Baltic Creative board unveiled

Baltic Creative, the non-profit developer established by Liverpool Vision to deliver business space for creative industries, has appointed its board and centre manager.

The chairman of the board will be Erika Rushton, enterprise director at Plus Dane Group. Mark Lawler, director and joint owner of the Animal clothing store in Bold Street, which he owns with his wife, will be centre manager. Lawler previously worked at Include Neighbourhood Regeneration and Plus Dane Group as a project manager.

Baltic Creative received £5.2m from a combination of the North West Development Agency and European Regional Development Fund to acquire property in the Baltic Triangle area to the south of the city centre. The Baltic Creative centre will contain 30,000 sq ft of floorspace in former warehouses and workshops in the historic maritime industrial area. The centre could accommodate 60 firms and is forecast to contribute £1m a year to the Liverpool economy.

The area is already home to the relocated Picket live music venue, mixed-use Novas Contemporary Centre and A Foundation art galleries.

The remainder of the Baltic Creative board will be made up of:

Bill Maynard. Former managing director Urban Splash Liverpool, delivering projects such as Match Factory and St Peters Church (Alma de Cuba). Sold his shares in Splash to travel and deliver his own developments in 2008.

Jayne Casey, former leader singer of Big in Japan and a pivotal figure in Liverpool arts, helping to establish the Biennial and A Foundation. She was also director of the Bluecoat and headed PR for superclub Cream in its heyday.

Andy Abram is a director of website developer New Mind which he co-founded in 1998 and now employs 52 people.

Fiona Armstrong Gibbs has 15 years' experience in the fashion industry, with management experience at Jimmy Choo, Hugo Boss and Oliver Sweeney.

James France. Ex of National Museums Liverpool where he was responsible for the creation of the National Conservation Centre. He was then director of collections at the Tate in London, a period which saw the creation of Tate Modern and major expansions at Tate Britain and Tate Liverpool.

Anna Heyes started Active Profile marketing and PR agency in 2004 after graduating from Liverpool University Management School with a 1st class honours degree and winning the University business plan competition.

Paul Rice. Chief executive of Liverpool Commercial District Partnership from its inception in April 2006.

Lynne Robertson works on a freelance basis in the city and is currently involved in the delivery of Liverpool John Moores University's acclaimed Student Enterprise programme.

Rushton said: "We have gathered together an excellent group of board members. We were looking for passionate and committed people to help realise the strategy to make the creative sector in this city an even bigger driver of Liverpool's economy.