Business board chair steps down

'A PRIVILEGE TO SERVE FOR SEVEN YEARS'

- By DANIEL HODGSON Local democracy reporter

THE chair of the Tees Valley Business Board has stepped down after being a member for seven years.

For four of those years, Siobhan McArdle served as chair of the board, and its predecessor, the Local Enterprise Partnership, leaving the position as her second term came to an end.

The chair of the Business Board is a nonvoting member of Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) Cabinet.

Ms McArdle previously worked as chief executive of South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, earning £290,000 a year, but quit in 2019, saying "life is just too short" and that the personal cost of the job was too high.

Matthew Ord, who was Ms McArdle's deputy, has taken over as interim chair of the Business Board, during the external process whereby a permanent successor will be appointed.