Rob is a business consultant with wide experience in both the public and private sectors. 

Prior to his consultancy, Rob was a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell where he held a number of senior general management positions, including area co-ordinator, China and East Asia; chief executive, Shell Belgium; chief executive, Shell Italy; and vice-president for mergers and acquisitions in the Global Exploration and Development Business. Rob had initially joined Shell from the Inland Revenue and had held a number of senior tax posts, including Shell UK tax manager, and head of international taxation, based in the Hague. 

Rob has combined his consultancy activities with a number of non-executive roles in both the public and private sectors. He is currently a board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and a governor of CILT, the National Centre for Languages. He was chair of the Surrey Learning and Skills Council from 2000 to 2007 and remains a member of the LSC South East Regional Council. He was non-executive director of the South East England Development Agency from 2001 to 2007, becoming deputy chair in 2003. Since 2004 he has been on various advisory boards at BIS and its predecessor bodies, DTI and BERR.

Rob comes from Newcastle upon Tyne and was educated at Churchill College , Cambridge. He is married to Hilary and they have two adult sons. He is a fellow of the RSA and received a CBE in the 2005 Birthday Honours.

Zenna is an acclaimed social entrepreneur. She is executive consultant for Social Solutions, a social sector consultancy company dedicated to building capacity and maximising opportunities for the sector, specialising in social enterprise development and sustainability.

Among other activities she is chairman of Ofsted and the group chairman of Places for People, a national property development, regeneration and management company dedicated to creating neighbourhoods of choice for all. Before setting up Social Solutions, she established PCSP, an award winning, internationally recognised youth crime prevention organisation working in the Portsmouth area.

Her previous experience includes establishing an unemployment centre and social enterprise café and a flexible, non-centre-based service for young homeless people. Zenna is also a regular columnist for the Guardian.

George has had a close involvement in local affairs since 1985 at a parish and district level. He was first elected to Winchester City Council in 1992 and was elected council leader and chairman of the executive cabinet in May 2006. He has spent his working life as an employer in a small business environment in a wide variety of areas, but mainly, since 1976, establishing, developing and managing the Production Nursery and Garden Centre at Compton.

George’s interest in business growth has led to a close involvement with business and employment matters in the political environment, and as well as being leader of the council he holds the portfolio for economic development and tourism.

Louise has been cabinet member for environment at Eastleigh Borough Council since 2002 and was a lead member on the South East England Regional Assembly from 2002 until it was dissolved earlier this year, when she was deputy leader. She continues as Liberal Democrat group leader and vice chair on the new South East England Councils. She is also a Hedge End town councillor.
Professionally, Louise has worked in the voluntary sector for many years and currently works for the mental health charity Solent Mind, based in Southampton, where she is the advocacy project manager.

Dolores has spent over 25 years working in the hightechnology sector, both in Government and in industry and is currently managing director innovation at QinetiQ, an international defence and technology company.
She is fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and a fellow of the Institute of Physics. She is currently a member of the board of AIRTO (Association of Independent Research and Technology Organisations) and of the Science, Engineering and Technology Advisory Council of SEEDA.

Paul has been a member of Kent County Council since 1997 and became leader in October 2005. Prior to assuming leadership, Paul held responsibility for the education portfolio, and he remains especially committed to transforming education, overseeing the introduction of a new 14-16 vocation educational programme in Kent. In September 2008, Paul was elected chairman of the South East England Regional Assembly, and following the dissolution of the Assembly he was elected the first chairman of South East England Councils.

Outside local government, Paul still runs a number of land-related businesses in property, construction, and retail in London. Paul was also a founding partner of Gander PLC, the first property company on AIM (Alternative Investment Market).

John was first elected to Runnymede Borough Council in 2000. He is leader of the council, chairman of the Corporate Management Committee and a member of the Planning Committee. He was elected to Surrey County Council this year.

John is vice chair of the Surrey Local Government Association and is on the Addlestone Chamber of Commerce and Local Strategic Partnership. His background is in retail, having worked for over 15 years with J Lyons PLC and Marks & Spencer in management and executive positions. Following this, he owned a group of retail pharmacies.

Mary was born in Brighton and grew up there and helps to run a family business in the city. Mary was first elected to Brighton Council in the 1992 and then Brighton and Hove City Council in 2003 and became chairman of housing in May 2007. Mary became leader of the council in May 2008 and still takes an overview on housing issues. Mary's interests are history, reading and the countryside.

Tony has been a member of Reading Council since 1973, at present he is deputy leader of the council and holds the cabinet portfolio for strategic planning and transport. He was chair of Reading Buses, one of 14 remaining council owned bus companies, from 1986 until 2005. Tony has represented the council on the Local Government Association since 1997 and is a member of its Transport Board. He leads the LGA team on the Ministerial Bus Partnership Forum. Since 1997 Tony has represented Reading on the Thames Valley Police Authority, as well as serving on the Association of Councils of the Thames Valley Region.

Tony was born and raised in Australia, where he studied geology and pursued a career in the international oil industry, and came to live in the UK permanently in 1992.
He was elected councillor on East Sussex County Council for Buxted and Maresfield in 1997. One area he has greatly enjoyed is focusing the council's environmental efforts. Apart from his work as deputy leader of East Sussex County Council, Tony is also involved with environmental organisations. He is a conservator of Ashdown Forest, member of the Regional Environmental Protection Advisory Committee, and vice chairman of the Sussex Downs Conservation Board and Woodland Enterprise.

Keith is managing director, group technical services for Veolia Environmental Services PLC and has wide experience in recycling and waste management, particularly working with local authorities. Keith worked with Hampshire local authorities as managing director of Hampshire Waste Services, the private sector partner in Project Intergra that put Portsmouth and Southampton at the forefront of good practice in the UK. Prior to joining Veolia he worked within both large and small companies, including holding senior positions in some blue-chip engineering companies such as Babcock and Rolls-Royce.
Among other activities Keith is chairman and trustee of the Resource Recovery Forum and trustee of Hampshire Natural Resources Trust. He also serves as an industrial advisor to several universities on resources and waste management. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a member of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management and is a chartered mechanical engineer.