Contributors: Section 6
Robert Chapman is a Chartered Surveyor, Property Advisor and Regeneration Practitioner with 26 years post Charter experience. Until recently, he was the Chair of the South East Wales Local Association (SEWLA) of the RICS for two years and Board member of RICS Wales.
Robert Chapman
He has a rich employment background having worked for various organisations including, for example: Strutt & Parker, The Severn Trent Water Authority, The National Trust, The Welsh Development Agency and Grimley International. He established his own commercial property, land and regeneration consultancy in 2001.
Robert is a Council member of: the Cardiff Council of the South Wales Chamber of Commerce; the Cardiff & Valleys Branch of the Institute of Welsh Affairs; the Regeneration Practitioners Group, and the DoE Fundraising Group. He is also a Vice-President of Cardiff Business Club and Board member of Chapter.
Leanne Wood
Leanne Wood AM lives in Penygraig in the Rhondda. She is a former Probation Officer, Women’s Aid support worker, tutor at Cardiff University and local councillor in Rhondda Cynon Taf. She was first elected to the Assembly in May 2003 and has been Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on the Environment and Sustainability and Social Justice. She is now Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for Housing & Regeneration.
Leanne’s political interests include the environment; poverty, unemployment and social justice; issues affecting women and young people; international politics and the anti-war movement; and criminal justice. She is chair of the all-party PCS Union group in the Assembly and chair of the board of trustees at Cwm Cynon Women’s Aid.
David Lermon
David Lermon read law at Jesus College Oxford before qualifying as chartered accountant with the predecessor firm to KPMG in Cardiff. From 1976 to 1993 he worked as finance director and managing director of businesses in construction and financial services sectors. From 1993 to 2001 he was a consultant in the financial services industry. Between 1995 and 2001 David started and developed a software business with a business partner, working with medical databases for health services worldwide (business sold in 2003). Since 2001 he has been the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales) Director for Wales; since 2005 he has acted as Hon Treasurer of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, an educational charity.
Gary Walpole
Gary Walpole is currently a partner at Inspirato LLP, an organisation that helps businesses grow through developing and implementing promising practices. He was formerly the Director of Leadership & Management Wales. He has 20 years experience gained in Higher Education and the private sector. He’s designed, developed and managed Leadership & Management programmes over the last 8 years at Cardiff Business School. He’s developed sound research, knowledge transfer and project management skills working at Cardiff and Glamorgan (Universities), BT and Resource Engineering. Gary holds a degree in Economics, Post Graduate diplomas in Human Resource Management, Social Science Research Methods and a Masters degree in Business Administration (Cardiff). His PhD is exploring leadership practices in SMEs.
Rick Libbey
Rick Libbey is the Director of The Prince’s Trust Cymru. He is passionate about the cause of helping disadvantaged young people. Prior to joining The Trust Brigadier Libbey was Commander of 160 (Wales) Brigade, the most senior army officer in Wales. His career in the army spanned three decades around the world such as Australia, Cyprus, Germany, Kosovo and Bosnia. Rick is married and lives in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Gemma Collins
Gemma Collins was a journalist on evening newspapers, including the South Wales Argus, and for the Press Association before joining BBC Wales, where she worked in radio and TV. She joined the University of Wales, Newport in January 2011, where she leads a project to set up and run a local television channel for Blaenau Gwent.
