John is a collaborative place leader with 25+ years’ experience of pioneering economic development and “making things happen” at the interface between public, private, and higher education sectors. For the last 10 years, John has been convening and championing all aspects of the Liverpool City Region’s (LCR) innovation agenda and ecosystem, latterly as the Combined Authority’s Lead Officer for Innovation & Commercialisation. His primary role is to catalyse partnerships, policies, and programmes that maximise the LCR’s distinctive, world-leading assets and capabilities, in order to drive transformational regional/national economic growth and solve intractable local challenges. The LCR is now at the forefront of UK place-based innovation practice, with innovation a primary Mayoral priority. He previously worked at the LCR Local Enterprise Partnership, Liverpool Vision, and St. Helens Council, where he led a series of successful programmes that included a national City Growth Strategy pilot, plus delivery of the landmark, multi-award-winning 20m Dream sculpture by Jaume Plensa overlooking the M62, commissioned by ex-miners as part of Channel 4’s “Big Art Project”. Prior to local government, John spent 2 years working for the European Commission in Brussels, has also lived/worked in Germany, the USA, and Canada. He grew up in Edinburgh, and speaks German and French. John is on the Board of Scottish innovation agency Interface, and in a voluntary capacity also the Chair of Future Yard CIC, whose mission is "to positively transform both Birkenhead and the nature of what a UK grassroots music venue does, based on the founding principle that music can change the world…".