Trustees

Alexander is well known to most people involved with Covent Garden having been the St James's ward councillor for 16 years before he stepped down in May 2010. He was also Lord Mayor of Westminster in 2006-07. He was the nominated Trustee for Westminster City Council for about 10 years until he retired in 2007 and is currently Director of Corporate Responsibility for Capital Shopping Centres (formerly Liberty International plc). He has recently been re-elected as Chairman of the Area 1 Committee, formed under the Council's Covent Garden Action Plan. A Trustee from 1997-2007 and from 2011.

Neil is Property Manager with Threadneedle Property Investments Limited. From 1990 to 2000, he was employed by Guardian Assurance plc in which capacity he was largely responsible for the management of the Market. A Trustee since 2001.

Helen is a graphic designer and first worked in Covent Garden when the company she was with relocated from Marylebone to Burleigh Street in 1981. In 1985 she joined Kim Church Associates and was in at the inception of In And Around Covent Garden magazine. Helen has seen Covent Garden through several stages of its development to become the busy attraction it is today. A Trustee since 2010.

Chris studied architecture at both the Birmingham and Brighton Schools of Architecture. He joined Purcell Miller Tritton in 1992 and is now a senior principal. He has worked on a wide range of buildings and is experienced in conservation studies, condition surveys and long-term maintenance programmes for historic buildings. A Trustee since 2007.

Joanna has been responsible for a range of master planning and regeneration work in the UK and overseas, and has extensive experience of development projects, working with delivery agencies and community consultation. She has also developed a particular expertise in open space planning and is a CABE Space Enabler. She is a member of the Regional Management Board (RTPI London) and Deputy Representative on the RTPI General Assembly. A Trustee since 2009.

Hywel joined the staff of the Royal Opera House in June 1994. He is currently Internal Communications Manager based in the ROH Press and Communications department and supporting Chief Executive Tony Hall’s communications strategy. From 1995, in the run up to and during the ROH re-development, he was Community Relations Manager during which time he was a member of the Trust. A Trustee since 2011.

Carrie is a qualified solicitor who trained with Gouldens and qualified in 1984, becoming a partner in 1989 during which time Gouldens (then Trowers & Hamlins) acted for Guardian on the original purchase of the Market from the London Residuary Body. Carrie continued to advise Guardian on all matters relevant to Covent Garden during the period of their ownership. Carrie moved to Farrer & Co in 2008 and is a partner in the Commercial Property department. A Trustee since 2007.

Aly joined Visit London having worked as the Client Services Manager for Electric Airwaves, a media company in the West End. She handled a range of high profile and FTSE 100 clients and played a key role in expanding the business. After taking some time to live and travel abroad and a brief stint at Saatchi & Saatchi, Aly found her way to Visit London where she has been able to combine her passion for London with working for her clients including Covent Garden London. A Trustee since 2009.

Barbara is Councillor for the Church Street ward and is the minority (Labour) party planning spokesman. She is a member of the Planning and City Development Committee as well as a member of the Planning Applications sub-committee and is also a member of the Children and Young People Policy and Scrutiny Committee, the Licensing Committee and the Education Awards (Appeals) sub-committee. A Trustee since 1999.

Stephen is an architect specialising in historic buildings. His early experience with the Department of the Environment was followed by work in the private sector. He is a principal of Weldon Walshe, a well-known London firm of architects, and in addition to project work in his own right, acts as consultant to many prominent architects and planning consultants. He is a member of the RIBA ad IHBC and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. A Trustee since 2009.

Peter is an architect and town planner who has specialised in public realm improvements working in the public and private sectors since 1982.  He is now a Technical Director of Atkins and also ran his own business until 2001. Previously he was Head of Environmental Design at the City of Westminster until 1990 working on Leicester Square and Covent Garden projects. Peter is author of Westminster’s first Street Furniture Manual and co-author of the Covent Garden Area Trust’s Caring For Covent Garden Guidance documents. A Trustee since 2010.

Geoff was previously leader of the GLC Covent Garden development team in the 1970s, up to and including the re-opening of the Market in June 1980. He later became GLC Chief Transport Planner and from 1986-91was Director of Operational Services for the London Residuary Body. Following his retirement from the GLC, Geoff became a planning inspector with the then Department of the Environment and continued in that role for several years. He served as Chairman of the Covent Garden Area Trust from 1992 to 2006 and was elected as an Ordinary Trustee in 2006.

Louise is one of the three councillors for the St James’ ward which includes Covent Garden and was Lord Mayor of Westminster in 2007-08. She is Deputy Cabinet Member for Adult and Community Services and also serves on the Children and Young People Policy and Scrutiny Committee and the Planning Applications sub-committee. A Trustee since 2007.

Tim works as a Principal Lecturer at the London College of Fashion where he specialises in luxury brand management and fashion retailing. Holding a Masters degree in Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma, Tim has previously worked in fashion retail management and buying for a number of UK brands. As an academic he is on the editorial panel of the Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is currently developing an Executive MBA in fashion at the London College of Fashion. In the last 10 years he has pioneered developments in post-graduate fashion buying and pure online courses. Tim also works as a freelance journalist including reviewing conferences on the business of luxury operated by the International Herald Tribune and Financial Times and regularly comments on fashion business issues for global broadcast media, including the BBC. A Trustee since 2007.

Derek is a commercial property investor with offices just north of Fleet Street. He has been involved with buildings and developments in Covent Garden since 1983, sometimes as principal, and sometimes as adviser to other owners. This has given him wide exposure to the issues that Covent Garden faces, and to most of the representative bodies present in this part of Central London. He was one of the founding directors of Speyhawk, developers of the Jubilee Market Hall. A Trustee since 2005.

Peter was an officer with the Greater London Council when he first joined its Covent Garden team in 1981. He was involved with the management of the Market from that time, through its subsequent ownership by Guardian Properties until 1999. After leaving Covent Garden he has acted as a consultant, advising London Boroughs on Town Centre Management and regeneration projects.  He joined Land Securities in 2003 to assist with the development of the award-winning Whitefriars scheme in Canterbury and is now employed by Savills. A Trustee from 1999 to 2006 and then since 2010.

David and his wife bought and restored a derelict house in Floral Street in 1977 and he now lives and works there as a director of a property investment company. A Trustee from 2004 to 2009, re-elected 2011.

Stan is a local resident who was born in and lives in Westminster. A regular soldier for 26 years, he left the Army in 1982 as a Conductor of Ordnance. He then spent 26 years as a Court Clerk, first to a High Court Judge and then to the Lords Justices of Appeal, retiring aged 70 in December 2008. A Trustee since 1992.

Christina has lived and worked in Covent Garden for more than 35 years where she has run both retail and restaurant businesses and is actively involved in the conservation and re-development of both Covent Garden and Seven Dials. She is closely involved with the local community and has done much to ensure that the character of Covent Garden has been retained for the benefit of both local residents and businesses. A Trustee from 1997 to 2001 and re-elected in 2007.

Jo has been a local resident for more than 20 years and is a watercolour artist. She is Chairman of the CGCA, Chairman of the Central Westminster Police Consultative Group, on the board of the Jubilee Sports Hall, a member of the Westminster Amenity Society Forum and is on the Soho Society Executive committee. Jo was awarded the MBE in the 2012 New Year's Honours List for services to the community in London. A Trustee since 1993.

Richard has 24 years’ experience in property management.  He spent 21 years at Nelson Bakewell and joined CB Richard Ellis in June 2010. He specialises in institutional and property companies as well as providing asset management and strategic overview advice. Richard is responsible for surveying output, new business generation, client relationship management and the strategic direction of Property & Asset Management at CBRE. Whilst at Nelson Bakewell, he was the lead managing agent for Covent Garden acting for CGMLP and Capital & Counties. He was involved with all aspects of the running the market as well as liaising with the Trust, Westminster City Council and all of the other stakeholders. A Trustee since 2010.

Sarah is a former journalist, who trained and worked in Bournemouth before moving to London in 1998 after which she worked on a local weekly newspaper, edited a magazine, was customer service co-ordinator at Greenwich Millennium Village and was employed in various capacities for the NHS with Southwark Primary Care Trust. She has worked for the CGAT since June 2006.