Executives in Residence

Barrie was also a Non-Executive Director at Marks & Spencer Money for 10 years.  Having ceased operational activity in 2008 following the sale of Premierline in 2006, Barrie continues to invest in other businesses where he can add shareholder value.

Since 2008 Barrie’s main focus is his charity, the Barrie Wells Trust.  This Trust is a charitable organisation founded and entirely funded by Barrie.  From 2009 Barrie funded a team of 20 British 2012 Olympic medal contenders who in return gave time back to the Trust by delivering workshops to 35,000 children as part of the Trust’s Athletes4Schools scheme.  Twelve of the athletes chosen made the top 6 in the 2012 Olympics, including Jessica Ennis who was also the Patron of this initiative.

In 2010, Barrie launched his Box4Kids scheme, which enables seriously ill children to enjoy VIP experiences from executive boxes in over 100 iconic sporting and entertainment arenas. To date well over 5,000 seriously ill children and their guests have benefited from these VIP experiences.

Barrie was educated at the Merchant Taylors’ School in Liverpool and holds an honorary doctorate from Edge Hill University.  He is also an international speaker on entrepreneurship and direct insurance at conferences.

Throughout her career, Jacqueline has been involved in the set up and launch of a new business, corporate rebranding, deployment of effective commercialisation strategies and   building of highly effective and motivated teams. Prior to joining James Cropper plc, Jacqueline worked with 3 UK based companies with foreign ownership, helping them to drive and deploy their growth strategies and plans, which enabled her to operate and live in different countries, work alongside talented people and build wider cultural understanding.  

As a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Jacqueline has been able to explore her interests in seeking ways for Art, Manufacturing and Commerce to come together and do amazing things.  

Johanna is a founding member of the Cumbrian Continuous improvement forum and an active business mentor for Cumbria SMEs. She is also a member of the Cumberland Football Association where she sits as an independent member of the disciplinary committee.

An alumna of Lancaster University Management School (Org Psych ’94), Johanna is delighted to be working with LUMS in helping to strengthen its’ value-add proposition to Industry in the Northwest.

Kent has always had a passion for UK Engineering and Manufacturing; he started his career with a modern apprenticeship and has since worked for a number of large organisations (RAF, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors). For most of the last ten years, Kent has been working in continuous improvement management roles delivering a wide range of projects. He studied with Lancaster University Management School whilst at BAE Systems which inspired him to complete an MBA, he was also accredited as a Lean Sigma Black Belt at Rolls-Royce. Kent genuinely enjoys working with people in organisations to produce lasting results and, although challenging at times; he finds it is a rewarding career.

Bentley Motors is a British registered company that designs, develops, and manufactures Bentley luxury performance cars, which are largely hand-built. It was acquired by VW Group in 1998. Based in Crewe, England, Bentley Motors was founded by W. O. Bentley in 1919. Today Bentley operates in 58 countries and has over 125,000 customers worldwide.

The current products are GT Continental, Flying Spur, Mulsanne and Bentayga, all of which have a wide range of variety, customer options and customisation possibilities. The Brand has recently extended its reach and they now have a wide range of partners including Breitling, Estede and EA Games. Although Kent has mainly worked for large companies, he tries to work in an entrepreneurial way in terms of looking for new opportunities, ideas and ways to improve how they operate. Similarly, he always ensures that what he does is aligned to the customer; which can be easy to lose sight of in a large organisation. In summary, Kent's business experience to date is relevant to small, medium or large companies and people at all levels that operate within them.

Kent says “I have always been passionate about UK Engineering & Manufacturing along with the principle of continuous improvement, which I believe can be successfully applied anywhere.”

Martin is now retired from his day-to-day role within Lakeland’s buying team after 42 years working full time for the business that his father founded in 1964. Lakeland grew from selling plastic bags to farmers into the multi-national, multi-channel business it has become today with 69 stores across the UK as well as stores in the Middle East, Australia and India. Lakeland also operates an internet company in Germany. Martin continues as a Director and Co-Owner of the company. He devotes his time to helping local businesses Cumbria Crystal, Millican, Function 18, PixieMe, Ikawa and Aqua Power Technologies.

From a turnover in 1974 of £500k to a turnover in 2014 of £160m, Lakeland has seen its number of retail stores increase from 1 to 69 in 2015. They have families who have worked with them through three generations.

The core essences at Lakeland are; the customer is at the centre of everything we do. There is a relationship of trust between Lakeland colleagues, customers and our suppliers. We innovate constantly in everything we do. Martin is very protective of the essence he and his brothers have developed at Lakeland and believes that it is something very different and special. Martin also works with St Martin’s church in Windermere and is a director of The Good Shepherd Multi Academy Trust, which supports schools in Cumbria and the surrounding area.

His personal interests are Christianity, Europe, Cumbria, democracy, and the environment. He enjoys his family, golf, skiing, walking and running and living in the World Heritage site of the Lake District National Park.