The Chamber is a private, not for profit, membership organisation with a board made up of five people who determine the strategy and regularly review activity and progress.
John Painter, Chairman
Mike Ashton, Chief Executive Officer
Graham Biggs, President
Jim McBride, Vice President - Worcestershire Area Council
Ray Stone, Vice President - Herefordshire Area Council
Richard Wilkey, Non Executive Director
John Painter is Non-Executive Chairman of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce. John has been involved with the Chamber movement for over 20 years and has previously been a Vice President and on the Board of Directors for 6 years. John is also the Managing Partner of Worcester based Chartered Accountants, Crowther Beard LLP. As a trained business coach, John spends much of his time working with clients on their strategic and business development. He finds these skills useful in his role as Non-Executive Chairman, especially following the reduction in the funding for business support.
Mike Ashton has been Chief Executive of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce since 1st May 2007.
Mike is a big supporter of enterprise and economic development and has been involved in this type of activity for the last 15 years. He was the former Head of Enterprise Development at Liverpool John Moores University and CEO of Chamberlink, the Business Link/Chamber Services Company for Greater Manchester. He has been Chairman of a Young Enterprise Region and values the input that education can make to the development of young people and their ability to develop their business acumen.
He studied a Sports Science Degree at Liverpool John Moores University and competed for his county and region in badminton and tennis.
In his role as President, Graham is responsible for representing the views of members in Board discussions, in securing and delivering business support services to Herefordshire and Worcestershire and undertaking any duties requested by the Chief Executive.
During his presidency, he has hosted a meeting with Princess Anne, lead sector gatherings, been heavily involved in LEP discussions as well as being a regular attendee at the Chamber Business Breakfasts. In addition, Graham has been involved in a number of policy forums including the Hereford City Forum and Warndon Business Forum that were set up in order to identify issues that businesses are facing and to seek solutions to resolve them.
Graham is the Client Services Director of the naked creative, a full service agency with design studio and data handlers serving UK and international clients. His role is to ensure that the naked creative works with clients at both strategic and tactical levels.
Jim has a wide range of experience across several industrial sectors in large and medium sized organisations both here in Herefordshire and Worcestershire and abroad. He thought that by joining the Board of the Chamber he could bring his experience to good use.
His particular passion is for our manufacturing businesses to get the recognition they deserve and help when needed. He says: "As a country we do not credit ourselves with being the 6/7th largest manufacturing country in the world. It is our best kept secret, that needs to change! Let’s get to the positives rather than the negatives to drive UKplc forward".
Ray is currently Managing Director of Ingstone Associates. Ray was formerly Global Business Development Director and Managing Director of Special Metals Corporation which includes the Special Metals Wiggin Plant in Hereford. With over 45 years experience in the European metals industry, he has been involved in a number of business improvement / turn around projects. Ray has been chairman of the Hereford Area Council for the past 2 years and has a passion to see business develop and grow in Herefordshire. He is keen to see a cross section of businesses represented at the area council to ensure that the needs of local businesses are heard. Ray also has a keen interest in Further and Higher Education provision in the County to ensure the needs of both individuals and local businesses are met.
Richard Wilkey is a Non-Executive Director of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce and is a Corporate Partner at law firm Harrison Clark. He has over 10 years' experience of corporate transactions and advising boards of directors on strategic business matters, which assists with the role at the Chamber.
Richard is very passionate about business and finding ways of helping businesses grow and succeed, which is also a core goal of the Chamber of Commerce.