Pictured above: Dr Richard Hutchins
Dr Richard Hutchins has been appointed Deputy Chief Executive of
Advantage West Midlands, the regional development agency for the
West Midlands region.
As Corporate Director for Economic Development at AWM, Richard,
who lives in Stourbridge, is responsible for skills, enterprise,
business support, innovation, access to finance, trade and
investment, manufacturing and cluster policy.
He also has strategic responsibility for the Regional Skills
Partnership, Enterprise Board, International Business Forum and
Innovation and Technology Council amongst others.
He is heavily involved with the work of the West Midlands
Taskforce, which is coordinating the regional response to the
economic crisis and comprises leaders from government, business,
regional agencies, trade unions and local authorities.
Richard will be deputy to AWM's Chief Executive Mick Laverty,
who said: "Richard is a strong team player and a leader, held in
the highest regard by everyone who works with him and I'm delighted
at his appointment to the role.
"These are tough times for the economy which are putting
extraordinary demands on business and Richard will continue in his
role as corporate director.
"But it will be a major benefit for the organisation to have a
deputy who has a real passion for continuous improvement, seeks
practical solutions and brings the best out of people, whatever the
circumstances."
Richard is 44 years old. He has studied, lived and worked
in many places in the UK and abroad and now lives in Stourbridge
with his wife, Ruth, and young son, Ben. His interests
include running to keep fit and, when time permits, following
Stourbridge Rugby Club.
He said: "It's an honour and a challenge to take on this role.
The Economic Development directorate has been in the front line in
terms of supporting business at the onset of the recession - and
that work goes on.
"The experience I've gained in recent times will prove
invaluable to me as I support our chief executive more closely and
as we work together to best manage the relentless and ever changing
demands on Agency resources."
Before joining Advantage West Midlands in September 2003,
Richard spent six years at food industry think tank IGD, ultimately
as Business Director on the Executive Board.
Prior to this he was an academic at Imperial College (Wye) and
Newcastle University, where he researched, lectured and consulted
in food marketing. He started his career in 1988 at Sun
Valley Foods in Hereford as a Management Trainee. He has a PhD in
Food Marketing and a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural and Food
Marketing.