the board of directors

Christopher Fleetwood
A non-executive director of the Society since 1995, Christopher Fleetwood was elected Chairman in 2009.  He is a member of the Audit and Remuneration Committees.  A Chartered Accountant by profession, he was Chief Executive of a long-established north east international Plc until 2000.  He now runs his own e-business consultancy and advises clients in the public, private and educational sectors.  He is the non-executive Chairman of the North East Regional Portal and the North East Regional Aggregation Board.  Chris, in addition, is a non-executive director of Northern 3 VCT Plc, a venture capital trust.

John McDougall
A Chartered Engineer and a past President of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, John McDougall became a non-executive director of the Society in 1999.  He chairs Darlington Homes Ltd., the Society's housing development subsidiary, and is a member of the Audit and Remuneration Committees.  He retired in 2000 as the Managing Director of the northern subsidiary of a major international company and is involved in numerous regional training and business organisations.  In addition to running his own consultancy practice, John is Chairman of Tristar Homes and a director of a number of property related businesses. 

Kevin McGuinness
Kevin McGuinness became  a non-executive director of the Society in 2002.  He has considerable experience of the financial services industry acquired over 37 years with Bradford & Bingley Building Society and its plc successor prior to his retirement in 2002.  During a period of secondment to the Building Societies Commission, he was responsible for the supervision of a number of societies and for a variety of technical issues.  He is also involved in further and higher education, learning and training as a governing body member and former Chair of Bradford College.  Kevin is a member of the Remuneration Committee and Chairman of the Audit Committee. 

James Ramsbotham
James Ramsbotham joined the board in 2006.  Currently chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, he provides extensive knowledge of financial services, construction and housing development following senior roles with Barclays plc and the Esh Group, preceded by a distinguished military career. He is passionate about all things good in the north east of England and is heavily involved in the commercial, charitable, learning and training affairs of the region. He is a member of the Remuneration Committee and a director of Darlington Homes Limited. 

Lucy Winskell
Lucy Winskell became a non-executive director at the end of 2007. A partner with Sintons, solicitors in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne she combines that role with an active interest in the regional economy and regeneration initiatives through a breadth of external appointments that include deputy chairman of Business Enterprise North East Ltd, a director of the North East Regional Investment Fund Ltd, a regional council member of NECC and several other advisory roles. She is a member of the Remuneration Committee.

David Metcalfe
Having spent all of his working life with the Society, David Metcalfe became secretary in 1991 and was appointed a director in 1993.  A Chartered Secretary, he chairs the Assets and Liabilities Committee, is a director of all of the Society's connected undertakings and a local enterprise agency.  David is also treasurer to St. John Ambulance County Durham.

David Dodd
David Dodd joined the Society in 1998 and has over 35 years experience of working in the building society sector.  A Chartered Banker and a Chartered human resources professional with an MBA from the Open University, he is also a member of the British Psychological Society and the Association of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.  David is also a Business Adviser with Young Enterprise.