Our board

Chris Davy is the owner of the Rose and Crown at Romaldkirk. He is Deputy Chair of County Durham Economic Partnership. He is also chair of the British Hospitality Association Northern Committee and former elected member on the National Council of the British Institute of Innkeeping. 

Richard Evans is director of Beamish Museum, one of the North East’s top visitor attractions, where he oversees a budget of £4m, 200 employees and more than 300 acres of land. He previously worked as director of the Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park restoration project near Barnsley, and as development officer for New Lanark World Heritage Village in Scotland.

Neil Foster was born and raised in County Durham and enjoyed a successful career in local government with Sedgefield Borough Council. He was first elected to Spennymoor Town Council in 1987 and later Durham County Council, where he now sits on the cabinet where his role is to help enhance the visitor experience and continue to strengthen the county’s reputation as a great place to stay.

Andrew Glover is from Whitley Bay and returned to the North East four years ago to take up the role of general manager at Marriott’s Durham Hotel Royal County. He has held management positions with Marriott in both Lincoln and Liverpool, where he sat on influential committees helping to shape the city’s successful bid to win European Capital of Culture 2008.

David Harker is CEO of Durham County Cricket Club. His background is as a certified accountant working for a large international firm.

Sue Parkinson has been with the Chester-le-Street and City of Durham Enterprise Agency for over 20 years, a not-for-profit public/private sector partnership supporting local businesses. She is a member of the County Durham Economic Partnership and chairs its Business and Enterprise Working Group.

Carolyn Ramsbotham runs a 4-star holiday cottage in Wolsingham and is a member of the Weardale Visitor Network. As well as being a member of the team at Auckland Castle she works in PR looking after specialist hotel and travel clients.

Melanie Sensicle has worked in tourism for over nine years as Head of Marketing at VisitBrighton until moving to Durham. She is a member of the Tourism Management Institute’s Continuing Professional Development Group and represents Destinations on the England Quality Visioning Group.

Helen Strangward is Commercial Director of Durham University. She has over 20 years experience in the hotel industry and extensive sales and marketing experience with Marriott, Swallow and Trust House Forte hotels.