• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Tuesday January 13 2026

Mayoral authority appoints new business board members to supercharge economy

Ten senior business leaders from across the West have been appointed to serve on a new business board backing the country’s fastest growing regional economy.

Business leaders are set to join Jo Dally and Nick Sturge – who were named by West of England mayor Helen Godwin to lead the initiative – on the new board as part of a regional effort to drive growth, create jobs, support key sectors, and help secure further investment in the region.

The appointments follow the West’s Growth Strategy being taken to government and approved in the autumn.

It sets out ambitious plans to build on the strongest recent regional economic growth in the country (+3 per cent, 2023) and to better the 21 per cent growth achieved by the West of England over the last ten years by delivering 28 per cent growth over the coming decade – creating 72,000 new jobs.

The strategy’s investment prospectus includes mass transit to help get the West moving and the UK’s first AI Supercluster, centred on Isambard AI, the country’s fastest supercomputer.

The Business Board and its sector/cluster groups will look to represent the full breadth of the West’s diverse economy as the primary platform for businesses to engage with the regional authority’s strategic priorities.

All council leaders, including from North Somerset, are members of the Business Board. The co-chairs of the Business Board will also work closely with other business representative organisations in the region.

Some of the business leaders will also chair dedicated groups focused on key specific sectors/clusters set out in the Growth Strategy, with members of those groups to be recruited over coming months.

Since 2019, the West of England’s economic growth rate has been four times the national average. Over the last decade, the everyday economy (+17 per cent), digital and tech (+52 per cent), creative industries (+82 per cent), and clean energy (+140 per cent) sectors in the West saw the highest job growth of any region in the country – including London.

Planning ahead for the next ten years, major growth zones identified include the West Innovation Arc, Central Bristol and Bath, the Severn Estuary, the Somer Valley, and North Somerset Growth Gateway.

The new Business Board will meet for the first time in the coming weeks. The membership, who collectively bring hundreds of years of experience in business and industry, includes:

• Jo Dally, Chief Business Officer at NCC – who will co-chair the board for its first year
• Nick Sturge, Co-founder of Motion Media PLC, Engine Shed, and Omnigenix – who will co-chair the board for its first year
• Helen Argo, Executive Producer for Third Party and Commercials at Aardman – who will also chair the Creative Industries sector/cluster group
• Ann Cousins, Associate Director in Climate and Sustainability Services at Arup – who will also chair the Clean Energy sector/cluster group
• Heather Frankham, Founder of Lifetime Training, Origin Workspace, and Origin Foundation – who will also chair the Everyday Economy sector/cluster group
• Andy Guest, Head of Strategy & Group Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at Mott MacDonald
• Jon Hunt, Executive Director of Innovation at the University of Bath
• Sado Jirde, Director of Black South West Network (BSWN)
• Imran Khawaja, Head of Filton Plant at Airbus – who will also chair the Advanced Manufacturing sector/cluster group
• Annabel Thomas MacGregor, CEO of Raised In CIC
• Nigel Toon, Co-founder and former CEO of Graphcore and Senior Non-Executive Director at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – who will also chair the Digital and Technologies sector/cluster group
• David Withey, CEO and Principal of South Gloucestershire & Stroud (SGS) College and inaugural Chair of the Colleges West partnership

“The new Business Board, chaired by Jo and Nick, brings the real wealth of experience needed to help create new jobs and grow our £54 billion economy,” said the mayor.

I’m excited to meet with business and council leaders in the coming weeks to step things up a gear and help our region to thrive.

“Together, we can secure the investment and create the opportunities that will make a real difference that local people can see and feel in our communities.”