ABOUT

Steve Fothergill is the National Director of the Industrial Communities Alliance.  An economist by background and a long-standing professor of regional development, he is author or co-author of five books and more than 200 reports and articles on aspects of UK local economies and labour markets.

Tony Gore is an Emeritus Research Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University.  A geographer by background, he has worked on numerous research projects on local and regional development and is co-author of a series of reports on the State of the Coalfields and on the Real Level of Unemployment.

Meirion Thomas is the Wales Director of the Industrial Communities Alliance.  An economic development practitioner, he has previously worked in the Welsh Development Agency and on research projects at Cardiff University, and for many years also ran his own consultancy advising on business innovation and growth.

Chris Whitwood is part of the National Secretariat team at the Industrial Communities Alliance.  His background is in design, education and local politics.  In Westminster he acts as the Secretary to MPs groups on coalfield communities and on local growth funding.