John Whaling Email & Phone Number

Liverpool, Gb

Liverpool, England, United Kingdom

Role purpose: to lead all aspects of the Liverpool City Region’s innovation agenda and “make things happen” by forging/sustaining partnerships and catalysing collaborative innovation initiatives to maximise world-leading assets and capabilities, deliver 5% of LCR GVA R&D investment a year, and drive transformational regional and UK productivity, competitiveness, and growth.Key responsibilities:• Leading all aspect of evidence-based innovation policy and strategy development for the Liverpool City Region and Combined Authority.• Provision of strategic advice to the Metro Mayor, CA, anchor institutions, industry leaders and other local stakeholders at executive level.• Leading, convening and coordinating all elements of the LCR innovation ecosystem and associated stakeholder engagement; facilitating the high level LCR Innovation Board, thematic sub-Squads, and matrix of other partnership/alignment mechanisms.• Leading innovation-related regional, national and international engagement and advocacy on behalf of the LCR and CA; notably with Innovate UK and wider UKRI, other Government Departments and bodies home and abroad, plus innovation twinning with Busan in Korea.• Lead role in identifying, developing, delivering, supporting, and promoting major new projects and programmes, including the LCR Investment Zone and LCR Freeport.• Lead role in identifying and securing new UK funding and global investment.• Contributing to organisational development and transformation as a member of the CA’s Collaborative Leadership Team.

Liverpool

In addition to the core of the above: (a) a lead role in realising the Metro Mayor’s signature ambition re. UK-leading digital connectivity in order to drive transformational and inclusive economic growth, catalysed by a new 220km core fibre backhaul network; (b) strategic Digital/CreaTech sector development.

1 Mann Island, Liverpool, L3 1Bg

As well as the innovation lead role above, I was also responsible for establishing and facilitating the LCR Digital & Creative Board, plus, on an interim basis, leading sector development, business/stakeholder engagement and relationship management, strategic prioritisation and advocacy, and project development re. (a) the LCR life sciences/health sector, with particular focus on infectious diseases, biomanufacturing, precision medicine, and digital health; (b) “Superport” – the integrated cluster of multi-modal post-Panamax port and logistics assets intended to attract £1.8+billion investment and create 20,000+ new jobs by 2025; plus LCR lead for a €4.4million EU “Motorways of the Sea” project.

Liverpool, United Kingdom

The inaugural IFB - 424 events attracting 75,000+ delegates from 92 countries over 50 days - was the UK’s most significant international trade showcase since the 1951 Festival of Britain, and the biggest concentration of business-focused events anywhere in the world in 2014. The aim was to support national economic growth and rebalancing by generating £100+ million inward investment and helping double UK exports to £1trillion by 2020: www.ifb2014.com My role expanded rapidly from an initial district-focused relationship management role to encompass: → Leading on industry involvement and programme development with regard to the broadest of the 7 key IFB themes - Manufacturing, Science & Technology, comprising 65 events→ Account/relationship management of key IFB sponsors (Siemens, Maersk, Typhoo, UKTI, EEF)→ High level engagement with blue chip firms, trade/industry associations, Government bodies→ LEP/local authority liaison and business involvement across the City Region and North West.→ Leading on local (City Region) economic benefit maximisation, analysis and reporting→ Producing key collateral, e.g. IFB leaflet, letters to the Prime Minster, UKTI worldwide info toolkit.

North West England

St.Helens Council is a top-rated unitary Local Authority, re-awarded IIP Gold accreditation in 2012. I was charged with establishing a new corporate Strategic Communications Team with a mandate to overhaul Council communications strategies, activities and systems.Key objectives:- To engender a customer-focused approach and maximise public access to services- To improve and maintain the quality, coherence and effectiveness of corporate comms. - To enhance the profile and image of both the Council and “St.Helens plc”- To deliver efficiency savings, business transformation and corporate culture change.

North West England

Since forming the ED Team in 2003, I progressively doubled its size and remit, and by 2010 was directly responsible for annual budgets of £2.5 million and funding programmes worth £6+ million, plus 14 in-house staff and external service provision across the following core functions:• Economic intelligence, performance and strategy • enterprise and sector development • inward investment, business retention, and aftercare • external funding • regeneration programmes and projects (development and management) • commissioning employment and skills initiatives • rural economy • tourism development • town centre management • destination marketing.Achievements include• Selection as 1 of only 4 UK pilot areas for the private sector led City Growth Strategy (a direct prototype of the Local Enterprise Partnerships model) and developing, managing, and delivering the revised £1.86 billion 10-year Strategy - www.sthelenscgs.com.• Lead role in securing, managing & delivering the 5-year £23 million Local Enterprise Growth Initiative for which St.Helens was the only Round 1 winner in NW England. • Commissioning and managing all aspects of the 5-year creation of a landmark new, multi-award-winning £1.9 million sculpture on a former colliery: Dream - www.dreamsthelens.com.• National “Beacon Council” status for Raising Economic Prosperity through Partnership (2009) • Securing £50+ million external funding Award-winning community involvement• Re-activating St.Helens’ civic, cultural and commercial links with Stuttgart.• Regional rural economy development and coordination for Merseyside• Establishing St.Helens as a credible visitor destination and tourism sector development exemplar • Re-engineering “St.Helens plc’s” entire branding and marketing strategy • Conceiving/delivering one of the UK’s most comprehensive digital interpretation schemes.

North West England

Responsible for securing & managing external funding; EU & Coalfields policy, lobbying & programming; community capacity building & project development; this expanded into a wider strategic Economic Development & tourism role.

Greater Manchester

Responsible for European funding, policy, & information provision, advising applicants, securing funding for local projects, & collaborating with other Greater Manchester Councils on joint projects, programming & lobbying.

Belgium

Managing the coding team responsible for analysing coverage of EU-related issues in the German-speaking press at the agency contracted by the EU Commission to perform comprehensive quantitative & qualitative monitoring/analysis across the European media.

Brussels Area, Belgium

Editing tender applications for large EU funding programmes, plus authoring a European Commission report on the EU’s PHARE programme supporting infrastructure development, institutional capacity-building, & regulatory compliance in Central/Eastern Europe.

Brussels Area, Belgium

Working in the International Relations Unit of DG VII (Transport) of the European Commission: representational, administrative, policy & research tasks re. EU transport policy, including organising an international conference for 30 Transport Ministers.

Master'S Degree, Msc. Econ. In European Studies, Distinction

Activities and Societies: -

Bachelor'S Degree, Government & European Community Studies, 1St Class Ba Hons. With Distinction In Spoken German

Erasmus Study Linked To Government & European Community Studies Ba, Politics & International Relations, Annual Prize For The Best Dissertation & 2 "Scheine" Certificates Of Achievement

Ba Honours, Jurisprudence, Incomplete

S-Level English: Distinction / English, German, French A-Levels: A, A, B