Martin Reeves

Chief Executive
Coventry City Council

Martin has been Chief Executive of Coventry City Council since April 2009. He was the Chief Executive and the Head of Paid Service of the West Midlands Combined Authority from March 2016 to September 2017. He had previously been with Bedfordshire County Council for three and a half years as Assistant Chief Executive and Chief Executive. Martin was previously Head of Performance Improvement at Westminster City Council in the heart of London. He was also Programme Director for WorkSmart the City Council’s flagship transformation programme.

Martin spent much of his early career as a lecturer and researcher, and has a PhD in applied economics.He is a Governor on the Board at Coventry University; is the first Honorary President of LARIA (Local Authorities Research and Intelligence Association) and on the board of the Centre for Cities. He was the President of SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives) in 2013. He is the Local Government Association (LGA) National Procurement Champion. In 2015, Martin was invited onto the independent taskforce, which produced the new 5 year national cancer strategy. He chairs the national cross system board for sustainable health & social care. He is also a member of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Advisory Board. In 2018 Martin was once again included in the top 50 of the Local Government Chronicle’s list of most influential people in local government.

Sarah Windrum

CEO
The Emerald Group

Sarah is the Co-Founder of the Emerald Group, an IT consultancy in Warwickshire supporting businesses and organisations to harness technology for innovation and productivity. She is a Board Director for the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) leading on the development of local creative clusters with national and regional stakeholders and she chairs CWLEP’s industry body for the digital creative sector. She is a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority Innovation and Strategic Economic Development Boards supporting digital transformation and securing investment in connectivity including fibre and 5G.

Passionate about future digital talent, Sarah is on the Industry Advisory Board at Warwickshire College and works with Ukie, the national trade body for interactive entertainment, on their Digital Schoolhouse Primary School programme. She is also an Enterprise Advisor at Campion School.

In 2018, Sarah became an industry partner with the Institute of Coding at Coventry University supporting the creation of new professional development for the creative sector. She is also working with Warwickshire County Council on future digital skills needs for the transport & logistics sector.

Neil Edginton

Managing Director
EDG Property

Managing director Neil Edginton has been instrumental in changing the landscape of Birmingham having been involved in major regeneration projects such as The Cube, The Mailbox and Fort Dunlop. Neil spearheads the EDG Group of Companies with an impressive portfolio of development projects while providing development, construction and asset management services to leading banks and some of the UK’s largest funds.

Richard Mees

Managing Director
Rainier Developments Ltd

Richard is Managing Director of Rainier Developments Limited. Richard has a wealth of experience from small brownfield development sites to large sustainable urban extensions specialising residential property. His experience and skills are across the life-cycle of the development process from land acquisition and planning through to construction and disposal. A member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Monica Fogarty

Chief Executive
Warwickshire County Council

Monica Fogarty is Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council. With over twenty five years’ experience in local government, Monica has held a number of senior roles. Until 2016 she was Strategic Director for Communities leading the ‘place’ agenda for Warwickshire and prior to that she was Assistant Chief Executive for Warwickshire. Monica has also held a range of Head of Service posts including Policy; Performance and Change Management, having also worked for Coventry City Council. Particular areas of expertise are Economics, Strategic Infrastructure; Partnerships and Organisational Change. She has experience of managing most forms of council front line services. With London-Irish roots, Monica and her family live in Kenilworth, Warwickshire.

Carl Potter

Principal & Managing Director, Birmingham
Avison Young

Managing Director of the Birmingham Office; providing Commercial Property advice to public and private sector clients. Managing transactions and advising on new development.