Board Members
Chairman – Frank Myers MBE
Frank is a businessman from Walford near Ross-on-Wye. As the founder of Myers Road Safety Ltd, he received the MBE for services to road safety and to export. One of his inventions, The Quickcone, earned him a coveted British Design Award. Frank is also Director of MCP Systems Consultants Ltd who won the E Health Insider Award for Innovation.
As a Non-executive Director of The Wye Valley NHS Trust, Frank is Chairman of its Charitable Funds Committee and the Herefordshire Stakeholder Group. Frank is also Chairman of the Herefordshire Community Foundation and has more than 20 years’ experience of working in the charity sector.
He spends most of his spare time playing tennis and tending the family vineyard which produces ‘Wythall Estate’ wines
Herefordshire Business Board Members
Abigail Appleton
(Representing Arts and Culture Sector)
Abigail is Principal at Hereford College of Arts. She began her career as a production trainee in BBC Radio, spending many years making and commissioning before her final role as Creative Director of BBC Learning.
Abigail was deeply engaged with the BBC’s mission to educate as well as inform and entertain and is proud to have played a leading role in projects like Ten Pieces, a major music campaign for schools and the development of BBC micro:bit to inspire young people to get hands on with digital creativity.
Abigail is privileged to now lead the very special arts community at Hereford College of Arts, focused on nurturing individual talent and growing the creative economy locally, nationally and internationally.
Christine Snell
(Representing the Agricultural Sector)
Christine Snell is a business partner with her husband Anthony. Their business is producing and packing soft fruit for the major multiples, including Marks and Spencer, J Sainsbury and Tesco. They are members of the Berry Gardens Co-Operative that is the largest producer/supplier of soft fruit in the UK. The business is based in Herefordshire and was awarded Grower of the Year in 2008 and 2013. AJ & CI Snell has a significant need for seasonal labour and as the manager of Human Resources, Christine has travelled throughout Eastern Europe and visited many Agricultural Universities from where some of their workforce have been recruited.
After studying Food Science and Nutrition,Christine graduated and joined Allied Lyons as a junior food technologist working with key food manufacturers across the UK. She left to join Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Brands as Development Manager for the Ribena brand, moving on to be a project manager for the launch of new products within the Consumer Healthcare division.
Christine is a governor of Harper Adams University and a Justice of the Peace.
Christine is married to Anthony they have two boys. She is a keen tennis player and horse rider. Interests also include food, travel and music and most importantly a small herd of pedigree Hereford Cattle.
David Williams
(Herefordshire Skills)
David has worked in the further education sector for more than 24 years and is currently the Principal of Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College (HLNSC).
HLNSC has campuses across the Marches, including Hereford, Holme Lacy (land-based), Ludlow (sixth form college), Walford (land-based) and Oswestry and a training company, County Training.
Before his career in education, David worked as a professional musician recording in commercial studios and performing live across the UK and Europe.
David is deeply committed to further education and is proud of its ability to equip students and apprentices with the skills and attributes required to become successful and productive employees and entrepreneurs. He has a keen interest in building strong links between the worlds of education and business and works hard to ensure that schools and colleges respond to the needs of the area’s business communities.
Helen Bowden
(Representing Creative Industries)
Helen was brought up on a farm close to Leominster. After a first degree in Geography she completed a Masters in Marketing at Cranfield before embarking on a management career in consumer marketing, including seven years in a senior role at Morphy Richards.
In 1997 the opportunity arose to buy Orphans Press, a printing business based in Leominster with a long history but a precarious immediate future. In the past two decades the business has grown to span design, print, and web development and now incorporates Impact Print, based at Rotherwas in Hereford. The business employs 35 staff.
As well as her role as Director, Helen has played an active part in Leominster Women In Business, is a member of the Vistage leadership group and outside of work is ‘Mrs Netball’, as Chair of Herefordshire Netball and as a coach to Westside and county juniors.
Within the Business Board, Helen is keen to champion the creative energy and production values of so many businesses within the county.
James Newby
(NMITE)
James joined NMITE in April 2020 as Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to joining NMITE, James worked for the University of Surrey in a range of roles involving the leadership of teams responsible for most non-academic aspects of the University’s activities including Estates, IT, Commercial Services, Community relations, Fundraising and Institutional Governance. In his final year at Surrey, he led an organisational change team to reshape the University to prepare it to meet the challenges facing the Higher Education sector in the coming months.
In addition to his role at Surrey, James has worked with other Higher Education institutions as an advisor on organisational change and as a trustee of their Students’ Unions. This combined his HE and governance experience with his desire to work closely with students to improve the universities they attended.
James specialises in organisational development and business change having worked with a number of organisations on restructuring projects. He is also a data compliance specialist so spent considerable time working on projects across the HE sector to prepare universities for the changes resulting from the introduction of the GDPR regulations in 2018.
Prior to joining the University sector, James worked in High Street retailing splitting his time between working in operations for companies such as WH Smith Limited and running his own businesses.
He is a member of several professional organisations including the British Computer Society and the International Information Management Association. He has a degree in Chemistry from the Open University and an MBA.
Gareth Williams
(Representing the Energy Sector)
Gareth has a deep rooted and evolving passion for the sustainability agenda. This has led him to develop from his family farming roots into a diversified rural business (Caplor Energy) that includes a renewable energy business, property rental and farming activity based from Herefordshire. Three generations of the Williams family have operated from Caplor since 1923.
Caplor Energy specialises in the design and supply of renewable energy systems for businesses, communities and home owners. Gareth actively engages within the renewables industry through board membership of many bodies, including the UK Solar Trade Association, the Marches LEP Energy Group and Hereford Futures Forum.
Gareth feels that his involvement with the Herefordshire Business Board gives him the opportunity to contribute towards enhancing a sustainable community for Herefordshire.
Mark Pearce
(Hereford Enterprise Zone)
Mark is Managing Director of Hereford Enterprise Zone Limited. The company was created to catalyse investment and business development at Skylon Park, Hereford Enterprise Zone.
Mark is an economic development and regeneration specialist of over 30 years’ standing, working in a variety of national, regional and local roles during that time.
He sees Business Board representation as providing an opportunity to raise awareness of Skylon’s progress and its offer to a wider business audience and providing input from Skylon’s fast growing business community to influence the priority setting and decision making of the Marches LEP.
Nic Millington
(Representing Creative Industries)
Nic moved to Herefordshire 40 years’ ago to establish a residential centre for young people at risk of entering the justice system. There he pioneered the use of media as a tool for personal and social development. Nic founded Rural Media Charity in 1992 to further develop the use of digital media for rural regeneration. In 2016 Rural Media launched a trading arm, Rural Media Productions. With offices and broadcast standard facilities in the centre of Hereford, Rural Media now works throughout the UK employing 20 staff and over 80 freelancers per year. The company works extensively with local businesses, public sector, broadcasters, universities, national trusts and NGOs.
As Rural Media’s CEO Nic provides consultancy and contributes to strategic planning for local, regional and central government, with a focus on supporting creative industries and their role in economic development. Nic is a visiting lecturer at numerous universities and colleges, and a regular speaker at UK and European media conferences. Nic holds the Herefordshire Diamond Jubilee 2012 Excellence in Business award, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Sharon Smith
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce
Sharon was born and raised in Herefordshire and has over 30 years’ experience within business. Her career began as Finance Assistant in a Herefordshire manufacturing company, eventually progressing to become Director of Finance for a Worcestershire based company and on to her current position as Chief Executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce.
Sharon has an MBA from the University of Worcester and is passionate about supporting local businesses and the local economy, promoting equal opportunities and learning more about how to grow and influence business through different leadership styles and generations.
She is pleased to be part of the Herefordshire Business Board, which she feels give her the opportunity to represent the interests of Chamber members and the wider Herefordshire business community.
Facilitation
Jan Bailey
email: admin@herefordshirebusinessboard.co.uk
