Current Committee Membership:  Audit Committee.

Mary Blacksell
Mary Blacksell was first elected to the Board of the Ipswich and Norwich Society in October 1994, prior to which she served on the Member Education Committee. She holds the Co-operative Directors’ Certificate and the Co-operative Directors’ Certificate of Fellowship – the
latter involving research for a dissertation on the Society’s education activities. During her time on the Board she has attended other courses and the Co-operative Congress.

Mary has been a member of Co-op choirs for over 45 years. Until recently, she worked part-time at a doctor’s surgery in Ipswich.

Current Committee Membership:  Membership and Community Committee and Healthcare Review Group
 
Gillian Bober
Previously a director of the Colchester and East Essex Co-operative Society, being originally its youngest elected member.  She served as chair of the Member Relations Committee, and as Vice President and President immediately prior to the creation of the East of England Co-operative Society.  She is Currently President of this Society.

She was an elected member of the NCEA Education Executive, and served as Chair of the Standing Orders Committee, and then as Chair of the Executive, until the responsibilities for Co-operative education were transferred to the College Board of Governors.  She was elected to serve on the College Board of Governors until she stood down 2 years ago.

Her interest in education involved being Vice Chair of Philip Morant Comprehensive School for many years, and Chair of Parson Heath County Infant and Primary School until her retirement from those positions.

She is a member of the Co-operative Party.

She worked for many years for BT giving up full time work to bring up a family.  She returned to work as a Manager of a leisure facility, until she was forced to retire for health reasons.

Currently she remains an active supporter of various voluntary organisations within the community.

Current Committee Membership: Membership and Community Committee, Remuneration Committee, Search Committee and Healthcare Review Group.

Graham Bober
Previously a director of the Colchester and East Essex Co-operative Society, having served as its Vice President and President.

Member of the Merger Panel which recommended the creation of the East of England Co-operative Society.

Currently Chair of the Society Remuneration Committee.

A previous member of the Central Executive of the Co-operative Union and the National Education Executive, and currently a member of the Southern Sectional Council and a member of the Board of Co-operatives UK (the national consumer federal).

He served on the National Governance Committee which introduced the Code of Best Practice for all Co-operative Societies, and currently serves on the Co-operatives UK Remuneration Committee.  He studied for his Co-operative director’s fellowship certificate at the Co-operative College, Stanford Hall.  He is a member of the Co-operative Party.

He was a Colchester Borough Councillor, and has served as Mayor of Colchester.  He has obtained his Tourist Board Blue Badge to become a registered guide. 

By profession, Graham was a qualified printer (compositor) and prior to its amalgamation was local President of the NGA trades Union.

Current Committee Membership:  Remuneration Committee, Search Committee and Co-operative Party Working Group.

Jackie Bowis
Jackie Bowis has worked for the Society as a Member Relations Officer for fourteen years and has served as a Director since 1999. She holds the Diploma in Management Studies and the Co-operative Directors’ Certificate.

Jackie’s role involves links with all aspects of the Society and, in a personal capacity, she has actively supported a number of charities and organisations within the local community.

Current Committee Membership:  New Ventures Committee.

Sally Chicken
Sally was elected to the Board on 16th May 2009. She has been involved with Credit Unions for over 20 years and has retail employment experience.

Dianne Dallender-Jones
(Biographical details to follow)

First elected to the Board of the Colchester and East Essex Committee in October 1995.

Current Committee Membership:  Membership and Community Committee, Remuneration Committee and Co-operative Party Working Group.

Les Double
Les is 54 and married with two children and one grandson. He was first elected to the Colchester and East Essex Society in October 1993. He has a passion for regeneration and is committed to the co-operative values and principles. He is the founding chairman of the successful Harwich Connexions Co-operative and is active in his community as a local Councillor, treasurer and trustee of his local Community Association, a school governor and an active member of the Co-operative Party.

Current Committee Membership: New Ventures Committee, Co-operative Party Working Group and Healthcare Review Group.

Phil Hartwell
Phil Hartwell is a teacher by profession. He is married with three daughters and has been a co-op member for forty years. He was elected to the Board of the Colchester and East Essex Society in 1993.

Current Committee Membership:  Audit Committee, New Ventures Committee and Search Committee

Clive Mann
Clive Mann has been an employee of the Society for all his working life and has recently retired from the position of Management Accountant. He was elected to the Board in May 2007.

Current Committee Membership:  Membership and Community Committee and Healthcare Review Group. Clive is also a Member Elected Trustee of the Ipswich and Norwich Society Employees’ Pension Fund.
 
Andy Moore
Andy Moore has been an employee of the Society for over 20 years and is currently the Food Retail and Pharmacy Controller. He served on the Board of the Ipswich Society in 2003-04 and was re-elected a Director in May 2008.

Current Committee Membership:  New Ventures Committee.

Celia Moore
Celia Moore has been a Director since May 2006, having previously served on the Member Education Committee. She has been married for over thirty years, has four adult children and has been a foster carer. She has been a governor at a local special school and part of the leadership team of an Ipswich secondary school. She has developed and led a national education project and worked with the Inclusive School Improvement Service in Suffolk. She has served on countless committees associated with education.

Current Committee Membership:  Audit Committee and Search Committee.

Chris Newbury
Chris was elected to the Board on 16th May 2009. Prior to that, he served on the Society’s Membership and Community Committee. He has past experience as a local councillor, school governor and community health council member.

John Pendle
First elected as a Director of the Colchester and East Essex Society in April 2002. John joined the Colchester and East Essex Society when he moved to the area in the early 1970s. After 27 years undertaking a variety of management roles in British Telecom, John is now self-employed as a successful consultant specialising in telecommunications’ regulation. John holds a Masters Degree in Telecommunications business and also holds the Co-operative Directors’ Certificate.

Current Committee Membership: Audit Committee, Membership and Community Committee and Remuneration Committee.  He is a Board Appointed Pension Trustee and non-executive director and of the Co-operative Loan Fund Ltd.  He has previously served on the Society’s Rules Committee.

In addition to his roles with the Society John is a Trustee and non-executive director of Young Enterprise East of England Ltd., a charitable company involved with education.

Roger Smith
Roger Smith began his association with the Co-operative Movement as a Society employee and student of the Co-operative College. He has been a Member of the Society for over 45 years. His occupation, prior to retirement was as an Industrial Training Manager. Roger is a Member of the Institute of Co-operative Directors.

He was first elected as a Director of the Colchester and East Essex Society in April 1999 and has served recently as Vice-President of the Society and as a Member of the Audit and Remuneration Committees.

Current Committee Membership: Remuneration Committee.

Ann White-Howles
Ann White-Howles moved to Suffolk in the early 1980s, to work for a Community Unit as a Nurse Manager. She was instrumental in setting up the Macmillan Nursing Service.  In the late 80s, she became an Executive Director on the Board of the Community Trust as Director of Nursing and Quality.

Having gained experience in financial and personnel management, she left the NHS to set up her own care organisation, eventually selling the business in 2002. Subsequently, she worked for the Ipswich and Norwich Society before retiring at the end of 2005.

Ann was elected a Director in May 2006.

Current Committee Membership: Membership and Community Committee, New Ventures Committee, Search Committee and Healthcare Review Group.

Terms of Office
The table below shows the terms of office of the current Directors.

The normal term of office for a director is 4 years, with 4 Directors completing their terms of office each year.

The table shows that Dianne Dallender-Jones, Sally Chicken, John Pendle and Chris Newbury were elected to serve on the Board in May 2009.

Graham Bober, Jackie Bowis, Clive Mann and Les Double complete their terms of office in May 2010. Colin Barrett, Mary Blacksell, Phil Hartwell and Celia Moore complete their current terms in May 2011.

May 08	May 09	May 10	May 11	May 12	May 13	May 14	May 15
G A BOBER	Bober GA	Bober GA	Bober GA
A MOORE	Moore AH
R C SMITH	Smith	Smith	(to nov)
A WHITE-H	White-H	White-H	(age-rule)
	D DALL-JONES	D Dall-Jones	(age rule)
	J PENDLE	J Pendle	J Pendle	J Pendle
	S CHICKEN	S Chicken	S Chicken	S Chicken
	C NEWBURY	C Newbury	C Newbury	C Newbury
	G F D Bober					(age rule)
	J Bowis
	C E Mann
	L Double
		C Barrett
		M Blacksell
		P Hartwell
		C Moore