Liz Meek, a senior civil servant with extensive experience of regeneration and urban development, will leave her current role at the Government Office for London in the spring. She will replace current Government Office for the North West Regional Director Keith Barnes, who announced his decision to move on last year, having successfully led the Office since 2000.
Government Offices operate in the nine regions of the UK in order to provide expert knowledge and understanding of the area to central government and to ensure that the policies of Whitehall are delivered effectively at a local level.
"I'm both delighted and excited to be given this opportunity" said Liz. "I've been based in London for much of my career, but I have strong links with the North West and am very much looking forward to rediscovering a region where I worked in the past and where I lived for part of my childhood."
Much of Liz's career has been centred on urban policy and regeneration. As Regional Director at the Government Office for London since 2001, she has been responsible for the delivery of wide range of policies and programmes for the city for eleven government departments. In recent years, she has been involved in the Olympic bid and in creating partnerships between central and local organisations to tackle difficult cross-cutting problems such as worklessness and reducing re-offending.
Keith Barnes joined Government Office from Thurrock Council where he was chief executive. Before that he was a member of Manchester City Council for seven years, during which time he chaired Manchester Airport plc.
Reflecting on his time at Government Office, he said;
"In many ways this has been my dream job. I am a Mancunian by birth and have been proud to speak up for the region which is so close to my heart and where I intend to stay"
Bryan Gray, Chairman of the Northwest Regional Development Agency said: "Keith has played an important role in the development and growth of the North West for several years and has overseen major step-changes to GONW during this time. He has been, and will continue to be, a significant ambassador for our region."
