PRESENTERS

Caroline Theobald CBE

Caroline Theobald is co-founder and chair of FIRST Face to Face Ltd, the successor to Bridge Club Ltd, which she established in 2000 to connect early stage growth entrepreneurs to money, management and new markets.  

FIRST is a network of services connecting young people, startups and professionals to their wider business community. The company is expert at engaging and communicating with audiences, supporting young people and startup companies and developing business relationships that are based on best practice, process and results.  

Caroline is a passionate advocate of gender equality and responsible/ethical business and a founding director of The North East Initiative on Business Ethics (NIBE). She also chairs the Advisory Board at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University and is an associate of Teesside University Business School.  She is a long-standing and active member of the Tees Valley Business Club and delighted to be asked to host the Club’s ‘in conversation with..’ series. 

Caroline’s international interests are covered through her role as Trustee of Newcastles of the World and honorary consul for Sweden and chair of the North East Chapter of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce.

Caroline was honoured with a CBE for her services to business and entrepreneurship in 2016 and is also holds a lifetime Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Suzanne Withrington

Suzanne Withrington is a principal lecturer at Teesside University Business School and vice chair of the IoD Tees Valley. She has a wealth of experience of working across all sectors within the Tees Valley, is passionate about role of ethics in business and has a particular interest in organisational sustainability. Organisations that exist with low levels of consciousness may generate wealth but this is often accompanied with hidden costs; organisations which operate with a clear purpose are far better equipped to balance the needs of all stakeholders whilst making a positive contribution to society. One of the most rewarding aspects of her role is to assist leaders in defining ‘purpose’ and to help them recognise how their values and beliefs shape the culture of their workplace.

Diane Williamson

Diane Williamson, Charity Manager, Middlesbrough & Teesside Philanthropic Foundation, Diane joined the foundation in April 2014 and is responsible for managing the day-to-day running of the charity. Her role includes the recruitment of all our patrons and developing ongoing relationships with the companies and individuals who give the foundation their fantastic support.

Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation is much more than a charity. It is a movement, a powerful force for good, probably unique in the UK in the way it raises funds purely for those in one geographic area who need help. 

The Foundation is all about Teessiders fighting for Teesside together. As individuals and companies acting alone, we can all do our bit for the worthy local causes close to our hearts. But under the umbrella of the Philanthropic Foundation, companies and individuals join forces to make a truly significant impact. What’s more, every penny the Foundation raises stays on Teesside.

Theresa Carling

Theresa Carling joined Endeavour Partnership's employment team in early 2018 as a Senior Associate, bringing with her many years of legal knowledge. Theresa was then promptly promoted, and is currently the second female Partner at the firm.

Specialising in employment law since 2001, Theresa has a wealth of expertise, working largely with commercial and public sector clients as well as senior-level departures.

Theresa’s biggest strength is helping her clients make the decisions about their employees that they want to take, and making that happen with a combination of extensive knowledge of the law and sensible pragmatic advice; priding herself in finding workable solutions in testing situations. She is very well-known across the region and enjoys presenting and delivering training on employment law subjects and Endeavour’s involvement in social value projects.

Having sat as a trustee on the Boards of the Great North Air Ambulance Service and Age UK Teesside she also has broad experience in the charitable sector. Most recently, she was appointed as a trustee to the Ironstone Multi Academy Trust. She has been involved in the delivery of Building My Skills, a careers development programme in schools run by ESH Group across the North East for around 7 years. Passionate about ensuring that our girls in the region have access to appropriate female role models, she is hoping to become involved in the developing Girls Network in the region supported by Teesside University.

Theresa is a huge advocate of the local area and the opportunities it has to offer, having worked across the north east at a number of well-recognised firms and having trained at a boutique commercial practice in Lancashire. She is married to a secondary school teacher and lives in Nunthorpe with her husband and two children.

Angela Lockwood 

Angela has been Chief Executive of North Star for ten years. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and holds an MBA from Newcastle Business School. Angela is a Non Executive Director of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust.

North Star operates in the North East and owns around 4,000 properties all of which are rented as social housing. Of these properties around 600 units are for people with support needs, including women’s refuges, homeless services and accommodation for people with learning disabilities, mental health problems and complex needs. North Star work in many highly deprived communities across Teesside and South West Durham. They also deliver extensive community support and services. North Star plans to build 500 homes over the next five years.

North Star is a not for profit organisation and has worked in Teesside since 1974. It was the first in the sector to achieve IiP Platinum, it was awarded 3 stars by the Sunday Times Best Companies when it was described as extraordinary  and in 2018 was voted number 1 landlord in England by its peer housing associations.

Ian Hornby

Ian Hornby is Associate General Counsel for Litigation, Ethics & Compliance at the listed NYSE company Venator  (a spin off from the US chemical conglomerate Huntsman Corporation).  Ian has over 20 years’ experience in Ethics & Compliance, commercial law and mergers and acquisitions.  Ian worked previously for DNV GL in the Middle East, GE Oil & Gas in the UK and also Womble Bond Dickinson in private practice. Ian is a regular speaker at compliance events including Compliance Week forums and Converge conferences.