Chairman and Non-Executive Directors

Sir David was appointed as Chairman in February 2019 having previously been Interim Chairman since February 2018.

He was formerly Chair of Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust between February 2011 and February 2019.

Among his many achievements, Sir David was responsible for the review of the child support system in the UK in 2007. He was also involved in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit Capability Review programme of central government departments.

Alongside his role at Alder Hey, Sir David was also a Non-Executive Director for a number of other public and private organisations including the Chair of Manchester Academy for Health Sciences and Non-Executive Director for Albany Investment PLC. He has various charitable Trustee roles

In February 2012 Sir David was asked by Monitor to take on the role of Interim Chair at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust. This lasted until April 2013.He has subsequently been interim Chair at Dorset Healthcare Foundation Trust and St Georges University Hospital Foundation Trust.

Chris was appointed Non-Executive Director in July 2018 and brings with him great knowledge and experience of technology developments and project management from his career in the Aerospace Industry.

Having held a number of senior executive level positions with BAE Systems, Chris has worked both nationally and internationally. His primary talents and interest are within the areas of technology development, project management and leadership where he has made many notable achievements.

Chris has a strong wish to support the community and the NHS through sharing his wealth of experience supporting the organisation and its dedicated workforce.

Lesley Davies OBE FCFE

Lesley has worked in the education and training sector for the majority of her career.    She is Executive Director for the Chartered Institution for Further Education (CIFE) and Chair of the Corporation of the Hull College Group.  Prior to this she was CEO and Principal of the Trafford College Group.  She joined Trafford from Pearson where she was Senior Vice President and Senior Responsible Officer with responsibility for qualification standards, quality, and the awarding of all academic and vocational qualifications worldwide.  Lesley joined Pearson from the Association of Colleges (AoC) where she was Deputy CEO and led on education policy and international.   Lesley has also held senior positions in the Learning and Skills Council and the Adult Learning Inspectorate. 

In 2016 she became Chair of the newly formed UK Skills Partnership Board, a network of the UK’s leading education sector organisations and which was established to promote the development of vocational and technical skills internationally.  She is a member of the DIT’s Ministerial Education Sector Advisory Group and British Council’s Education Advisory Board.   

Lesley is a Trustee for the education charity CVQO.

In 2015 she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to education, she is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute for Further Education and Honorary Vice President for the Council of British International Schools

Steve Igoe was appointed as Non-Executive Director at WUTH in 2018 and brings a wealth of experience to the Organisation.  He was previously a Non–Executive Director and Senior Independent Director at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, where he chaired their Audit Committee and Integrated Governance and Risk Committee.

Steve is also the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Edge Hill University where he has responsibility for the operational areas of Capital Projects, Financial Services, Human Resources, IT Services, Learning Services, Strategic Policy & Planning, and Facilities Management. He is also a Director of a number of Edge Hill’s commercial enterprises. 

Steve graduated with a first degree in Law from the University of Liverpool, he subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1988 and went on to become a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, with specific expertise in project management and advising listed PLCs on Corporate Governance and Risk Management. 

Steve served two terms as a member of the Higher Education Regulatory Review Group (HERRG) advising the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) on the regulation of the Higher Education Sector.

He was a founding Director and Company Secretary for the North West’s largest regional Metropolitan area network, Net North West for six years. Steve is a past chair of the North West Consortium Higher Level Teaching Assistants Board (PRIME) and was a Trustee of Respiratory Education UK.

Steve Ryan held the post of Consultant Paediatrician and specialised mainly in general paediatrics but included specialty work in his clinical career.  He spent some time in academic practice - his main research interests being in nutrition of premature babies and headaches in children.  

Steve has over 12 years of experience as an Executive Medical Director in Merseyside at Alder Hey and in London at Barts Health.  He undertook a range of regional strategic roles in the North West and London including being the Clinical Chair of the NHS Next Stage ("Darzi") review in the North West 2008.  Whilst in London he provided leadership in the transformation of young people's mental health services and in the reconfiguration of cancer and cardiac services.

Sue Lorimer joined the board in July 2017. She has spent most of her career in NHS Finance, mainly in the provider sector and is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

She took up her first Finance director post in 1990 and has held board level posts in a variety of NHS providers including ambulance, community and specialised services. She joined the NHS Trust Development Authority, (later NHS Improvement) when it was formed in 2013, taking the lead on provider Finance across the north of England.

She is a keen supporter of training and development and was a trustee of the Healthcare Financial Management Association for 9 years, taking the role of president in 2015. She retired from full time work in 2016.