Committee

Nicholas Soames is the Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex.

He is a former Defence and Agriculture Minister and has wide experience of commerce and industry.

He founded, with others, the Burgess Hill Business Parks Association and the Haywards Heath & District Businesses Association.

He is a staunch supporter of local business.

Stuart is a retired company executive from the paper, print and packaging industry who moved to East Grinstead in December 1987 – immediately after the “Great Storm”. He is married with a wife working in East Grinstead and two grown up daughters. With his business background, both national and international, Stuart brings to the association a blend of business experience, pragmatism, enthusiasm and a strong ambition to see our town thrive. He likes to “think out of the box” and is keen to build for the future.

Kate is our Business Manager and is responsible for liaising with existing members and bringing in new members.  She has lived in the East Grinstead area for nearly twenty five years and is married with two grown up children.  She comes from a business background having been a managing partner in her own business and has a wealth of experience in marketing and networking.

Roger Martell Managing Director of Martell's of Sutton Ltd.

Born 1943 Educated at Ardingly College, Roger joined the family company in 1960. Roger was responsible for Martell's purchasing their Queens Road premises from the old established East Grinstead family business George Read. Roger married Margaret in 1968 who has worked alongside him ever since. In 1974 Roger with Margaret's help expanded the retail area of Martell's in East Grinstead by converting the first section of the Queens Road premises into retail. Roger and Margaret have two children Elizabeth and Charlie (Charlie is now a director of the company).

Martell's rejoined the East Grinstead Chamber of Commerce in 1992 and Roger was elected to the executive committee shortly after. As a representative of the Chamber, he has been involved with the steering group set up to appoint a short term town centre manager for East Grinstead, has represented the Chamber on the Mid Sussex North Area Forum. When it was in existence the North Area Transport Forum and more recently the East Grinstead Community Partnership Committee.

Roger is Treasurer to the East Grinstead Promotion Committee who is responsible for both the Summer and Christmas shopping events in the town and he is also the British Association of Removers' Sussex area representative on the BAR National Council.

Roger and Margaret both enjoy dancing and are regularly at the Meridian Hall dancing with the 75 Modern Sequence Club.

Caroll is the Administrator for the EGBA. She is also MD of Everest Events Ltd and runs international conferences, and training seminars for the aviation industry and also organises conferences and exhibitions for other organisations. She has a background in marketing, personnel and administration and has been resident in East Grinstead for 10 years.  She also undertakes volunteer work at Chequer Mead theatre and the EG Talking News.

Bob has over 40 years experience working in the refrigeration, building services and construction sectors with a background in mechanical engineering. Working for a major food retailer until a carreer change gave the opportunity to set up the IQ Group

Since starting the IQ group with his wife Jacquie in at the end of the last millennium the business has developed in different fields with sustainability as the overriding theme. We have now been designing and installing PV Solar systems to many houses in this region bringing good returns on investment for our many clients in addition to providing a substantial quantity of power back into the national grid.

Bob was born in South London and moved to the East Grinstead region in 1980, now living in Cowden with Jacquie and five children three of which attend local schools and the other two work locally.

Bob is a member of the “Sustainable Sussex group” which looks to promote sustainable solutions within

Matthew Cole is a Partner in Cole's Estate Agents located on the picturesque East Grinstead High Street. Although Cole's is a fairly newly established agency Matthew has a long and proven record in the industry and is pleased to be working again in the town. His family have lived and worked in East Grinstead for generations and after growing up here himself, he is a strong supporter of local businesses and is enthusiastic about the growth and development of the town.

Matthew is married and has a young daughter. He is also member of the BNI - a local business networking group.

Pru is currently working for Paella Fella and was recently elected to the Executive Committee

James is Director of The Green Light Company UK, specialising in providing solutions that improve the efficiency of lighting and, ultimately, reducing energy costs for its commercial clients.

James comes from a commercial background in Property Maintenance and Project/ Supply Chain Management for a number of major high street brands, both national and international. After spending time in The Netherlands he has returned to the East Grinstead area, where has had links for the past 30+ years and can even remember the old cattle market in town. He believes East Grinstead has a great opportunity to grow as a town that supports local businesses.

He lives locally with his wife and 3 children and loves to cook

Gordon left school and went into the world of insurance when he joined a major insurance company (remember Commercial Union?) as a stop-gap measure whilst awaiting an appointment to the Stock Exchange. 40 years later............

Elaine McGloin is owner of Elaine McGloin solicitors, specialising in conveyancing, based in EG.