Fylde Coast names Appleton as chairman
Former English Partnerships MD and Amec director, Mike Appleton, has been appointed the first chairman of the Fylde Coast Economic Development Company.
The EDC will replace urban regeneration company ReBlackpool in April and is being established by the four local authorities of Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre and Lancashire County Council together with the North West Development Agency and the Homes & Communities Agency.
The company will try to accelerate the economic development of the Fylde Coast according to a business plan set out in the multi area agreement signed by the local authorities in October 2009.
Appleton, educated at Arnold School in Blackpool, was most recently executive director at Cibitas Investments and a strategic adviser to several public authorities. He is currently a director of ReBlackpool as well as being a member of the statutory planning committee of the Olympics Delivery Agency.
He said: "Testing economic times and greater competition for public and private funding requires a highly coordinated leadership response from the public sector and one that is based on business principles. This is what the EDC for the area will add leading to an increase in overall income and well being for the area."
Appleton will spend at least four days a month working for the Fylde Coast Economic Development Company and is currently involved in the recruitment of a chief executive and the establishment of the company. Doug Garrett, chief executive of ReBlackpool, is not applying for the new role.
