Our Members

The Rt Hon the Lord Shuttleworth KG, KCVO

Lord Shuttleworth was educated at Eton College and qualified as a chartered surveyor in 1970. He then worked in the City of London in private practice, returning to Lancashire to continue his career in Preston in 1977. He retired from professional practice in 1993.

In 1979, Lord Shuttleworth was appointed a director of the Burnley Building Society, and later as a director of National and Provincial Building Society, serving as chairman from 1993-1995, when it was taken over by Abbey National plc. He became deputy chairman of Abbey National and was a director for ten years until its acquisition by Santander. He then became chairman of the Santander UK Group Pension Fund Trustee Company from 2005 – 2018.

Lord Shuttleworth also served as chairman of the Rural Development Commission, the government agency responsible for the economic and social wellbeing of rural areas of England from 1990 – 1997. In 1997, he was appointed to the Council of The Duchy of Lancaster, serving as chairman from 2005 – 2014.

In the 2011 New Year Honours List, Lord Shuttleworth was appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) and in 2016 he was appointed by The Queen as a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (KG).

Appointed: January 2018

Rt Hon. Jack Straw

The Rt Hon. Jack Straw has enjoyed an esteemed political career and has close ties with Blackburn, where Star was initially founded, having served as the town’s MP for over 35 years.

Jack qualified as a barrister in the early 1970s, practising criminal law for 2 years before he made the transition to politics. He worked as a Special Adviser to Barbara Castle, his predecessor as Blackburn’s MP, and succeeded her in the seat in 1979. He served as a member of the Shadow Cabinet, where he was appointed to a number of high-profile roles, including the Opposition Spokesman on Education, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, and Shadow Home Secretary.

When the Labour Party came into power in 1997 under the leadership of Tony Blair, Jack was already well-versed in the roles and responsibilities of being Home Secretary and was the natural choice to take up the mantle. During his four years in office, he oversaw the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act and the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into British law.

In 2001, Jack was appointed to the role of Foreign Secretary, a role he held until 2006. He played a leading role in shaping foreign policy and facilitating international relations. Jack continued to play a pivotal role in the Labour Party, becoming Leader of the House of Commons from 2006-2007, and then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2007 to 2010. He was the first Lord Chancellor since the 16th century to serve in the role whilst a member of the House of Commons.

Jack retired from front-bench politics in 2010 but remains a staunch believer in the transformative power of education and an influential advocate for young people. He is a Visiting Professor at the University College London School of Public Policy, a Governor of Blackburn College (1990-2012) and, from May 2015, has been Chairman of the Blackburn Youth Zone. He is a Trustee of the Royal United Services Institute, one of the UK’s leading foreign policy think-tanks.

Appointed: March 2017

Martin Ainscough CBE, DL

Martin grew Ainscough Crane Hire into the UK’s largest and most successful crane business before its sale in 2007. He is chairman of the Ainscough Group of Companies which invests in and owns a wide range of business interests including property investment, finance and private equity companies.

Throughout his business life, he has been particularly active in the charitable and local community fields, setting in chain a number of projects. Since retiring from the crane business, he has applied his time and resources with aplomb, significantly increasing the tempo, scale and depth of his charitable activities. Martin a trustee of The Brick Charity helping homeless and people living in poverty in the Wigan area.

His interest in promoting youth goes beyond traditional avenues of support and he was the principal driving force in proposing, designing, building and operating the Wigan Youth Zone. He contributed £3.8 million to spearhead the Youth Zone’s development, this facility has provided a significant lifeline to thousands of children and young people in the Wigan Borough area, generating a safe environment in which to socialise, undertake vocational development, participate in sport and interact with qualified youth organisers.

Appointed: June 2018

Kamruddin Kothia OBE, DL

A graduate from the University of Bradford, Kam’s extensive and impactful career has spanned over 35 years and seen him gain significant experience as a business strategist and leader in the digital and technology sector. In the past, he has been particularly lauded for implementing finely tuned high growth strategies for start-up and scale-up businesses.

Presently, Kam is the CEO of eBusiness UK, one of UK’s leading digital marketing agencies. One of his most recent appointments has seen him take up a Non-Executive Director position at Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), leading the development of the digital sector strategy for Lancashire.

Kam also has significant experience in a volunteer capacity, including roles as a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire and Member of the Regimental Council of The Duke of Lancaster Regiment.

Kam is passionate about improving the life chances of young people through education, and is currently the Chair of Star Academies’ Board of Trustees, a position he has held for over 10 years.

In Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022, Kam was appointed as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), for services to Education.

In 2023, Kam was appointed Honorary Professor – School of Engineering by the University of Central Lancashire to support the delivery of its Innovation and Enterprise agenda.

Appointed: August 2010

Harry Catherall

Harry is currently the Chief Executive at Oldham Council and has held the position since August 2021. At Oldham Council he has implemented new strategic management arrangements to focus on council priorities and a refreshed approach to the budget strategy, staff engagement and resident focus.

Significant progress has been achieved on implementing major regeneration initiatives, including procuring a private development partner to transform the town centre for living, leisure and work. Positive partnership arrangements with GMCA have been established and major investment secured for the Borough. Harry has overseen services for vulnerable people to make steady improvements and provide sophisticated, effective support during the cost-of-living crisis.

Harry is also currently the Chief Executive portfolio Lead for GM Green City Region.

Harry was previously interim Chief Executive at St Helens Council from October 2019 to March 2020 and delivered a senior management restructure, introducing a whole Council approach to improving Children’s Services, moving on significant regeneration initiatives which will have a lasting and transformative impact on the borough, he also progressed the new Council plan, priorities and budget for 2020/21.

Harry was the Chief Executive at Blackburn with Darwen Unitary Council from September 2012 to 2019 having previously been the Deputy Chief Executive for 10 years prior to this.  Amongst many of his achievements during his time there were:

  • Awarded the 2019 Blackburn with Darwen HIVE business community’s annual Arte et Labore Award for displaying the spirit of ‘by skill and hard work’ for humble leadership, commitment, and passion to improve the borough and directly improve the lives of residents.
  • Helped to secure the Local Government Chronicle accolade of Council of the Year on two separate occasions. During time as Chief Executive, the council was shortlisted for best Council of the last 20 years in 2016 and was the winner of MJ Achievement Awards 2018: Local Authority of the Year. Judged both the LGC and the Municipal Journal for their Annual Local Government Transformation Awards.

Harry has also previously worked at Stockport Council, the Audit Commission and Tameside Council.

He is best known for a bold and ambitious approach, commitment, vision and stamina for the development and delivery of modern public services. Harry has a proven track record of enabling and facilitating change and works effectively with elected members, developing senior managers and building relationships with stakeholders including public, private, local, national, voluntary and community sectors. All this was done by promoting an approach which was centred on the individual and outcomes.

Appointed: June 2014

Faruk Dasu

Faruk has worked in Further Education and the private sector. He has been involved in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, working for multinational companies including Daichi Sankyo, Sanofi Aventis and Novo Nordisk in various sales, management, marketing and training roles.

He is currently employed as Healthcare Solutions Manager at Ferring pharmaceuticals, and has more recently fulfilled his role as a UK Market Access Manager for a Spanish-based pharmaceutical company called Almirall. Earlier in his career, he operated as a degree-level Curriculum Manager and Departmental Head in the Further Education sector.

Faruk has chaired several school Local Governing Bodies and is currently the Chair of Governors at The Olive School, Blackburn.

Appointed: August 2010

Mo Isap

Mo Isap is the CEO of IN4 Group, headquartered at MediaCity, Salford. He holds an MBA and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and the Royal Society of Arts.

IN4 Group is an award-winning technology group that specialises in driving prosperity for businesses and communities. The Group delivers a unique technology talent acquisition solution, unlocking the potential within diverse and disadvantaged communities. It operates several brands including Skills City, one of the country’s largest digital Skills Bootcamps operations; Gametech, which includes esports, Unity and Unreal Engine; recruitment specialist IN4 Talent; and the North West contract with CyberFirst Schools & Colleges.

IN4 operates HOST, the Home of Skills & Technology, one of the North West’s most established innovation hubs, based at MediaCity, formerly known as The Landing. It offers five floors of innovation services, training and facilities including the UK’s first Multi-access Edge Compute (MEC) lab with Vodafone, and support for people and businesses alike, from start-ups and SMEs through to enterprises and the public sector. This includes the pioneering FreelanceHER 100 programme which supports female tech entrepreneurs.

Over a 30-year career as an entrepreneur, Mo has launched and scaled several successful start-ups and university spinouts. He scaled his first business MPG in 1996 to one of the largest independent digital print companies in the UK and was listed in the Financial Times 100 fastest-growing UK companies.

Latterly, Mo was group director at Hobs Plc where he led group strategy and their 3D operations. In four years, Hobs established itself as one of the UK’s leading Prop-tech businesses, providing 3D printing, 3D laser scanning and Immersive solutions.

He is a founding director, trustee and vice chair of Star Academies, a leading Multi-Academy Trust, operating over 35 schools nationwide. Ranked as the best-performing Multi-Academy Trust in the country, all the Trust’s Free Schools have been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Mo is also a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) and a board director of the Career & Enterprise Company, which was established in 2015 to help link schools and colleges to employers, to increase employer engagement for young people and provide high-quality activities where they are most needed.

Previously, Mo was co-chair of the Greater Manchester LEP (Local Enterprises Partnership).

Appointed: August 2010

Dame Julia Cleverdon DCVO, CBE

Dame Julia Cleverdon DCVO, CBE is a passionate and practical campaigner who has gained an international reputation for ‘connecting the unconnected’, inspiring individuals and organisations to work together for the common good.

Having been Chief Executive of Business in the Community from 1991 to 2008 where she worked closely with the President, HRH The Prince of Wales, in building a movement of 850 member companies, she is now Vice President of Business in the Community working particularly on encouraging responsible business practice in disadvantaged communities. After stepping down as Chief Executive of BITC, Julia served as Special Adviser to The Prince’s Charities and, in particular, focused efforts on disadvantaged communities such as Burnley, Tottenham, Redcar and Burslem. Her objective, through all her work, is to build a more robust civil society by promoting collaboration among senior leaders from business, government, education and communities.

Julia also plays senior leadership roles in charities aiming to transform education and opportunities for young people. As Chair of Teach First from 2006 to 2014, and now Vice Patron, Julia has pioneered efforts to address educational disadvantage by transforming exceptional graduates into effective, inspirational teachers in low-income communities across the UK.  In addition, Julia is Vice Chair of the Fair Education Alliance – an association of education and business organisations to drive action at local and national level to make education and life chances fair for all young people. Julia was appointed to chair the National Literacy Trust in 2013.

Following her 2012 government review on increasing young people’s engagement in social action, Julia co-founded Step Up To Serve, which was convened by HRH The Prince of Wales. Step Up To Serve, targeted getting 60 per cent of young people involved in practical action in the service of others by 2020. Julia served as a Trustee for the duration of the campaign and remains on its Partnership Board. Julia is also a Board member of the Careers and Enterprise Company and Youth Futures Foundation.  Julia chairs Transform – an alliance of Teach First, Police Now, Unlocked, Think Ahead and Frontline, to collaborate on the many common issues facing public service leadership, and inspire a whole new generation to take up critical community impact professional roles.

Appointed: January 2021

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