The Warrington Town Deal board is a group of the town's business, leisure, education and political leaders, who are leading on the delivery of our ambitious £22m Town Deal programme.
Read biographies of the board members to find out more about who is driving forward our Town Deal vision.
Steve is Chief Executive Officer of Torus, a dynamic growth and regeneration group with deep roots in the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire. With a portfolio of some 40,000 homes, Torus is the North West’s largest stock-holding affordable homes provider and also has a large development pipeline.
A passionate advocate for high-quality and affordable housing, Steve is responsible for Torus’ overall strategic direction, performance and development.
Prior to joining Torus, he led Liverpool Mutual Homes for 10 years as Chief Executive and spearheaded the creation of a strong, diversified and award-winning housing group with a distinct social purpose.
Cllr Laura Watson, cabinet member for economy, growth and quality work – responsible for business development and investment, local and sub-regional economic development, town centre management and district centres, regeneration, good quality jobs and careers, late night economy, sectoral liaison. Cllr Watson has a background in education and is a teacher striving to improve education in Warrington schools. A volunteer in the local community, Cllr Watson brings valuable experience and a strong affiliation to the area
David graduated from Liverpool University in 1987. Since graduating he has had 35 years involvement in the engineering, project management, design, construction, delivery and commissioning of highway, transportation, maintenance, drainage, public health and environmental improvement works and services in both the public and private sectors in the United Kingdom.
David worked at Liverpool City Council from 1996 to 2005 where he was responsible for all Highway Authority issues in the City including major projects such as the City Centre Movement Strategy and Liverpool One Development. David then moved to Cheshire County Council where he had responsibility for the Project Services Division.
David started work with Warrington in 2008. In his current role he has responsibility for transportation, engineering, environmental management, operational and public protection services delivered by the Council. During this time major transportation projects have been delivered including Warrington West Station and the Centre Park Link. In addition major improvements in Parks have been undertaken including the restoration of the conservatory at Walton Hall Gardens and a new stadium at Victoria Park.
Steven is the Chief Executive at Warrington Borough Council, a role he has performed on a part time basis since 2012. He was also the Council Chief Executive from 1997 to 2003. Professor Broomhead holds the Chair of Entrepreneurial Education at Liverpool Hope University. In May 2011 he gave his inaugural professorial lecture “Making Britain enterprising, entrepreneurial, forward wealth creating again – restoring faith to the centre stage”. In 2007 the University of Chester named their new library the ‘Broomhead Library’.
From 2003 to 2011 he was Chief Executive of the North West Development Agency with a budget of £1 billion per year and was responsible for the economic development and regeneration of the North West. The major projects included Media City UK, Chester Zoo, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool Waterfront, Capital of Culture 2008, investment in a number of Universities and the commencement of the regeneration of Barrow in Furness.
He is Chairman of Warrington & Co – economic investment organisation for Warrington and Chairman of Wire Regeneration – developing a specific part of the town for housing and employment. Steven is the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of Warrington Wolves Rugby Super League Football Club. He was its Chairman from 2009-2018. He is also the Founding Chairman of “State of Mind”, a mental health awareness campaign. Up until recently Steven has been a non- Executive Chairman of Recycling Lives, a social value driven charity/business based in Lancashire with a turnover of £150m - it supports individuals who have experienced prison/homelessness. Recycling Lives has 14 sites in prisons Steven was also a Board member of the British Metals Recycling Association.
Prior to working in local government Steven was Principal of 2 Further Education/Higher Education colleges (Durham and Warrington). He is the Vice Chair of Warrington and Vale Royal College.
He was appointed to the government’s “Libraries Task Force” as its Chairman and received an MBE in recognition of his service to public Libraries. He is also Chairman of the Data Clinic, a national data recovery centre. He is also a governor of the University of Chester and Chair of governors of a primary school in Leyland, Lancashire. Steven is also an advisor to Atkins Global Infrastructure company.
Having graduated with an economics degree from the University of Manchester, Stephen initially worked in manufacturing for De La Rue before spending 20 years in and around economic development. This included the North West Development Agency, Make UK and Warrington & Co.
Responsible for business engagement at Warrington Council’s economic and regeneration division, he is also on secondment at the local Chamber of Commerce, supporting members with their exporting activities. Stephen’s overall objective is to help grow the Warrington economy by attracting capital investment, thereby creating new jobs and safeguarding existing ones.
Josh is the Executive Development Director at Langtree, which forms the private sector partner to the Wire Regeneration a joint venture with Warrington Borough Council. The JV was established to bring forward the regeneration of the Southern Gateway of the Town Centre.
Josh, is the Project Lead for the Digital Enterprise Hub and is supported by a number of senior Langtree property and development colleagues. The project is being delivered by Wire Regeneration and is utilising the allocated the Warrington Town Deal Funding. The Digital Enterprise Hub will be incorporated within the existing St James Business Centre on Wilderspool Causeway and will be delivered to attract digital focussed companies to Warrington. The Digital Enterprise Hub will supplement wider refurbishment proposals of the St James Business Centre which are being delivered to support SME’s businesses.
Lucy is the Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (WHH).
She started her career 19 years ago as an NHS General Management Trainee, gaining a Masters degree in health and social care leadership and management. In the 19 years she has held a number of operational management roles within the NHS and subsequently, in her role at EY and most recently as Director of Strategy and Partnerships at WHH, led large scale change programmes to deliver significant financial, quality and performance benefits predominantly within healthcare. Highlights include; leading the introduction of the support time recovery worker role into mental health services; leading a £3.6m project to install the first intra-operative scanner in a paediatric setting in the UK and Europe; leading the transfer of paediatric services from an acute to a community setting; directing a project for disadvantaged pregnant teenagers in Peru; and leading the support to the merger of two large acute Trusts.
At WHH Lucy has led the development and delivery of the Trust’s strategy, as well as leading key strategic programmes, including planning for new hospitals and delivering the Halton Health Hub within Runcorn Shopping City.
Lucy is committed to developing others and to working in partnership with a wide range of organisations and individuals to not only deliver outstanding healthcare but also to enable wider regeneration.
Lucy is the lead for the Living Well Hub project within the Town Deal Programme.
Principal and CEO of Warrington and Vale Royal College since 2015, Nichola is a skilled and determined leader in Further Education, with expansive, sectoral knowledge and professional experience spanning 29 years. Nichola is values-driven and customer-focused with a demonstrable track record of achievement. A passionate advocate of further education and life-long learning as inclusive and transformative, Nichola has a strong belief in the development of skills as the bedrock of economic growth.
Steve has worked in Local Government for 19 years in senior management positions. As Director of Growth at Warrington Borough Council, Steve overseas strategic economic development, employment and skills, place-making development, housing delivery, planning, commercial property investment, Council land & property and leisure, libraries and cultural services. Steve is a Director of Birchwood Park, and Director of Evergreen North West and Evergreen Cheshire and Warrington investment funds. As chair of the sub-regional Growth Directors, Steve overseas the strategic approach to skills development, one public estate, economic strategy and devolution. Steve sits on the Cheshire and Merseyside Health Care Partnership Board and the Council's Health and Wellbeing Board. Steve advises the board of Wire Regeneration Ltd, a place making joint venture with Langtree.
Prior to joining Local Government Steve was a Programme Director at the Home Office and prior to that had director level positions in finance and IT in the private sector, having studied accountancy at University. A lifelong St Helens Rugby League fan Steve also enjoys hillwalking and fishing
Dave is the CEO and one of the founders of WDP, a user led charity founded in 1991. He is passionate about accessibility and equality. With over 40yrs experience in the VCSE sector, he has led the development of services from inception to international recognition. In 2015, he retired from a 20-year career in the NHS, 10 years as the Assistant Director of Inclusion & Partnerships, returning to the NHS in 2021 as an Associate None Executive Director at Warrington and Halton NHS Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust.
He has chaired/presented at conferences in the UK & Europe on a wide range of disability matters including inclusive design, independent living and peer led support. He has presented lectures/training to over 60,000 staff from statutory, private AND VCSE sector.
His role is to lead Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington towards its vision to make Cheshire and Warrington the healthiest, most sustainable, inclusive and growing economy in the UK. Prior to joining Cheshire and Warrington, Philip was a Civil Servant, most recently as the Director for Local Economies at DCLG.
His background is as an Economist and his Civil Service career has included serving as the Principal Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minster and working on issues such as the sale of the Millennium Dome to create the O2 Arena, renegotiation of the contract to build the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now HS1), the establishment of Enterprise Zones and overall responsibility for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in England.
Sarah Hall is the Labour (Co-op) MP for Warrington South, and has been an MP continually since 4 July 2024. Prior to becoming an MP Sarah was a Warrington Borough Council councillor and cabinet member for children’s services.
Cllr Jean Flaherty, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for children, families and education – responsible for safeguarding children, children’s social care, corporate parenting, fostering and adoption, schools and partnerships, children’s centres, early help, reducing child poverty, skills and higher education, youth services and SEND.
As a local resident herself, Cllr Flaherty understands the unique challenges and opportunities facing the town. Her first-hand experience living and interacting within the community provides valuable insights into the daily lives, concerns, and aspirations of Warrington residents. Cllr Flaherty advocates for initiatives that address the needs of the community, supporting projects which boost economic development and championing those which enhance community services and contribute to the overall well-being and prosperity of Warrington.
Cllr Nathan Sudworth, Cabinet Member for organisation, innovation and co-operation – responsible for communications, customer contact, public consultation and partnership, policy development, devolution, democratic services/elections/democracy, external relations/civic relationships, human relations, personnel and staffing, digitalisation, service transformation, union relationships, code of conduct, and the youth council.