Back to Growing Our Economy

Business and Enterprise Board

Bringing the business voice closer to Liverpool City Region economic policy-making.

Business and Enterprise Board Members alongside Mayor Steve Rotheram.

LCR Business and Enterprise Board

The LCR’s Business and Enterprise Board (BEB) was established in 2023, taking over the role of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in providing a voice for business in the Liverpool City Region.

  • Its overarching purpose is to articulate business views about the main economic opportunities and challenges facing the city region so they can be reflected in policy priorities, especially those in industry clusters (advanced manufacturing, creative and digital, health and life science) that will be of critical importance to the future success of the city region economy.

  • Specifically, the Business and Enterprise Board will provide the CA with insights on:

    • Sector intelligence and fore-sighting in terms of the direction of the economy.
    • How the economy is operating and the key drivers shaping employment, productivity and the performance of wider clusters.
    • Supply-side issues which are holding back the growth of the economy.
    • Opportunities for growth, innovation or investment across the economy and its key clusters.
    • Opportunities for linkages between the Board and the wider economy to drive productivity, investment and employment.
    • Outline of potential economic development initiatives / interventions.
    • The Board will also produce an annual action plan focused on supporting the economy.
  • The Board is facilitated by the Combined Authority, convenes senior representatives from industry, LCR HEIs and other anchor institutions, as well as the Visitor Economy. It also, at this time, has co-opted three experts around the themes of Net Zero, digital innovation/ AI, and health and life sciences.

  • The Board is chaired by David Meyerowitz, former Haier Europe CEO and Ruth Hartnoll, Matchstick Creative CEO is Deputy Chair. The BEB Chair also sits on the CA Board as a non-voting member.

  • Board structure

  • Business and Enterprise Board structure chart

    Board members

    Business leaders from across the city region and its key growth sectors have been named on the new board. There are also reserved places for representatives from further and higher education and the region’s visitor economy. The board has been appointed after an extensive recruitment process, carried out over recent months, which attracted applications from 65 high-calibre candidates.

    In appointing the Board, the Combined Authority has worked hard to ensure gender balance, ethnic diversity, and geographic representation across all six areas of the Liverpool City Region

    David Meyerowitz

    David Meyerowitz

    Former Haier Europe CEO, Business and Enterprise Board Chair

  • Ruth Hartnoll

    Ruth Hartnoll

    Matchstick Creative CEO, Business and Enterprise Board Deputy Chair

  • Rachael Baker

    Rachael Baker

    Managing Director of JJ Smith & Co Ltd

  • Lynn Haime

    Lynn Haime

    CEO of Baltic Creative CIC

  • Rachael Hennigan

    Rachael Hennigan

    Principal and Chief Executive, Hugh Baird College

  • Tawhid Islam

    Tawhid Islam

    Managing Director of Islam & Co Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors

  • Professor Tim Jones

    Professor Tim Jones

    Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool

  • Trevor Leeks

    Trevor Leeks

    Operations Director at Jaguar Land Rover’s Halewood and Brazil manufacturing plants

  • Melanie Lewis

    Melanie Lewis

    Chief Executive, Shakespeare North Playhouse

  • Rachel McLean Headshot

    Rachel McLean

    Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Arts and Director of Liverpool Screen School at Liverpool John Moores University.

  • Jennifer Van Der Merwe

    Jennifer Van Der Merwe

    Director, CIC Kindred

  • Dom Potter

    Dom Potter

    Business Founder, Startup Investor and Corporate Executive

  • Professor Mark Power

    Professor Mark Power

    Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer, Liverpool John Moores University

  • Professor Katherine Royse

    Professor Katherine Royse

    Director of the Hartree Centre, part of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) National laboratorie

  • Lindsay Sharples headshot

    Lindsay Sharples

    Associate Director Innovation Partnerships, Health Innovation North West Coast

  • Elliot Street

    Elliot Street

    Co-founder and CEO of Inovus Medical

  • Utubakwu Michael Ushie

    Utubakwu Michael Ushie

    The founder and CEO of Prime Atlantic Ltd

  • Ruth Wood

    Ruth Wood

    Interim CEO of Mersey Maritime

  • Biographies

    Latest News

    Read all news