Meet the Town Deal board members and register of interests on the following pages.
Chair of Carlisle Town Deal Board - David Wright (Gleesons)
David is a Land Director of Gleeson Homes and has overseen the company’s growth into Cumbria. David was the first employee of the business when he started in 2018 and has supported its growth into one of the largest housebuilders in Cumbria delivering 250 homes a year and delivering hundreds of millions of pounds of investment into the Cumbrian economy in the process.
Prior to Gleesons, David spent 9 years in local government as a town planner in Cumbria and in London. David owns his own business, Wright Land and Property Ltd, that supports small businesses with project managing development and finding pragmatic solutions.
David is a Councillor of Egremont Town Council and a non-executive director of Florence Art Centre in Egremont which has repurposed an iron ore mine into a participatory arts centre.
David is a proud Cumbrian and lives in Egremont with his partner of 18 years and three children.
Vice Chair of Carlisle Town Deal Board - Tracey Slaven (University of Cumbria)
Tracey Slaven is the Chief Transformation Officer at the University of Cumbria. Her role is focused on enabling the University community to make the transformational changes needed to achieve the University’s strategic ambitions, for the region, and our students.
As CTO, Tracey draws on her initial training as an economist and over 20 years of experience in addressing governance and operational challenges and leading change across higher education, charity, public and private organisations. This work has included major governance and transformations, post-merger integration within a FTSE 250 plc, and the statutory and operational creation of a new public body.
As well as holding senior level roles at the University of Edinburgh, and most recently as University Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Aberdeen, Tracey has experience within government, having led the Higher Education policy team in Scotland. She has been an accountable officer as the Chief Executive of the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and as a HESA Board Member, supported the transition of the charity into JISC.
Julie Minns (Member of Parliament)
Julie Minns was elected as MP for Carlisle in July 2024, becoming the first woman to represent the seat. She is a Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Department for Transport and a member of the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee.
Prior to her election Julie worked in corporate and regulatory affairs and was a member of the senior management teams for the mobile network Three UK, and the UK’s largest electricity distribution network, UK Power Networks.
Earlier in her career she worked for the charities Scope and NSPCC, served as a Lambeth councillor where she held the transport portfolio, and was a trustee Living Streets UK.
In 2021 Julie founded the campaign to save Carlisle’s historic Turkish Baths and remains chair of the Friends of Carlisle’s Victorian and Turkish Baths charity that is working to restore and reopen the 140 year old baths.
Councillor Anne Quilter (Cumberland Council)
Anne was born in Morton, Carlisle and left to train as a nurse and join the police force. On returning to Carlisle, she has worked in local government, tourism and housing as a Project Manager. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies.
A former Carlisle City Councillor, she is currently a member of Cumberland Council representing Morton ward and Portfolio Holder for Vibrant & Healthy Places.
Reverend Canon Jonathon Brewster (Carlisle Cathedral)
Jonathan was ordained Deacon in 1994 after studying for a BA in Theology at Trinity College Bristol, he was a curate in the Diocese of Bradford, and between 1998 and 2003 led an ecumenical chaplaincy team in the University of Westminster. He also served for three years as Assistant Director of Ordinands in the Diocese of London.
In 2001 Jonathan completed an MA in Systematic Theology at Kings College London.
He was the Vicar of Christ Church with St John and St Saviour in Highbury for 14 years, also serving as Area Dean of Islington from 2014 and Acting Archdeacon of Hackney from 2015 to 2016.
In 2017 he moved to St Paul’s Cathedral as Residentiary Canon and Treasurer, an appointment involving oversight of the building and the commercial and financial aspects of its work, relating these to the Cathedral’s spiritual mission of worship, prayer and service.
Andrew Herron (University of Cumbria)
Andrew has worked at the University of Cumbria in several senior finance and data roles since 2010 and, as Finance Director, is responsible for the University’s financial strategy, including leading financial planning, reporting, analysis and operations.
A chartered accountant, Andrew has experience of assurance, governance, and audit, including from previous work with KPMG’s public sector audit and advisory practice and from school and college governor roles. Andrew lives in Carlisle with his wife and four boys.
Rob Brittain (Castle and Coasts Housing Association)
Rob has been an Executive Director for the last 15 years and has had a successful career of over 30 years in the housing, construction and property sectors.
He has a clear focus on delivering customer and community focused outcomes with a track record in developing innovative strategies in housing development, asset management and maintenance. This has included delivering partnership that have navigated through an ever-changing environment including the more recent volatile post-pandemic period.
He has also set the strategic direction for his teams that have operated at the leading edge of ensuring residents are safe in their homes and that colleagues work in a proactive health and safety culture to support high levels of performance.
Rob’s extensive Executive Director experience provide a track record of working to highest standards of governance and risk management.
Andrew Mackay (Tullie House Museum)
Andrew Mackay is Director of Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery (trading as Tullie). He is committed to developing cultural projects to stimulate urban regeneration and stimulate the visitor economy.
Andrew became Director of Tullie in 2016. He joined in 2010 as Head of Collections and Programming and led several gallery developments. He leads the Cumbria Museum Consortium, an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, and is leading Project Tullie, the museums major capital investment programme.
Previously Andrew was Head of Cultural Services for Craven District Council, where he created a new department combining museums, arts development and heritage and managed three volunteer-run museums.
He was at Northampton Museum 1988 to 1994 and General Manager of the Norfolk Rural Life Museum after this. In Norfolk he managed a £4m capital redevelopment, which led a 40% visitor increase.
Andrew has post-graduate diplomas in Museum Studies and Management & Leadership and Prince 2 project management certification. He is a Fellow of the Museums Association, is a member of the National Museum Directors Council and is a Trustee of Sunderland Culture.
Councillor Lisa Hinton (Cumberland Council)
Councillor Lisa Hinton is the Deputy Leader (Statutory) and Executive Member for Adults and Community Health. She previously held the position of Leader of the Opposition at Carlisle City Council.
On 5 May 2022, she was elected to the Cumberland Council seat of Currock ward in Carlisle. She has been instrumental in the development of Community Panels for Cumberland Council.
Susan Owens (The Lanes Shopping Centre, Carlisle)
Susan Owens, Centre Manager of The Lanes Shopping Centre, Carlisle, a multi tenanted shopping centre which consists of 100 + tenancies, a multi storey car park with a 600+ space capacity, annual footfall of over 7 million and 27 adjacent residential properties.
Over 19 years’ experience in managing a fast-paced retail environment and leading site teams to deliver an ideal visitor experience. Customer Focused – Tenants, General Public and Stakeholders with a proven track record in reducing costs whilst maintaining standards and compliance.
Forward thinking, innovative and commercially astute with an outstanding record of delivering excellent results across several disciplines.
Nick Jones (Riverside Housing Association)