Directors
Maureen Donnelly
Chair of Digital Region Limited
Maureen is a Maths graduate and has spent her career in the telecoms sector.
She held senior positions in BT before leaving to become Commercial Director of Colt Telecom in its start-up phase. Since then she has set up two telecoms companies (in Germany and in the UK) and now works as an advisor on commercial strategy.
Maureen, who lives in Cambridge, is also Chair of NHS Cambridgeshire, and a member of the Corporation of Hills Road Sixth Form College.
Lowry Stanage
Deputy Chair of Digital Region Limited
Lowry has over 40 years' experience in telecommunications. Most recently, he has worked internationally, moving to Germany in 1996, initially to lead the team planning for BT's joint venture in Germany to compete in the liberalised fixed telecommunications market and to apply for the fourth German GSM mobile licence. After the successful launch of the new company, he stayed on in Germany as Managing Director responsible for CTO and Network Infrastructure.
On leaving Germany in 2003, Lowry was appointed President/Network and Procurement in BT's Global Services Division with responsibility for all aspects of BT's global network outside the UK. It was a time of great challenge, necessitating the bringing together and rationalisation/integration of the large number of separate ex-JV networks into a single coherent global network with ensuing significant cost savings.
Prior to moving to Germany, Lowry had a number of senior roles within BT, in both network and general management. He was heavily involved in BT's TQM programme, including a spell as Director of Quality and Organisation, reporting directly to the Group Managing Director.
He has an Honours Degree in Engineering and is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. In 1991 he completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Since retiring from BT in 2008, he lives in the Midlands and does occasional non-executive director/consultancy work in the telecoms industry.
Andrew Bedford
Andrew represents Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council on the board of Digital Region Limited and is a member of the Finance & Audit Committee.
His role within Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is Strategic Director of Finance, with responsibility for financial strategy and accounting, risk management, customer access strategy, information and ICT strategy, and a client role in relation to services delivered by RBT Ltd, the partnership company between the Council and BT.
He joined Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in March 2001. Before taking up his current post he was Acting Director of Education, Culture & Leisure Services in Rotherham. Before that Andrew worked in Hertfordshire, North Yorkshire, Humberside and North Lincolnshire Councils.
Philip Coppard OBE
Phil represents BMBC on the board of Digital Region Limited.
Born in Pembury, near Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Phil was educated at the Judd School, Tonbridge, the University of Sheffield and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he graduated with degrees in Civil Engineering and Town and Country Planning respectively. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts.
He has worked for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council since 1976, and been Chief Executive since January 2000. In that role he has been a passionate advocate of the Digital Region project and the development of the digital economy as an antidote to South Yorkshire's economic decline following steel industry rationalisation and pit closures.
As Barnsley's Chief Executive he chairs the South Yorkshire Public Sector e-Forum. In 2000 he chaired a task group for the e-Region Forum on broadband which led ultimately to the Digital Region project. He is also a member of the Government's Digital Inclusion Task Force.
Phil was awarded the OBE in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Peter Dale
Peter represents Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council on the board of Digital Region Limited.
Peter was born in Adelaide, South Australia and moved to the United Kingdom in 2004 to take up his current role at Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council as Director of Development.
Peter has over 20 years Local Government experience, initially in economics and financial management before moving into strategy and urban development. He has qualifications in Human Resources, Economics, and Accounting and has completed a Masters Degree in Business Administration.
In Adelaide Peter was responsible for numerous multi-million dollar re-development projects, including inner city housing, public infrastructure, and public realm projects, designed to increase population, visitation, employment and the number of international students in Adelaide. He also led the development of Adelaide's first Digital Precinct.
At Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council he is responsible for the delivery of Doncaster's exciting regeneration programme and is also responsible for housing, development and planning, planning policy, inward investment, transport planning, Success Doncaster and Building Schools for the Future.
Barry Mellor
Barry represents Sheffield City Council on the board of Digital Region Limited and is also a member of the Digital Region Supervisory Board and Chair of the Staffing Committee.
His role within Sheffield City Council is Commercial Director, responsible for the leadership, direction and control across the full range of the Council's procurement, commercial, contract and supplier management activities.
Barry was previously Chief Executive responsible for the NHS supply chain across England and achieved UK and International awards for the use of e-technology, e-procurement and partnership technology projects. Prior to this he held various Director-level appointments in the Gas Utility sector in Procurement & Logistics and Information Technology.
Trevor Shaw
Trevor represents Yorkshire Forward on the board of Digital Region Limited and is the Executive Director of Finance at Yorkshire Forward with responsibility for Finance, ICT, Performance, Legal, Procurement and EU Funding.
He was instrumental in getting agreement for the funding package necessary to enable Digital Region to go forward and in finalising the delivery contract with Thales, Digital Region's technology partner responsible for building and managing the network.
Trevor was born and educated in South Yorkshire where he also started his career in local government and qualified as a Chartered Public Accountant.
In 1998 he moved into the private sector and spent seven years in the IT sector before taking up the post of Finance Director at the North Hull Housing Action Trust. On completion of the work of the Trust, Trevor spent time winding up the affairs of the organisation while at the same time getting involved in the set up of Yorkshire Forward. He has been at Yorkshire Forward ever since and is one its longest serving employees
