New Chairman and Vice Chairman

NEW CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN ELECTED

Michaelmas Guild 2020 was memorable for another, vitally important reason; for the first time in over 30 years, Stewards Committee nominated a new Chairman and consequently a new Vice Chairman. It is with the greatest pleasure we can announce that Guild accepted and approved the nominations for David Wilson as Chairman and Nick Atkinson as Vice Chairman. David and Nick are two of the hardest working Freemen on the Stewards Committee and are now ready and willing to drive us forward into a dynamic 21st Century organisation. Needless to say, we are in great hands and look forward to a bright future for the Freemen of the City of Newcastle. We wish David and Nick the very best of luck and will be reporting progress in future magazines – you can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ groups/freemenofnewcastle and on our website at www.freemenofnewcastle.org Over time we will review our communications strategy to make sure we keep you updated in the best possible ways.

Chairman: David Wilson, Ropemakers, Hostmen

David has been Vice Chairman since 2007, giving him over 13 years of valuable experience at the top of the organisation. In that time, he has built a massive network of contacts and is extremely well respected by peers across this network. David is involved in every aspect of Freemen business and has extensive knowledge of all activities from grazing to commercial property management. Outside of the Freemen, David runs a Business Consultancy specialising in Programme and Project Management of Business Change and another which offers payment services for internet based products/services. He has offered his expertise to many charitable organisations over the years and is currently Chair and Non-Executive Director for Donr Group Ltd, supporting good causes through provision of end to end crowd funding and charitable giving services. David is a foodie, so in his very rare spare time, he likes to discover and try out new restaurants.

Vice Chairman: Nick Atkinson, Ropemakers

As Commercial Director of Intelligencia Ltd, Nick has a wealth of experience of modern, cutting edge and innovative business practices across a wide range of industry sectors which he brings to the Stewards Committee table. His organisation is the sole provider of intelligence training to the UK Government working with many high-profile agencies and Police forces. He identified that over 90% of cyber-attacks are caused by user error or lack of awareness so he has made sure the Stewards Committee and Admin team have been put through their paces with his Cyber Stars training programme to keep our systems and data safe. Nick is also a volunteer water ranger for Northumbrian Water and Chairman of the Exhibition Park & Brandling Village Trust as the representative of the Freemen of Newcastle.