Visiting Staff
CURDS has appointed a number of visiting professors and visiting fellows to assist us in our research and postgraduate teaching.
Visiting Professors
Peter Hetherington
Peter Hetherington was formerly Regional Affairs of The Guardian. He continues to write for a range of publications including The Guardian and Public Finance. He is Vice-President of the Town and Country Planning Association and chaired its independent commission on the planning system in England. In addition, he was a member of the Local Government Association's Independent Commission on Local Government and is on the board of the Academy of Sustainable Communities.
Peter contributes to CURDS seminars and the Masters Programmes.
Ray Mills
Ray Mills is a Partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Public Private Advisory (PPA) team and leads the UK Regeneration Group focusing on advising public and private sector clients on creating and capturing value from real estate development and regeneration programmes. He is also a board member of PwC's national Local and Regional Government team. His expertise lies in raising finance and in corporate finance and is leading a PwC team aiming to develop new funding solutions to support growth and regeneration including the financing of enabling infrastructure. Outside PwC Ray is a non-executive director of the board of Creative Sheffield, one of the first city development companies established to drive forward the economic transformation of the city.
Ray contributes to CURDS seminars and the Masters Programmes.
Dr Nick Henry
Dr. Nick Henry is a Principal Consultant with GHK Consulting Ltd and a former Reader in Urban and Regional Development in CURDS. He has 20 years experience of research, analysis and evaluation in economic geography and regional economic development and has published widely in these fields. Over the last few years, Nick has directed and managed numerous projects concerned with regional economic development, the development of sectors, skills, enterprises and partnerships across regions and localities and the socio-economic outcomes for firms, people and places. He has just published a book on Motorsport Going Global (Palgrave, 2007).
Nick works closely with CURDS researchers on a number of regional development projects, contributes to PhD supervision, the Masters Programmes and CURDS seminars.
Visiting Fellows
Neil Murphy
Neil Murphy is Associate Director at sustainability strategists Beyond Green, working on a wide range of projects to embed sustainable design, urbanism, planning and economics into a range of projects. Previously, he was Economic Advisor at Newcastle City Council, responsible for advising the City Council on all aspects of urban and regional economic development, including its response to the OECD Territorial Review of Newcastle. He led the development of the proposed joint city development company for Newcastle and Gateshead. Neil began his working life at HM Treasury where among other things he was a senior policy advisor on indirect taxation and a private secretary to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Neil works with CURDS researchers on projects on urban regeneration and contributes to the CURDS Masters Programmes.
Jon Swords
Jon Swords is Lecturer in Economic Geography at Northumbria University. His research explores holistic forms of local and regional development, particularly through the use of cultural and heritage as cohesive and development assets. Jon has recently explored the use of Northumberland's heritages for sustainable forms of community, environmental and economic development. Alongside this theme Jon is interested in the creative industries and has investigated the exploitation of freelancers in the London television industry. More recently, he has mapped the connectivity of the North East of England's commercial creative industries. Complementing these themes Dr Swords is exploring the use of visualisations such as infographics and infoaesthetics as a methodological and dissemination tool.
Jon began his academic career at Newcastle University and works with CURDS on projects concerned with local and regional development and the creative industries.
John Shutt
Professor John Shutt runs a regional and urban research consultancy which is based in Northumberland. The consultancy Harris Research Partnership, works across the UK, Europe and internationally. He was, until recently, Professor of Employment and Regional Development and Director of ERBEDU (European Regional Business and Economic Development Unit) at Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University.
John has extensive UK, European and international expertise in urban and regional economic development policy and is currently researching the New Localism and LEPs.
Recently completed European research projects on the structural funds in the Czech Republic have been published in 2009/10 by Routledge. John is also currently researching Chinese regional development and high technology hubs and companies in China. He is doing this in partnership with Zeijang University of Technology, Hangzhou and has been awarded a British Council Prime Minister’s Initiative China project to undertake this research. He is building a new research portfolio on the BRIIC economies and regional development, focusing on India and China.
Gillian Roll
Gillian Roll worked formerly as the Head of Regional Strategy at One North East. This role involved leading the development of the Integrated Regional Strategy on behalf of One North East, working jointly with the region’s local authorities. She has worked on strategy and policy development at local and regional level, including producing and editing the last Regional Economic Strategy. She also worked on and managed research projects at the Agency.
Prior to this, she project managed the SHINE (Shaping Horizons in the North East) strategic futures project which directly informed the Regional Economic Strategy. Gillian began her career at Gateshead Council where she worked within the Chief Executive’s Department. She then moved to VONNE (Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East) to work on regional voluntary sector policy issues.
She has a strong interest and experience in regional development activity, futures methodologies, developing evidence based strategy, and achieving effective integration in policy and implementation.
Liz Robson
Liz Robson is an Associate Director for Skills at TWRI and a CURDS Visiting Fellow supporting project work in SiDE (Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy). SiDE is a multidisciplinary project which aims to tackle social exclusion by making it easier for people to access the life-changing benefits offered by digital technologies.
Her research activities are focused on where digital technologies can deliver major social benefits. For the last 7 years she has worked in regional economic development supporting policy with comprehensive labour market and skills research, particularly, employer demand, which formed the basis of a demand led employment and skills strategy for the North East of England.
