Futures West and the Brunel Centre are delighted to invite you to the third Festival of Flourishing Regions.
The Festival of Flourishing Regions is dedicated to the advancement and growth of regions across the UK. The festival aims to promote and celebrate the role that cities and regions play in the country’s economy and prosperity, and how regions can drive the Government’s growth agenda.
The festival brings together policymakers, regional planners, economic development experts, academics, and business and community leaders to explore and promote strategies for regional prosperity.
The event will also see the formal launch of both the Brunel Centre’s Strategic Economic Audit of the West of England region, and its new Data Hub and Observatory. Together, they will form key pillars for understanding the opportunities and challenges associated with economic growth in the West of England and nationally.
We are delighted to welcome the following speakers to The Festival of Flourishing Regions:
Dr. Lucy Martin
Director – Brunel Centre
Lucy is Director of The Brunel Centre, a university–business partnership between the University of Bath, UWE Bristol and Futures West. The Centre provides open, data‑driven insight to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth across the West of England, bridging academic research with real‑world policy and practice.
Before joining the University of Bath, Lucy held senior roles at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), including Deputy Director for Net Zero and Head of Quantum Technologies at EPSRC, where she shaped national investment strategies in emerging technologies.
At The Brunel Centre, Lucy leads work that turns evidence into action, strengthening collaboration between academia, government and industry. Her expertise in strategic programme delivery, innovation policy and economic development underpins the Centre’s mission to support better regional decision‑making and tackle inequalities through high‑quality data and research.
Andrea Dell
Director – Futures West
Andrea has over 20 years’ experience working and living in the region and is an alumnus of both UWE Bristol and University of Bristol. She has extensive experience in local government from working in social housing to leading policy, democratic and executive services at Bristol City Council. From 2018-2023 she directed the One City Partnership Initiative serving the public, private and voluntary sector across Bristol.
Prof. Nick Pearce
Director – Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at the University of Bath
Nick has extensive experience in policy research and government policymaking and writes on a wide range of issues, from contemporary British politics, public service and welfare state reform to Britain’s place in the world. His recent publications include Britain Beyond Brexit and Shadows of Empire: The Anglosphere in British Politics.
Before joining the University, Nick was the Director of Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), and between 2008 and 2010, Head of the No10 Downing St. Policy Unit, with responsibility for the formulation of policy advice to the Prime Minister. He led and managed the work of the Prime Minister’s 13 policy advisers.
Nick is currently a member of the Pensions Commission and Chair of the Living Wage Commission. He is a trustee at the Higher Education Policy Institute and Foundations and serves on the advisory boards of the Resolution Foundation and the Wales Centre for Public Policy. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institution of British Architects.
Cllr Tony Dyer
Leader – Bristol City Council
Tony was born and raised in Bristol and joined the Green Party in 2008. He has represented the Southville Ward as a local Councillor since 2021.
Appointed as Leader of the Council on 21 May 2024, he is the political figurehead of Bristol City Council and represents the interests of the council at a community, regional, national and international level.
He has a comprehensive working background in IT consultancy, data analytics, and business, delivering large scale projects for multiple organisations and specific interest and expertise in local government finances, housing, and urban planning.
Tony comes from a working-class background and grew up in a deprived area of the City, giving him a valuable insight into understanding the importance of ensuring nobody gets left behind.
As a Councillor, Tony chaired the Councils Overview & Scrutiny Management Board, sat on the Housing Management Board and the Local Plan Working Group.
The Rt Hon Greg Clark
Executive Chair – University of Warwick Innovation District; Chair – Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG)
Greg served for 19 years as a Member of Parliament, before stepping down in 2024. He was a senior minister for nearly 10 years, including serving in the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Minister for Science and Universities, and previously as Minister for Cities and Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In the last Parliament Greg was elected by the whole House of Commons to serve as Chair of the cross-party Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee.
As a Cabinet Minister Greg was responsible for the development of the UK Industrial Strategy, for the City and Devolution Deals which have established Mayoral Combined Authorities covering half of the population of England, and for proposing and enacting the UK’s commitment to Net Zero emissions by 2050. Greg has been appointed by the current Government to be a member of the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council, which contributes to the development and long-term delivery of HM Government’s industrial strategy.
Greg is Chair of the Japan Society, the leading independent body in the United Kingdom dedicated to the enhancement of the British-Japanese relationship. Greg is also Chair the Society of Chemical Industry, and is a Trustee of the Social Market Foundation, a cross-party think tank.
Sophie Broadfield
Chief Executive – Bath and North East Somerset Council
Sophie is Chief Executive of Bath and North East Somerset Council. She was previously Executive Director of Sustainable Communities at the Council, responsible for place services and ambitious plans for the economy, climate and housing. Before joining local government, Sophie worked in central government in HM Treasury, Defra and MHCLG on policy including devolution deals and local government finance.
Andrew Carter
Chief Executive – Centre for Cities; Deputy Director – What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth
Andrew has over 25 years of experience working on urban economic policy working for public and private development agencies, consultants and research institutes. He has also spent time in the US as part of the Churchill Foundation’s Fellowship Programme reviewing urban economic development policy and practice in American cities including New York, Washington DC, Boston and Chicago. He is a regular media contributor and chairs and speaks at conferences across the UK and Europe on a wide range of urban and economic issues.
Andrew Haldane CBE
President – British Chambers of Commerce
Andrew Haldane is Founder and President of the charity Pro Bono Economics, Chair of the National Numeracy Leadership Council, Ambassador Patron of National Numeracy and Futures for All, chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s Industrial Board and a member of the Advisory Board of the Bradford Literature Festival and the South Yorkshire Mayor’s Economic Advisory Council. He is contributing editor at the Financial Times and Chief Economic Advisor at PwC. He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Sheffield in November 2025 and Chair of The Glasshouse International Centre for Music in September 2025.
Among other positions, he is Honorary Professor at the Universities of Nottingham and Manchester, Visiting Professor at King’s College, London and a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Social Sciences and the Royal Society of Arts.
He has published over 150 academic articles and four books. Andrew was formerly the Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Chief Economist at the Bank of England, member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, and Permanent Secretary for Levelling Up at the Cabinet Office and Chair of the Government’s Industrial Strategy Council and the Levelling Up Advisory Council.
Jo Dally
Chief Business Officer – NCC; Chair, West of England Combined Authority Business Board
Jo is one of the Mayor’s Business Advisors, and Chief Business Officer at NCC. In this role, she leads NCC strategy development and implementation alongside the business’s public affairs and marketing functions and its portfolio of strategic industrial and place-based partnerships. Before joining NCC, Jo held senior leadership roles across the public and private sector, all with innovation and partnership working at their core. This included as Director of the Western Gateway (a pan-regional economic partnership), in bp’s Future Mobility and Solutions business, at the Royal Society (the UK’s National Science Academy), and as a Senior Civil Servant with responsibility for Horizon Scanning and Emerging Technologies.
Dan Thorp
Chief Executive – Cambridge Ahead
Dan was appointed as the Chief Executive at Cambridge Ahead in 2023. On behalf of its business, research and academic membership, Cambridge Ahead produces research and analysis driven by a focus on good growth. Since 2023 Cambridge Ahead has co-founded and launched the Growing Together Alliance with peers across the country, helped establish the OxCam Supercluster Board, and launched an infrastructure-first policy and research programme to support Government and Local Authorities to unlock Cambridge’s full long-term potential.
Previously Dan worked at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority as part of establishing the new Authority and focusing on place-making. This included developing the first Local Industrial Strategy and instigating the Market Town Masterplans programme.
Jessica Bowles
Director of Strategic Partnerships and Impact – Bruntwood
Jessica is Bruntwood’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and Impact. Having joined the business in 2016, she previously held the post of Head of City Policy at Manchester City Council, supporting work on devolution and the Northern Powerhouse. Prior to this, she held several roles during a 15-year career in Whitehall. Interested in cities and what makes them tick, her role at Bruntwood is particularly concerned with our external relationships with city partners and our social value agenda. She is regularly consulted for commentary on numerous macro-topics including government policy, UK economics and nationwide infrastructures.
Dr. Andy Williams
Chair – OxCam Supercluster
After 30 years within the biopharmaceutical industry, Andy recently established his own consultancy business advising clients in the areas of strategy, policy development and engagement.
Andy is Chair of the Ox-Cam Supercluster Board (SCB), comprised of globally recognised scientific enterprises, investors and world-leading universities. The board has been actively working with central government, supporting the business case for East West Rail and policy to support growth across the region and the wider UK economy. In his previous role at AstraZeneca, Andy oversaw the move and integration of the organization and 4000 employees into the Cambridge area ahead of their move onto the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, reporting directly into the senior executive team. As part of that role, he was an active contributor to evolving Cambridge’s thinking in areas like transport, skill development, community amenity, housing and digital.
Andy remains active in the local Cambridge business community, sitting on the boards of Cambridge Ahead and Cambridge Network. Andy has a first degree in Biochemistry from Kings College London, a PhD in Molecular Genetics from QMW College London and post-doctoral experience gained at the University of British Columbia.
Henri Murison
Chief Executive – Northern Powerhouse Partnership
Since his appointment in 2017 Henri has established the partnership as the business led organisation which convenes the North together. From having made the case consistently for Northern Powerhouse Rail, to challenging for a better deal for the most disadvantaged from the education system, his team are focused on how government, business and partners can drive the North’s ambitions.
Before joining the Partnership, he worked in senior research and policy roles in policing and financial services, and as a former senior local government figure in Newcastle upon Tyne remains a commentator on regional and wider industrial policy.
He is a member of the Royal Society Science, Industry and Translation Committee, the Court of Newcastle University and in the New Year’s honours list was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Anthony Hollingsworth
Director of Planning and Place – Cambridge Growth Company
Anthony Hollingsworth is a town planner with 30 years’ experience working at both strategic and local planning authorities in London and the South West on development management, plan-making and infrastructure delivery. As Director of Planning Policy & Decisions at the London Legacy Development Corporation, he led the statutory planning function for the regeneration of the neighbourhoods in and around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Anthony is currently leading on developing the evidence base for ambitious growth proposals for Greater Cambridge in his role as Director of Planning & Place at Cambridge Growth Company.
Dr. Thomas Aubrey
Founder – Credit Capital Advisory
Dr Thomas Aubrey is the founder of Credit Capital Advisory which provides credit risk advisory services including infrastructure financing. He has written widely on financial and economic issues including Profiting from Monetary Policy (2012) on the nature of the credit cycle, and more recently a defence of a liberal political economy in All Roads Lead to Serfdom (2022). He has been actively involved in public policy through his role as the director of the Centre for Progressive Capitalism at Policy Network as well as advising numerous UK and international public bodies. He is also a senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, a research affiliate at the Bennett School of Public Policy, University of Cambridge, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance at Imperial College.
Chris Smyth
UK Public Policy Editor – Financial Times
Chris is public policy editor at the Financial Times. Formerly Whitehall editor at The Times, he moved to Westminster after an award-winning stint as health editor and led coverage of Covid policy during the pandemic. He then went on to cover all aspects of government, particularly the uneasy friction between politics and policy.
Amira Amzour OBE
Chief Transformation Officer – YTL UK Group
Amira is Chief Transformation Officer at YTL UK Group, leading group-wide transformation. Her focus spans digital and AI enablement, organisational performance, and modern operating models designed to deliver long-term resilience and growth.
Before joining YTL, Amira held senior roles in UK Government, where she led large-scale reform programmes including the redesign of the UK water industry’s £100bn regulatory framework and major cross-border negotiations. She is known for delivering complex transformation in politically and commercially sensitive environments.
Heather Stewart
Economics Editor – The Guardian
Heather is a British journalist with over two decades of experience, who serves as the economics editor of The Guardian, having previously acted as the newspaper’s joint political editor. Stewart, educated at the University of Oxford, has focused her reporting on UK economic policy, fiscal challenges, Brexit negotiations, and post-pandemic recovery dynamics. Her work emphasizes data-driven analysis of macroeconomic trends and government decision-making, often highlighting tensions between growth imperatives and public spending constraint.
Bethan Stanton
Deputy Editor – Financial Times
Bethan is the deputy editor of the FT’s work and careers section, commissioning and writing on all things work-related. She has previously covered education and public policy and was an FT women’s fund reporter, on beats including economics and transport.
Before joining the FT Bethan was a reporter at Sky News, and a freelance journalist in the Middle East.
Sophie Hale
Research Director – Resolution Foundation
Sophie joined the Resolution Foundation in 2021 and overseas the organisation’s work on economic growth, trade and intergenerational issues. Prior to this she worked at the Department for International Trade, leading analysis to support the negotiation of new free trade agreements.
Nick Hibberd
Chief Executive – Bristol City Council
Nick has been Chief Executive of Bristol City Council since January 2025. Nick has over 30 years’ experience of working in local government, in a variety of senior executive roles in London and Brighton & Hove
