LCR Local Visitor Economy Partnership Board 

Tony Hall is Chairman of social work charity Frontline, the City Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) and the film company Harder Than You Think Ltd. 

He is a Trustee of The National Trust, The Natural History Museum, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, also sitting on the Advisory Board for Qwilt. 

 Lord Hall is former Chairman of the National Gallery, Director-General of the BBC, former Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House and former President of the European Broadcasting Union.  He was appointed inaugural Chair of the industry-led Creative & Cultural skills, was on the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and was Chair of the Cultural Olympiad Board.  

 He was awarded a CBE in 2006 and was made a life peer in 2010. He sits on the crossbenches in the House of Lords. 

Donna Howitt is Place Strategy Director at Liverpool ONE, having joined Liverpool ONE in 2007. 

Donna is actively involved in the wider visitor economy sector, taking a seat on the region’s Visitor Economy Board. As Chair of the board, for the City Region’s Destination Marketing Strategy, Donna works across regions and sectors with the board to establishes a sustainable and co-ordinated programme of destination marketing activity and dispersal by harnessing the collective appeal of its individual assets. 

Alan Adams is General Manager of Southport Flower Show and Victoria Park Events, based at the 34-acre Victoria Park in the heart of Southport. Alan’s long-term vision for the region is to increase revenue and footfall into the area. I would build on the success of existing events and initiatives encouraging new ideas and fresh direction whilst still maintaining the history and integrity of the region. 

Paul Askew has been working in the hospitality industry for 42 years and is proud patron of The Art School.  

Paul is a vocal advocate for the hospitality industry in the Wirral and the wider city region, especially so during the ravages of the pandemic. He has relentlessly championed and battled for the entire sector, both on his doorstep and across the UK. As part of his wider work, Paul is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and their Joint Chairman for the North of England. 

Clare becomes chair of Sport Liverpool as she steps down as CEO of World Netball (the International Governing Body) a role she has held since 2012. As executive lead for the Federation, Clare has driven the development and implementation of the Federation’s strategic plan, leading the team to grow the sport’s reach and impact significantly and driving the performance of the portfolio of events, including the Netball World Cup. Clare advocates and values diversity and inclusion in sport – always working to increase opportunities for all to contribute their ideas and passion no matter their age, gender, nationality or social background.

Clare has a commercial background within the chemical industry and consumer durables sector moving to the North West in 1990 and now living in Warrington. She has been actively involved in sport as an athlete, official and voluntary administrator in rowing since university. She is President of the North West Regional Rowing Council and a member the Board of British Rowing.  In 2021 Clare was elected to the Executive Board of the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).

Councillor Harry Doyle is a Liverpool City Councillor representing the Knotty Ash & Dovecot Park Ward, and serves as the City’s Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture.

Harry was instrumental in the bidding, delivery and huge success of Eurovision 2023, which led to him attending the official handover in Malmo, Sweden. Harry views culture as a necessity that brings communities together, grows our economy and promotes good mental health and wellbeing amongst our residents and visitors. Having held the portfolio for Culture since 2021, his role expanded in May 2023 to include Public Health.

Faye Dyer is CEO of ACC Liverpool Group, operators of Liverpool City Region’s award-winning waterfront event campus – comprising the M&S Bank Arena, ACC Liverpool Conference Centre, Exhibition Centre Liverpool and Pullman Hotel, and owners of a regional ticketing business Ticket Quarter. Alongside this role, Faye is also Accommodation BID Board member bringing  significant experience and insight in relation to business events.  

Cllr Kate Groucutt is the Cabinet Member for Economy, Business & Skills on St Helens Borough Council.  She leads the Council’s work on business support and engagement, employment and skills, licensing and regulatory services, and inclusive economic growth. 

She is deputy portfolio holder for Economic Development & Business for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, working with colleagues from all six local authorities to support growth and prosperity across the whole region. 

Peter Hampson is the Chief Executive of the British Destinations Association, specialising in UK domestic and international inbound tourism. Peter is also well known for lobbying and working with Government, government departments and non-governmental agencies, industry groups and other trade bodies and association in support of UK destination-based tourism and visitor economy interests 

Madeline Heneghan became Writing on the Wall’s (WoW) first full-time Festival Director in 2006 and was ultimately responsible for the delivery of the annual month-long Festival and all WoW projects. Madeline has an MA in American Literature and History, and prior to joining Madeline was the Action Plan Coordinator for The Black and Racial Minority Network.  

Most recently, Madeline has written and published, with Emy Onuora, a book based on the findings of the Great War to Race Riots Creative Heritage Project. Madeline is now delivering our latest Creative Heritage Project based on the archives of the Liverpool 8 Law Centre, and working to shape WoW’s long-term strategy and development.

John Hughes represents Liverpool’s Night-time Economy having worked within it for 39 years and also taking on a leadership role over the last 5 years to ensure the sector is appropriately represented. John has been at the forefront of helping to set up and establish the city’s multi stakeholder pub watch committee, aligning the aspirations of the businesses with the wider community.   

In 2018 John helped set up #Nomoreknives, an anti-knife campaign to create awareness on the devastation of knife crime and is also a member of the City Council Joint Agency group and works on the Student safety  ‘Stop the Hate’ group and is a key member of visitor economy welcome group for the Eurovision song contest. He is also the Chair and Founder of Liverpool Nightlife CIC. 

Howard Lewis is the General Manager of the Novotel Liverpool Paddington Village, a 221-bedroom hotel in the heart of Paddington Village, and Chair of Club Liverpool, a board that brings Ambassadors together to promote the Liverpool City Region as a venue for major events/congresses mainly focussing on health and life sciences. Howard also sits on the board of the Liverpool Hospitality Association, and is a member and attend UK Hospitality meetings and events, and Accommodation BID Board member for Liverpool.

Eunice Obianagha is the Founder and Director of ENSPIRE Management, a project and event management consultancy, specialising in managing complex projects across the music, entertainment, community and cultural sectors. At the beginning of 2024, Eunice was named an honouree in the ‘Black in Events Top 100’ global list.

Under her consultancy business ENSPIRE, Eunice has delivered projects for some extraordinarily visionary organisations in the entertainment industry. One example is the MOBO Organisation where Eunice has served as the Director of Events and Special Projects for several years. Working closely with the CEO she has led the MOBO Awards productions for national and international broadcast on channels including BBC, ITV, Viacom and YouTube. In addition, her company has delivered exciting events for clients such as Pinterest, Ted Baker, and Pattern by Tracee Ellis Ross, showcasing her ability to provide top-tier services in the commercial sector. She has also successfully project-managed live music productions in different locations in Nigeria, such as Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Calabar, including the first production in Nigeria of ITV’s ‘The Voice’.

As Head of Diversity at UK Music, Eunice brings a wealth of professional and lived experience to this strategic role. She leads the development and implementation of the overall diversity strategy for UK Music and its member trade bodies who represent all sectors of the music industry (BPI, Musicians Union, Featured Artists Coalition, Music Manager Forum, Ivors Academy, PPL, PRS for Music, Music Publishers Association, Music Producers Guild).

Together with her work in the commercial sector, Eunice has extensive experience working with non-profits at senior level. She is the chairwoman for the Arts Council England NPO Small Green Shoots which is a music charity that provides industry led professional development for young people from underrepresented backgrounds.

As a champion for music culture, Eunice was nominated to become a member of the BRIT Awards Voting Academy. She has held this role since 2016 and is also a Music Advisor for the PRS Foundation.

In 2021, Eunice was bestowed the honour of being added to the She.Said.So Alt 100 Power list under the Business and Tech category. In that same year, she was chosen out of over 500 applicants to be one of the first PRS Foundation Power Up Fellows. Supported by YouTube Music, Beggars Group and many other music companies, the programme was created to break glass ceilings for Black senior and middle level music executives and creators. As part of the alumni, Eunice is an ambassador for the initiative and its ethos.

Barrington Paul Robinson is a creative producer who quit his 15-year job working in finance to follow his passion for the screen arts. Named as a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2006 and one of the UK Film Council’s Breakthrough Brits two years later, Barrington has built up a catalogue of short films that have been screened at film festivals around the world and is well renown for his high end television as a producer from many programmes including the BBC’s Responder (2022). 

For almost 12 years, Rachel Scott has been a been a key member of the Senior Leadership team at Knowsley Estate which encompasses both Knowsley Safari and Knowsley Hall, giving a unique insight into both the family attraction and also the Business tourism markets.

Rachel also holds several positions in the wider city region Visitor Economy including Chair of the Liverpool Attraction Group (7 years), Chair of the Knowsley Visitor Economy Network, LCR Visitor Economy Board member and SIF Destination Marketing Board member.