I have been a member of Heswall Golf Club since 1996 

Legal Career – qualified as a solicitor in 1978;

1978 – 1981: lecturer at the College of Law, Christleton, Chester;

1981 – 2013 solicitor at DWF, as a partner from 1984;

2002-2009 Head of DWF’s Real Estate Department;

2009-2013 Office Managing Partner of DWF’s 450-strong Liverpool Office.

Post Retirement (aside from playing golf). Since 2014 I have been a volunteer and Trustee at Wirral 3ls, a charity providing educational and social activities, mainly for the over-50’s, based at Bebington Civic Centre.

In 2021 I was appointed to a non-executive post in a north-west based Charitable Foundation with assets in excess of £450m.

But most importantly from 2013, since finishing work, it is true to say that playing golf at Heswall Golf Club has become a large part of my life and provided me with hours of boundless pleasure and of course moments of teeth-grinding and air-turning-blue frustration. I count myself so very lucky to be able to play golf at a wonderful and friendly Club. I am however, very conscious that the facilities that are available to me and all members, do not exist by accident and a very large amount of hard work is put in by many people to achieve this. I would like to add my name to that list and give some of my time to the running and future development of the Club. If things stand still, the Club goes backwards, which cannot be good for the members.

The post of trustee carries with it legal responsibilities which I believe my professional career and post-retirement activities, provide me with the experience to carry out effectively. As a member of Council, I see a trustee as providing support to its work, but importantly, this support should include independence of thought and taking a questioning stance, where appropriate; I would certainly see that as part of my remit.

In brief, I would like to repay my Club for everything it offers to me and so many others and I believe that the important post of trustee is where I have the requisite skills, experience  and where I can add value.

Date Joined: 1987

I have been a playing member at Heswall Golf Club for over 30 years, our two children were members from a young age and my wife has recently joined the Ladies’ section. It is only in recent times with changes in work and family commitments that I now feel able to devote the necessary time to this role.

Over the years I have seen many changes at the Club and, whilst not holding formal office with any committee or council, have observed the impact of change on members across all groups.  I therefore have the personal advantage of no emotional attachment to decisions made in the past and my main focus would be to ensure that decisions in the future protect the long term sustainability of the Club for the benefit of our diverse range of members.

By qualification, I am an economist and have spent many years in financial management. During my career I have been an executive with a FTSE 100 Insurance Group; established a consultancy practice; held several Board and Non-Exec appointments and am currently Trustee and Chairman Elect of the Merseyside Adventure Sailing Trust (MAST), which in 2020 was awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service. This is a charity working with disadvantaged young people.

I am well versed in the responsibilities that come with a Trustee role and its importance in helping to ensure that the Club meets its governance, legal and social responsibilities.

Our future will be challenging, and I believe our success will be governed by two factors. First, the continuation of a professionally managed Club drawing on the experience and skills of our members.  Secondly, remembering that it is all of our members who make the Club and indeed recognising that the Juniors, the Colts and members of a different generation to me are the future. We must communicate in an open, transparent manner and I would certainly see my role as ensuring that we listen to, evaluate and feed back to all members in a way which builds inclusion, commitment, and trust.