Date: Monday 15 August 2022
Nick Gibbs (right), Chamber’s new STEM Sector Lead, thanks Dave Hester who has stepped down from the role.
Dave Hester, Managing Director at Swagelok, has stepped down as Sector Lead for the STEM Forum, but will remain a member of the forum which focuses on businesses in science, technology, engineering and manufacturing. The role of Sector Lead has been taken up by Nick Gibbs, Group Engineering Director at Strix Ltd who is a current STEM Forum committee member.
During his tenure as Sector Lead, Dave has been integral in the development and delivery of the highly successful ACE (Awareness of Careers in Engineering) initiative. Dave will continue to be involved with that initiative.
Alex Scott – General Manager at WPT Global – has stepped down as Sector Lead for Chamber’s Digital Forum. The role has been taken up by Digital Forum member Shelley Langan-Newton who is Founding Director at Magnum Opus (IOM).
Chamber CEO Rebeca George congratulated the new STEM and Digital Leads on their appointments, and added: “On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Dave for his many years of service and support to Chamber, and the members within the STEM sector. A big thank you from the Board to Alex too – he has made a significant contribution to the Digital Forum since he took the Lead role in the autumn of 2020.”
The Island’s biggest business network has a total of 13 sector forums and working groups covering different economic sectors and issues of concern for businesses. They are Construction; Digital; Finance & Professional Services; Local Economy; Visitor Economy; and Charity Forum; Road, Sea & Air; Climate Change Programme; STEM; Legislation Group; Skills Group; Think Tank; and the Business Sustainability Group.
Dave Hester said: "I am delighted that Nick has been voted in as Lead of this group. I am confident that he will lead the group to be increasingly inclusive of new members from a wide range of STEM based businesses. There is a huge opportunity to grow this sector and greatly increase jobs from around 3% of the Island’s economy to a much greater level, and continue to promote STEM skills and careers for our generations to come. I look forward to supporting Nick on the next phase of this journey."
Nick Gibbs said: "I am pleased to be taking over as Sector Lead for the STEM forum and continuing the great progress that we made under Dave’s leadership. Specifically, I would like to lead the forum to continue to work together to address common issues that impact the manufacturing and engineering industries on the Isle of Man, such as apprentice/skills development, reducing energy consumption, improving the sustainability of our businesses and H&S matters."
Shelley Langan-Newton (left), Chamber’s new Digital Sector Lead, with Alex Scott who has stepped down from the role.
Alex Scott said: “I’m grateful to Shelley for stepping up to lead the Digital Forum, and to the group for electing her. Shelley is a hugely impressive individual and I’m confident she will do a fantastic job in taking the Digital Forum to the next level over the coming years. I wish her the very best of luck.”
Shelley Langan-Newton said: “After spending the last three years as a member of the Digital Forum I’m looking forward to stepping up to Sector Lead and taking the ‘Digital’ baton from Alex. On behalf of the Digital Forum I would like to thank Alex for his hard work and dedication leading us over the last few years, in especially challenging Covid times. Nearly every business has to navigate the ever-changing technological landscape and the rapid pace of technology. Digital aspects of organisations have never been more important to consider, understand and tackle. I feel honoured to be able to represent the current Chamber members on behalf of the Digital Forum and look forward to welcoming new ones into the fold in the coming months.”