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YTB Board Members
Chairman
The YTB Board is led by Chairman, Clare Morrow, who took to the helm on 1 April 2008. She has served on the board of Yorkshire Tourist Board (YTB) since April. She is a highly experienced journalist who spent over 20 years with the ITV and BBC working on both television and radio projects.
She grew up in Hull and spent all her working life in Yorkshire starting her career with the Beverley Guardian in 1984 and working for Viking FM and BBC Humberside before launching her TV career with Look North. Clare worked for ITV Yorkshire for 15 years until 2007 in various roles including editor of Calendar and controller of programmes.
She is the vice chair of governors at Holly Bank School in Mirfield, on the board of the West Yorkshire Playhouse and is a member the University of Bradford’s Industrial Advisory Board.
Non-Executive Directors
Sir Thomas Ingilby, Bt
Owner of Ripley Castle. Chair Yorkshire’s Great Houses and Castles, Chair Great Inns of Britain, lifetime involvement in tourism and heritage. Current Board member Yorkshire Tourist Board.
Elaine Bedford, OBE
Owner and operator Eastgate Cottages, Pickering. Former Acting Chief Executive English Tourism Council. Career with First Leisure Corporation, and later Operations Director Royal Armouries. Current Board member Yorkshire Tourist Board.
Colin Brown
Chief Executive, The Deep Millennium Project. Wide-ranging experience in culture, leisure and recreation management with Local Authorities in London, Ipswich and Hull.
Cllr. Carl Les
Owner and operator, The Lodge at Leeming Bar. Chair of Your Hotel in the UK Ltd, member North Yorkshire Police Authority, member Learning & Skills Council, Director Business Link North Yorkshire. Current Board member Yorkshire Tourist Board and executive member of North Yorkshire County Council.
Neil Pakey
Commercial Director of Peel Airports Limited and Board Director of Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, Durham Tees Valley Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Previously held key roles in Marketing, Operations and Planning for Manchester Airport p.l.c and worked for British Caledonian Airways and Air Seychelles. Seconded to the aviation unit of the European Commission from 1991 – 1994. Past Chair of Mersey Tourism and appointed Managing Director of Liverpool John Lennon Airport in August 2002.
Chris Pilling
Marketing and brand management specialist with experience in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and the travel industry. Experience includes Brand Management with Procter & Gamble and GM UK Marketing with British Airways.
Robert Salmon
Director Corporate Affairs, Kelda Group plc. Board Director Yorkshire Water. PR professional with experience in a variety of sectors. Former Chair of the North West Institute of Public Relations and Managing Director Weber Shandwick, Manchester.
Professor Rhodri Thomas
Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) Chair in Tourism and Events Policy, Leeds Metropolitan University. An academic involved with tourism education and research for 20 years. Has written numerous articles on tourism and is author/editor of five books. Chair of ATLAS Tourism SME research network.
Barbara Woroncow, OBE
Deputy Chair Leeds Cultural Partnership. Extensive experience in advertising and developing museums including as Chief Executive of Yorkshire Museums Council. Expert adviser and project coordinator for UNESCO in the South Caucasus.
Zulfi Karim
Director of events management company Mec UK Ltd. Former Commercial Director Bradford International Festival, work on developing cultural industries in Bradford and member of the Cultural Tourism Forum.
Executive Directors
Joanna Royle, Marketing Director, YTB. Joanna is a marketing practitioner with more than eighteen years gained in a range of industries from clothing to tourism.
A Bradford graduate, Joanna has a 2:1 honours degree in European Studies with French and a CIM Diploma in Marketing. In her position at YTB as Marketing Director, Joanna is leading the development of strategic marketing in the region.
Peter Render, Finance Director, YTB. Peter has lived in Yorkshire all his life and was appointed as an Executive Director in November 2006.
Peter has more than 10 years experience as a Finance Director, principally in professional service and distribution businesses. He spent more than 7 years in public practice at Price Waterhouse and 7 years at Yorkshire Water Authority.