South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

Jeff Alexander
Executive Director, Global Competitiveness

Jeff is the Executive Director heading the South East England Development Agency's Global Competitiveness. The division works in partnership with the private sector and other agencies to make the South East of England the best environment for business development. It acts as a catalyst for initiatives to develop enterprise, investment and international competitiveness. This includes programmes to promote sector and cluster development, innovation, technology transfer, inward investment and early stage business finance.

Jeff previously headed the team responsible for setting up SEEDA as one of England's nine regional economic development agencies. He then became the Agency's first Director of Strategy and Corporate Services – a post which he held until January 2003. In that capacity, he led on the preparation of the first two Regional Economic Strategies for the South East of England. His other responsibilities included policy development, business planning, finance, research, initiatives to promote best practice in sustainable development, European and cultural issues and the sponsorship of the region's network of sub-regional Economic Partnerships.

Prior to joining SEEDA, Jeff held a wide range policy and operational positions in Government Departments responsible for the environment and transport, particularly in the areas of regeneration and planning. These included management of the team responsible for establishing and then sponsoring English Partnerships - the national regeneration agency.

Pam Alexander
SEEDA Chief Executive

Pam Alexander joined the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) as Chief Executive in January 2004, having been involved in regeneration for nearly 30 years.

As Chief Executive of SEEDA she chairs the Margate Renewal Panel, the Hastings & Bexhill Taskforce and is Deputy Chair of Ashford's Future. She also chairs the South East Partnership 2012.

Pam is Chair of the Peabody Trust and a non-executive Director of The Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. She chaired the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Policy and Practice Programme on Mixed Income Communities and is on the Shadow Board of Investors in Communities. Pam was on the inaugural Advisory Board of Regenerate and is a Director of Brighton Dome and Festival Ltd. In November 2006 Pam was appointed as co- Chair of a new Women's Enterprise Task Force.

Before joining SEEDA Pam was Chief Executive of English Heritage from 1997 to 2001 and led the creation of its nine regional offices, integrating its advisory and grant-giving with its historic attractions at regional level. As Deputy Chief Executive of the Housing Corporation from 1995 to 1997, she was responsible for the regional teams and its annual £2 billion programme of investment in social housing through housing associations. As a civil servant in the Department of the Environment from 1975 to 1994, she worked on local government finance, transport, inner city regeneration and housing policies and in Brussels on legislation to protect the environment. Her report for Cabinet Office and Treasury 'Better Government Services: Executive Agencies in the 21st Century' was published in July 2002 and its recommendations are being implemented.

Lee Amor
Executive Director, Development & Infrastructure

Lee Amor, who joined SEEDA as its Executive Director of Development and Infrastructure in October 2006, has a strong combination of public and private sector experience, combined with recent involvement in various PFI/PPP projects.

A former European Director of Lend Lease Europe and Head of Special Projects at the London Borough of Lambeth, Lee has managed partnerships and large scale redevelopment programmes, both nationally and in Europe.

Lee spent four years with Lend Lease Europe in London and Madrid, with global property assets under management exceeding $55 billion, where he set up its Continental European asset management and development arm.

Previous to this he was director at CCB Bautrager Gruppe in Frankfurt and Alicante, where he established a sales network and strategy for four residential developers throughout Germany. He began his career at Prudential Assurance Company in London in the 1980s as a management surveyor working on varied aspects of the largest property portfolio in the UK, in excess of £11 billion.

Lee is an associate member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), was born in London and graduated in Land Management at the University of Reading.

Paul Lovejoy
Executive Director, Strategy & Communications

Paul began his career in manufacturing management after obtaining a 1st Class Honours Degree in Economics from Portsmouth Polytechnic. Following the completion of a Masters Degree in Urban & Regional Planning, Paul moved into economic development, and gained early experience with local authorities and the West Midlands Enterprise Board.

In 1993 Paul joined international consultancy business GHK to establish and direct a new UK consultancy arm. In his role he led advice to central government and local and regional bodies, on strategy development, policy evaluation and partnership structures.

In 1997 Paul joined Hampshire Training and Enterprise Council as Partnerships Director and led a range of innovative regeneration initiatives before moving to SEEDA in 2000 as the Head of Strategy. He led the 2002 review of the Regional Economic Strategy before being appointed as Area Director for Surrey & Sussex in 2003. In this role he was responsible for the formation of sub-regional strategy and partnerships including the four Sussex Area Investment Frameworks.

Paul was promoted to Executive Director of Strategy & Sustainability at the end of 2004 and took up this post on 1 st January 2005. Paul is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is a keen yachtsman. As a native of Portsmouth he is of course a loyal supporter of Portsmouth Football Club.

Oona Muirhead
Executive Director, Sustainable Prosperity

Oona Muirhead has a strong background in strategic policy development, managing and implementing change, and a track record of working with and influencing key decision-makers within and outside government. She joined SEEDA on 1st August 2007 from the post of Director of the Land Use Project at the Department of the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
(Defra) where she has been responsible for leading the development of a long-term policy framework for land use and land management in England.

Prior to this, Oona was Director of Strategy and Communications at the Local Government Association (LGA), where she was responsible for corporate strategy development, lobbying and external affairs. During this time she devised and negotiated cross-party agreement to a new vision for local government. Set out in the LGA's publication 'Closer to People and Places', this sees local authorities taking on a new role: the 'leadership of place'.

Working with the CBI and national think-tanks, she then developed specific proposals for devolving powers and policy functions to local government in relation to areas such as transport, planning, housing, skills and worklessness. Many of these ideas were reflected in the Local Government White Paper in 2006.

John Parsonage
Executive Director, Smart Growth

John is Executive Director of Smart Growth for the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). Prior to this appointment, John was Dean of the Faculty of Dartford and Medway at the University of Greenwich with corporate responsibility for outreach and commercial development.

John gained a BSc in Chemistry and Physics in 1968, a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry in 1971 and was appointed Professor of Chemistry at Thames Polytechnic in 1989. He was a Research Student with Albright & Wilson, 1968 and was Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Thames Polytechnic, 1971 –1973. From 1973, John was a Senior Lecturer, then Principal Lecturer with Thames Polytechnic holding this post until 1984. He was appointed Head of the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Thames Polytechnic, holding this post from 1984 – 1990 until his appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Science at Thames in 1990 which he held until 1995. During this period Thames Polytechnic became the University of Greenwich.

In 1995 John was seconded from the University of Greenwich, to take up the appointment of Chief Executive and Director of the London Science Park at Dartford. He was responsible for co-ordinating the actions of the promoters, Glaxo Wellcome, Dartford Borough Council and the University of Greenwich, holding this post until 1999. During this period he was responsible for the Commercial Development Unit of the University and held Board Appointments with Dartford Chamber of Commerce, North Kent Success and was an active promoter of the Medway Campus Partnership.

His key achievements have been ensuring that the London Science Park at Dartford identified financial partners to commence development; expanding the Science Faculty at Thames Polytechnic from 600 to 2,500 students; the introduction of Higher Education into several FE colleges and helping to set the education and training agenda of North Kent Success and Kent Thames-side Association.

Duncan Straughen
Chief Operating Officer

Duncan is Chief Operating Officer for the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). Duncan comes from a private sector background with a strong track record of developing and managing projects which involve both public and private sector parties. Most recently he has been working as a Commercial Director on the NHS LIFT program for Carillion plc, and on other PFI/PPP initiatives. Prior to that from 1997 to 2002 he was Executive Director of Hong Kong Land Infrastructure, during which period he built a new team to conduct his business, and completed a number of investments in major transportation, power, water, telecoms and logistics projects, all of which involved bringing together both public and private sector partners. Many of the projects were crucial to enhance the economic prospects of the areas that they served.

In approaching these projects Duncan were able to utilise his extensive experience as a corporate Treasurer and project finance banker to help optimise project structures, financing and economic returns. The role included the detailed review of business cases and risks. In addition to which the knowledge gained, particularly in corporate treasury, enable him to implement a key element in the management of those projects, which was the implementation of appropriate new reporting and internal control system.

He is Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

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