A new Chair of the Redcar | Cleveland Place Board has been announced. Dale Smith, CEO of The SDDE Smith Group has taken over leadership of the board from former Chair, Dr. Angela Brockbank, who stepped down recently.
The Place Board provides the strategic direction and oversees the Redcar | Cleveland Ambassadors programme and place marketing work, of which the purpose is to raise Redcar and Cleveland’s profile and change perceptions, to generate more business and tourism investment and increase a feeling of pride of place amongst residents.
Tribute to former Chair, Dr. Angela Brockbank
On taking the role, Dale said “I would like to pay tribute to the incredible work Angela Brockbank has done to help steer the Place Board over the last few years. With the support of the board, I would like to build on Angela’s work to reflect my passion for the area and our determination to make sure we don’t miss out on the new opportunities that are presenting themselves, alongside the foundations that are already in place”.
Local passion and pride
Dale, and the organisation he leads – The SDDE Smith Group, are deeply rooted in Redcar and Cleveland. Dale says “I am passionate about Redcar and Cleveland. I was born here, my family is here, my friends are here, our business was founded and has grown here. I believe we are on the verge of a renaissance of our place, a reforming of aspiration of young people, working people, business owners and our overall local economy. I can’t wait to get started in the role of Chair of the Place Board.”
Looking to the future
Dale is very forward thinking, and sees big opportunities ahead for our place, “At the recent Redcar | Cleveland Ambassador Showcase event, a point made by Steve Makin from BP was that we are at the start of an ‘energy revolution’ – and Redcar and Cleveland is right at the forefront of that.
We must ensure that we grasp this opportunity in the months and years ahead. And we want to ensure that the Redcar | Cleveland Place Board and Ambassador programme is correctly positioned to help the region do that”.
A new ambassador programme
On taking the Chair role, Dale feels it’s the opportune time to appraise and refresh the place promotion work – “We have a reached a crossroads in the life of the Place Board and the Ambassador programme, which has heavily relied on contributions from Redcar & Cleveland Council, and project fund allocations from the likes of Anglo American, but if we want to the programme to not only survive, but to actually thrive, in the months and years ahead – we need a revised approach. And that approach needs a more commercial thread running throughout the programme, to ensure the financial foundations are in place going forward.
We have a responsibility to make sure that the working, living and visiting environment is the best it possibly can be for all of our stakeholders.
We’ll be reaching out to stakeholders and ambassadors early next year to let you know how you can be part of the group, how you can benefit and how you can contribute.
It is time to show not only the north of England but the whole of the country that Redcar and Cleveland is everything that the rest of the country doesn’t believe we are.
Being part of this group is a collective promise to each other to do what the best of this region has always been about; to help each other, to build each other up.
We’ve faced the realities of external political and economic decisions before and we’re still here.
Just imagine how we can help to reshape the perception and reality of living and working here going forward. That’s something I’m so excited about and I want all Redcar and Cleveland stakeholders to join us on that journey”.
