Date Joined Oundle Town Council: June 2014

General Information:

I recently joined Oundle Town Council and have immediately been involved in Oundle's Neighbourhood Plan as lead Councillor for the Town Centre and Retail objective.

I have lived in the Oundle area for over 31 years and I think the town has a unique character which we need to preserve.

Armed with a degree in chemistry from Chelsea College of the University of London I entered public service as a Chemist. In under 2 years I moved into management with local authorities and a public utility. During this time I also acquired qualifications in Company Law, Commercial Law, English Law, Economics and Accountancy followed by a sideways move into IT finally moving into the private sector as a management consultant, with a special interest in stress management.

As an additional interest I invested in a hair salon, then bought 2 more salons as I enjoyed the business so much. Not being a hairdresser myself I continued to manage the business side whilst employing managers to run the salons. I kept my salons for over 10 years but I now concentrate my hairdressing interests by serving as Treasurer of the National Hairdresser's Federation and it is exciting being involved in this work.

I have carried out technical audits on local authorities, represented high street traders on a town centre improvement scheme and served on working parties with HMRC and the Central Audit Commission.

I understand how local government functions and have a lot of valuable experience as well as free time to offer to Oundle Town Council.