana de Savary (joint No 15) are still ploughing more cash into their Cary Arms project while Richard Cuming, chairman of the English Riviera Attractions and owner of Bygones, makes his debut at No 20 as attractions are integral to the local tourism offer. Also new are Barry Young who leads Brixham Trawler Agents and Jim Portus, chief executive of the South Western Fish Producer Organisation. Our Nos 5 and 6 head up an industry worth millions to the local economy and have just had one of their best years on record. Former Torbay councillor and new Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime
OUR INFLUENTIAL TOP 50 START HERE
Check who is in this year’s list...
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BARRY YOUNG, managing director at Brixham Trawler Agents: Barry’s Brixham Trawler Agents won the award of the UK’s Top Fishing Port 2015 in the Fishing News Awards. With its support of the fishing industry, it creates around 1,200 jobs locally within our industry and operates seven days a week. In October, the value of fish passing through Brixham market in one week has smashed through the £1million barrier for the first time. BTA is a private company with some 130 shareholders, mostly from the local fishing industry and operates the premier fish auction in England.
Commissioner Alison Hernandez is in at No 22. Making their debuts from the world of business are Chris Hicks, a key member of the team at accountants Francis Clark, and Jon Clyne, of property and commercial agents Charles Darrow. They are Nos 31 and 38 respectively. Chris Hart, chairman of the ERTC board and leading light at Wollen Michelmore, Torbay Business Forum chairman and Bishop Fleming man Tim Godfrey, South Devon College principal Stephen Criddle and Torbay Council chief executive and Torbay Development Agency chief executive Steve Parrock are there in the Top 10, all with key roles for that future prosperity. Well-known chefs and restaurant owners Mitch Tonks and Simon Hulstone represent the all-important food and drink sector. And we have wellknown names from the world of politics, health and education to hopefully give us that winning recipe. The list has a serious side to it. Kitsons boss James Cross has already announced that he plans to get the Top 20 or so names on the list together to see if they can champion and influence projects, initiatives and campaigns that can make a difference in South Devon. The list is also about having a bit of fun. It is not set in stone and is totally subjective. There are bound to be names you think should have been included and we may have left off. It is also about opinions and they will, no doubt, differ...
Here’s the list we for... the area’s 50 WELCOME to this year’s Power 50 for South Devon. This is the list we have all been waiting for of the 50 most influential people across the area today. There are some who have moved up and some who have moved down since last year. But the important thing to remember is that while it is all a bit of fun, these are the names of the people we believe will most influence whether South Devon itself goes up or down next year. And those named in the Power 50 2016 list could play a role as ambassadors for investment in South Devon. At a reception of movers and shakers who had featured in the 2015 Kitson/Herald Express Power 50 list, Herald Express editor Jim Parker said the Power 50 is all about recognising those who have invested or will invest in South Devon’s future or recognising those that have the influence to change things for the better. He cited the example of Steve Furness from Duchy Hotels which owns the Headland Hotel in Daddyhole Plain where the launch was held. The group also own the Palace Hotel and Queens Hotel in Paignton and has refurbished the former Kistor Hotel in Belgrave Road. Jim said: “Tourism is bound to play a part in the 2016 list especially with the coming of a new English Riviera BID company which, obviously, depends on the current appeal result.
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JEREMY CHRISTOPHERS, Conservative leader of Teignbridge Council: Jeremy continues to champion improvements in infrastructure and housing for local people, improving skills, nurturing business and promoting tourism. Teignbridge is working closely with Exeter City and East Devon councils on decision making on planning, housing, resources and infrastructure. They have worked together as Greater Exeter on economic development and tourism. Teignbridge and its leader are key to building relationships with Torbay Council– and vice versa – to take full advantage of the South Devon Highway. Jeremy has also championed better opportunities for young people to live, work and play in the district, including the unforgettable Radio One Big Weekend. The greatest challenge is getting people in their mid-20s into good homes and his work championing custom and self-build housing has been nationally recognised as ground-breaking.
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JIM PORTUS, chief executive of the South Western Fish Producer Organisation since 1989: Jim is responsible for local management of fish quotas and fish marketing arrangements under the Common Fisheries Policy. He has the ear of fisheries ministers and has been able to extend the influence of the organisation and the SW fishing industry to the highest levels of national and European politics. He is a trustee of the Fishermen’s Mission, the charity that Fishstock Brixham supports through fund-raising. Jim has won an award personally for his work on Fishstock Brixham as well as the festival winning silver in the 2016 Herald Express South Devon and English Riviera Tourism Event of the Year Awards.
By TINA CROWSON tcrowson@heraldexpress.co.uk Twitter: @TinaCrowson “So, too, is regeneration and taking full advantage of that new South Devon Highway as well as recognising those people and firms who are hugely successful but just get on with it.” He said Kitsons are one of those companies and he thanked them and managing partner James Cross for their continued support of the Power 50. He added: “There is a serious side to the list because the people on it — whether you like it or not — do have the power and influence to have a major say in South Devon’s future. I keep being told that we have investors knocking in the door and keen to open their wallets. “Perhaps some of you in the room today would be willing to form a little task force group and meet some of these people to lure them across the finishing line. “I know it is something the Torbay Development Agency may welcome and I am sure mayor Gordon Oliver would be up for it. Please let me know if you are interested so we can start actually walking the walk instead of talking the talk. “All that said, the Power 50 is also about having a bit of fun. It is purely subjective and not written in stone and without any doubt
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LAURENCE MURRELL, managing director of TLH Leisure Resort, the biggest independent hotel group in Torbay: A board member of the English Riviera Tourism Company, Laurence is chairman of the steering group which launched the campaign to establish a tourism only business improvement district in the Bay. Should it get the final go ahead, he is also chairman elect of the English Riviera BID Company hoped to be established in the new year. The £3million raised through the bid levy over five years will fund a new not-for-profit independent private sector-led company which campaigners say will deliver high quality destination marketing of the Bay both nationally and internationally. Laurence is also a lifetime achievement winner in the English Riviera and South Devon Tourism and Hospitality Awards. He is a great believer that what makes a business successful is its people.
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CHRIS HART, chief executive at law firm Wollen and Michelmore and chairman of the award-winning English Riviera Tourism Company: Chris has championed the tourism industry in the process of replacing the ERTC with a new-not-for profit tourism-only Business Improvement District. He was lucky enough to be sent to the Rio Olympics as part of a team of official arbitrators. He is the honorary secretary of the Devon and Somerset Law Society and a past president of the Devon and Exeter Law Society. In March 2016, he was named leader/law manager of the year at the inaugural Devon and Somerset Law Society awards. He is the immediate past chairman of the Law Society’s law management section. Chris is a trustee of the Friends of South Devon College, executive member of the Torbay Business Forum, and a member of the Devon and Cornwall Committee of Somerset County Cricket Club.