David is the Chairman of national commercial law practice Geldards LLP. A property law specialist, David has had experience outside the law as a property developer and in senior management of a top building society. He also brings experience of working on the Board of a Health Trust and as Vice Chairman of Derbyshire Learning and Skills Council.

Ruth Ingman was born in Liverpool and came to Leicestershire in 1969. She is a Director of Ruth Ingman Ltd, a company that specialises in tailored solutions in the field of HR and employment law for small to medium sized businesses in the region. Ruth started her career at the Bar in Birmingham before entering employment with a consultancy firm in 1996. In 2002, she established her own business in Leicestershire.

Ruth Ingman is currently President of the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce and a Fellow of the RSA. She also has a range of additional interests throughout the county.

John is a senior partner in PKF based in Derby, one of the region's largest accountancy practices. Over the years, John has specialised in risk management and corporate finance. His wealth of knowledge and experience play a major part in ensuring the success of EMB as a business.

George Cowcher is Chief Executive of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce which speaks on behalf of 10,000 companies in the two counties and the Derbyshire Enterprise Agency. He sits on a number of Boards in both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. George, who is a Chartered Town Planner, was previously Chief Executive of the North East Chamber and has held business related posts with the South West Regional Development Agency and One NorthEast.

Rachel runs two Northamptonshire based businesses with a regional remit, providing training, mentoring, project management and consultancy (Rachel Mallows Services to Business) and PR and event management (enthusepr Ltd). A strong supporter of women's issues, Rachel is an East Midlands Women's Ambassador and a regional Business Champion. She is a director of Northamptonshire Chamber and the trading subsidiary for The Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation, a charity funding a cure for spinal cord injury.

After 23 years in the telecommunications sector as a regional manager with BT, Brian joined Airwave Solutions in 2007. The Airwave service is a secure digital radio network designed, built and maintained by Airwave and dedicated for the exclusive use of all the UK's emergency and public safety services. Brian has spent the last two years working on all aspects of the security requirements for the London 2012 Olympic Games, working with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) ensuring a safe and secure Games.

Paul Griffiths is Chief Executive of Northamptonshire Chamber. He makes sure that the Chamber's Members, which employ almost 40% of the county's workforce, have their voice heard at local, regional and national levels and that Members can take advantage of extensive networking opportunities and savings on essential business services.

Paul is a qualified Accountant with an extensive business background at senior level, in both finance and general management roles. He has a diverse background covering manufacturing, software development and publishing, hospitality, and financial shared services.

Heather is a head of People and Performance for Lincolnshire Co-Operative, leading on Human Resource Management and Development. Lincolnshire Co-Operative employs 2,400 staff and has in excess of 150,000 members across Lincolnshire and North Nottinghamshire. Committed to supporting the local community and ethical business, Heather is a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and holds an MBA.

Monder Ram is Director of the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME) and Professor of Small Business at De Montfort University. He has extensive experience working in, researching and acting as a consultant to ethnic minority businesses. He is a leading authority on ethnic minority entrepreneurship research and has published widely on the subject. Monder's work has been supported by grants from a full range of research and he was named one of the country's most influential Asians by the Institute of Asian Professionals. He was awarded an OBE in the 2004 New Year Honours List for his services to ethnic minority businesses.

David Williams is Managing Director of Butt Foods Ltd, a privately owned specialist bakery business located in Nottingham, which works closely with retailers, food manufacturers and food service companies. David is a board member of both the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing and the Food and Drink Forum, and brings specialist knowledge of this important sector to EMB.

Ian is Managing Director of MTM Products Limited, a manufacturing company based in Chesterfield. His considerable experience in the manufacturing sector, along with his business acumen is important in ensuring EMB delivers to this important sector.

Stephen is Chief Executive and one of the founding directors of EMB, having created and led the formation of the company in 2005. EMB now employs over 300 people and has a first class track record of over achievement on contract performance, providing excellent results for our customers.

Stephen combines extensive management experience in the private sector, alongside detailed knowledge of business support, enabling him to provide practical, relevant help to companies. He also understands fully the needs of public funding bodies and how to implement policy and other initiatives effectively.

Danielle leads the Corporate Services directorate of EMB working at a strategic level with the board, shareholders, partners and stakeholders. Other roles include Non-Executive Director for the Leicestershire Business Awards and adviser to DeMontfort University's Campus Enterprise Incubation Centre. Previous roles include Company Secretary and FD for the Leicestershire Chamber Group and Non-Executive Director and Company Secretary for the LeicestHerday Trust.

John has worked for emda as Business Support Director for 4 years and has responsibility for the management of the Business Support team, Business Investment team, Business Link Services team and Enterprise Policy team, as well as the National Business Link Network team.

Over a 23 year business career, John set up and ran four businesses in retail, tourism & leisure, and mail order. For the past 14 years John has worked in business support. Prior to joining emda, his most recent role was as Director of Business Link Derbyshire and member of the senior management team at Derbyshire Chamber.

Born in Leicester, Stuart Dawkins is building a portfolio of non-executive and advisory roles, mainly supporting the local community. Stuart has significant business experience, including membership of the Executive Committee of a FTSE100 company. After working for H M Treasury, Inland Revenue and a small consultancy, he joined Alliance & Leicester where he occupied a variety of senior positions, including Director of Corporate Communications from 2001 until the end of 2008. He has also held numerous roles in the voluntary sector, including membership of the East Midlands Advisory Board of Business in the Community (BITC).

Stuart is a non-executive director of the Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce.