Nine people have been recruited to make up a shadow board for the Royal Pavilion & Museums new cultural trust.
They are:
- Glynn Jones (chair), chair of a number of local charities and not for profit organisations
- Tim Aspinall, CEO of Aspinall Consultants
- Jane Weeks, museum consultant
- Michael Bedingfield, trustee of the National Museum of the Royal Navy
- Julian Crampton representative of The Royal Pavilion & Museums Foundation
- Danny Homan, representative of The Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival
- Cllr Robins, South Portslade, The Labour & Co-operative Group
- Cllr Norman, Withdean, Conservative Party
- Cllr Mac Cafferty, Brunswick & Adelaide, Green Party, Covener of the Green Group
Brighton & Hove City Council currently manages the Royal Pavilion & the city’s museums. The decision to move governance of the venues into a cultural trust was made by the council’s Policy Resources & Growth committee in January 2017 and progress is being made towards completing the transfer by April 2018.
The trust is seen as a significant step towards the council’s future aim of creating a dynamic, resilient cultural and heritage trust for the city and bringing the Royal Pavilion & Museums and Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival together in a single entity.
The shadow board will be responsible for guiding the inception of the new organisation and shaping its structure, service operation and development in future.
The board will hold its first meeting at the end of June when it will begin to agree legal arrangements with the council and set up its charitable status. The trustees’ positions are unpaid though individuals will be able to claim reasonable expenses such as travel and subsistence in certain circumstances.
Chair of BHCC’s tourism, development and culture committee, Alan Robins said: “The new appointments are the next step in the formation of the cultural trust which will be the driver in helping maintain and develop our precious cultural and arts venues. We’re extremely pleased that the trustees positions generated such a positive response and we have been able to select a strong team of people with a cross section of experience and skills from business, arts, heritage and culture sectors.
“Arts and culture has a considerable part to play in our local economy as well as enriching the lives of residents and helping to draw in the millions of visitors that choose to come here each year so it is vital we are able to move with the times and find sustainable ways to support the continuation of this.”
Notes to editors
More information about the Royal Pavilion & Museums Cultural Trust
The Trustees
Dr Glynn Jones OBE. DL
Glynn Jones will chair the RPM cultural trust’s shadow board. He is former chief executive of Brighton Borough Council and was one of the key campaigners for unitary status which led to the creation of Brighton & Hove City council. He was the city's first chief executive and worked with others to secure city status.
Following his retirement he became chair of the West Sussex partnership NHS Trust and subsequently the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust until 2013. He has also done consultancy work for the former Department of the Environment and the Audit Commission. He was instrumental in the creation of the Brighton Festival and Dome Trust and was its vice chair for 6 years.
A leading figure behind the regeneration of the city's seafront Glynn was, until March of this year, chair of the West Pier Trust and worked closely with Marks Barfield architects to secure the development of the i360. He is a strong supporter of the city’s artistic and cultural heritage and has been a trustee of the Brighton Philharmonic Society and chair of the Hanover Band, and continues to raise money for the local schools music trust. He is currently chair of Emmaus Brighton and Hove and the Friends of Brighton and Hove Hospitals.
In 2002, Glyn was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Sussex and in 2014 received an OBE for services to the community in Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. He is currently a deputy lord lieutenant for East Sussex.
Tim Aspinall
Tim has lived in Brighton for more than 30 years and is the CEO of Aspinall Consultants Limited. He advises professional services firms on strategy, business transformation, and mergers & acquisitions. He is a well-known commentator on the legal services market and speaks regularly at conferences around the world.
Tim is also a non-executive director of NAHL Group plc, a digital marketing business quoted on the London Stock Exchange; Premier Medical Holdings Limited, one of the UK’s leading provider of medical reports; and Brighton Dome & Festival Limited which operates the largest arts festival in England. He is also a trustee of the Royal Pavilion Foundation. He is passionate about the arts and was involved with the Arts & Business scheme that encourages companies to sponsor the arts.
Prior to setting up Aspinall Consultants Limited, Tim was managing partner of DMH Stallard LLP and led its transformation into one of the UK’s most respected mid-market law firms. Tim features in the books Legal Eagles that profiles sixteen visionary lawyers from around the globe, and Leading the Professionals that gives an insight into leadership in practice.
Jane Weeks
Jane is a consultant specialising in strategic planning and project management in the heritage sector. She has broad experience of trust governance, being deputy chair of Pallant House Gallery and a former deputy chair of the Churches Conservation Trust. She has worked with cultural heritage organisations and national, institutional and independent museums in the UK and abroad. She has delivered museum and heritage projects world- wide and has a broad network of international contacts. Clients include the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the British Council, Arts Council England, the Museums Association, University College London, and the National History Museum of Bulgaria
Jane trained as an archaeologist and began her career at the Museum of London, later joining the National Maritime Museum as marketing manager, before becoming manager at the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO). She has worked as a consultant since 1994 and acted as museums and heritage adviser to the British Council from 2000-2017.
Michael Bedingfield MA
Michael was born in Brighton and currently lives in the city centre. He has life-long links with the area and attended Hove County Grammar School (now Blatchington Mill). He started his career working at the Edward Street headquarters of American Express before moving on to work for Alliance & Leicester Building Society in Hove. He then moved in to the travel and tourism industry, working as a marketing and communications director with leading brands including P&O Cruises and VisitBritain. He is also a former chief executive of Tourism South East.
In recent years, Michael has been involved with numerous trusteeships and brings ten years’ experience of being a trustee as well as NED experience in the arts, charity, education and museums sectors, including six years as a trustee of the Brighton Dome and Festival Limited and as a trustee of Brighton based digital agency Culture24. He is a current trustee of the National Museum of the Royal Navy and chairman of their fundraising committee
Professor Julian Crampton CBE DL
Julian Crampton was vice-chancellor of the University of Brighton from 2005 until he retired in 2015. During that time, he was also a board member of SEEDA, the SE Local Enterprise Partnership, and the National Growth Board, as well as being a board member of a number of national committees on higher education. He is chair of trustees for the Royal Pavilion and Museums Foundation, board member of the Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival, chair of the Council of the University of Gloucestershire, chair of Sea Change Sussex (the economic development company for East Sussex), chairs 'Our Future City' oversight board, and is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. He is an emeritus professor of the University of Brighton, a Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex and was made CBE in the Queen's birthday honours in 2015.
Danny Homan
Danny lives in Hove and is a consultant. Until the end of last year, Danny was chief of staff at the Big Lottery Fund, the biggest distributor of good cause revenue generated by the National Lottery. Prior to this, he was director of communication and development at Historic Royal Palaces for 14 years where he helped to establish and build the success of the independent charity that cares for Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, the Banqueting House and Hillsborough Castle. Before this, his roles have included work for The British Film Institute, South Bank Centre and Ascot Racecourse. Since 2014, Danny has been a trustee of Brighton Dome and Festival.