Sharon has brought years of experience across a whole host of different sectors to her role as Chief Executive of Sunderland BID, which have all contributed to her ability to bring a variety of skills and insights to her multi-faceted job. 

Her role ensures she is a voice for businesses across the city but to also ensure that the BID plays an active part in helping build a strong and robust Sunderland for the future.

Currently on the schedule is bringing all relevant partners together to create a retail plan for the city high streets, as well as invigorating a health on the high street agenda.

She is the co-chair of The North East Combined Authority High Street Commission, a Visiting Professor for the University of Sunderland’s Business School, a director of Sunderland Business Partnership and a co-chair of the Sunderland Empire Theatre Trust, as well as being part of the British Bids Advisory Board.

Daniel Bates MBE is a leading cultural executive with over 30 years' experience across the UK arts, theatre and public sectors. He currently co-leads Bradford Culture Company, that delivered Bradford UK City of Culture 2025, where he grew the organisation from a start-up into a major cultural institution, securing significant investment and partnerships with organisations including the BBC, DCMS and Arts Council England.

Previously, Daniel served for over a decade as Chief Executive of Sheffield Theatres, leading a £15.5 million organisation and driving commercial success, audience growth and artistic excellence. Earlier senior roles at York Theatre Royal and Leeds Playhouse reflected his strong commitment to inclusion, education, diversity and youth engagement.

Throughout his career, Daniel has worked closely with government, sector bodies and international partners, including helping shape the safe reopening of theatres following the COVID-19 pandemic. He was awarded an MBE for services to culture in Bradford and is widely recognised as a highly influential leader in UK cultural life. In July he was awarded by the University of Bradford an Honorary Doctorate of Letters.

Maria Bota has 35 years’ experience in the arts, encompassing artistic director, chief executive, sector development, policy and marketing roles. She has commissioned, programmed and presented work indoors, outdoors and online, responding to contemporary and heritage settings. She is experienced within international arts companies, festivals, local authorities and venues, in subsidised and in commercial environments.

Alex Harvie is Head of City Marketing in Glasgow’s new Destination Management Organisation (DMO) called Destination Glasgow.

This brings together Destination Marketing, Glasgow Conventions Bureau and Invest Glasgow into one organisation, based in Glasgow City Council.

Alex was previously Head of Marketing and Communications at Glasgow Life, one of Scotland’s largest charities, dedicated to improving people’s lives through culture and sport. Glasgow Life operates the city’s museums (including the award-winning Burrell Collection, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and Riverside Museum), as well as libraries, arts and cultural venues, sports centres, and city-wide events.

Alex has thirty years’ experience in delivering complex, integrated communications projects, from being Head of Communications at Wembley, to creating the first definitive cultural study on Iran in 70 years, to setting the UK Government’s language of mourning after 9/11.

Jack Hemingway is a multi-disciplinary designer and partner at HemingwayDesign, specialising in cultural place-making and regeneration, place brand and visual design, and event curation. 

Jack led the design team and creative vision behind the restoration of the iconic Dreamland pleasure park in Margate.  Cultural regeneration and community focused projects followed at Weston-Super-Mare's Tropicana and Portsmouth Guildhall where Jack led the design teams and defined both venues' renaissance. He has co-founded and developed cultural events such as Vintage by the Sea in Morecambe, First Light Festival in Lowestoft, Urban Village Fete in Greenwich, We Invented The Weekend in Salford.

Much of his design work focuses on place branding and destination marketing, including projects in Humber, Berwick-upon-Tweed, York, Crewe and Southend-on-Sea to name a few. Jack's work is rooted in identifying a place's DNA and expressing it through culture and creativity.

University of Southern Maine; 30 years of experience
Matthew Kruchko is the Head of Global Operations for Gravity Global. Over a 30-year career, Matthew has progressed from owning and leading brand marketing agencies for 20 years to serving as a CEO and EVP of Global Strategy and Marketing for a publicly traded company. His expertise, honed in Silicon Valley's challenging environment, combines strategic growth initiatives with a disciplined, collaborative approach to sales, marketing, brand, and operations. He has partnered with clients such as Qualcomm, Warner Bros., Lexus, Smithsonian Institute, Sony PlayStation, the Toledo Region, the City of Detroit, the City of Calgary, UPS, Amway, Detroit Auto Show, and RSA.

Rachel Laver is the Managing Director of Rochdale Development Agency, bringing over 25 years of senior leadership experience in economic development, regeneration and the delivery of major public sector programmes. Throughout her career, she has successfully overseen projects exceeding £50 million across the environmental, transport and education sectors, earning a strong reputation for turning ambitious regional strategies into long-term, measurable outcomes.

Prior to joining RDA, Rachel served as Chief Executive Officer at Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, where she championed sustainable investment, business growth and innovation. She also held the role of CEO at the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, leading significant regeneration programmes and pioneering low-carbon initiatives to enhance regional competitiveness.

Rachel is leading the RDA at a pivotal time for Rochdale, building on the legacy of its Town of Culture year while driving forward its role in Greater Manchester’s reindustrialisation, with strengths in advanced materials, machinery and manufacturing.

Steve Law is Destination Strategy Project Manager at TOPOSOPHY, the specialist destination and place consultancy. Based in Kent, he leads strategy, research and stakeholder engagement projects for cities, regions and national tourism bodies across the UK, Ireland and continental Europe.

Steve brings two decades of experience at the interface of place strategy and public sector delivery. His background spans destination management planning, sustainable tourism, and the design of partnership-led programmes that connect local authorities, industry and community stakeholders, with a focus on practical, deliverable strategies that reflect local priorities and long-term ambition.

At TOPOSOPHY, Steve was part of the team that delivered Edinburgh's first dedicated Night Time Economy Coordinator engagement for the City of Edinburgh Council, a project shaped by policy review, international benchmarking, stakeholder engagement and a city-wide resident survey. He has also supported the European Travel Commission's Crisis Preparedness Hub, a digital platform of playbooks, templates and training built by TOPOSOPHY to help destinations respond to geo-political, environmental, health, reputational and digital crises.

His wider portfolio includes visitor levy feasibility and tourism strategy development for UK local authorities, destination marketing and management planning for European city regions, and policy research on the impact of artificial intelligence on tourism.

Amy's research and assessment skills and experience have led transformational cultural strategy, regeneration and investment programmes across the UK. Prior to consultancy, she was the Cultural Economy Development Manager for Cheshire East Council, and has extensive experience of partnership development, strategic events, and investment planning, with cultural organisations including the V&A, BBC and Science Museum Group. She is a Director of Place for Youth CIC, a Fellow of the Institute of Place Management, and a regular speaker / guest lecturer on cultural placemaking and place branding. She has served as Vice Chair for Victoria Baths Heritage Trust and received the John Rylands University Library Award for Research.

With nearly 30 years of experience marketing places, April founded Violet PR in 2010. Her passion is working with clients dedicated to improving their communities. She has managed PR campaigns for destinations including Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, North Carolina, Lehigh Valley, Oklahoma and New Jersey. April has arranged hundreds of media interviews for governors, mayors, CEOs and industry experts – promoting cities, states and regions across the world. April holds an M.A. in journalism/marketing communications from the University of Kansas. 

Toby has worked in the travel and tourism sector for 13 years, having been plucked from the world of sports broadcasting sales on the promise that it was “more fun honestly”. During that time he has held senior commercial roles at Expedia, Adara, and Epsilon before joining Tiki in June 2025 to spearhead their growth outside the US. He lives in Bath, UK with his wife and two teenage sons.

Andrew has extensive experience as an audience development and cultural place-making specialist in the arts, heritage, and cultural tourism sectors across the UK and internationally. He co-founded Creative Tourist and CTConsults, providing insight and practical delivery recommendations on place development for over 15 years. Before establishing his consultancy practice, Andrew led the audience, research & marketing teams at National Museums Liverpool and the National Science and Media Museum. Andrew was a founding director of British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent, establishing it as a leading contemporary ceramics festival and National Portfolio Organisation. 

Harman Sagger is Head of Cultural Analysis at DCMS. He is responsible for setting the analytical strategy for the directorate, ensuring that public investment decisions are underpinned by robust evidence, evaluation and value-for-money principles. He leads the Cultural and Heritage Capital Programme, a flagship, cross-sector initiative to embed consistent appraisal and evaluation approaches across the cultural system, which was nominated for a Civil Service Award. Harman previously led the analytical work supporting the Cultural Recovery Fund. He chairs and advises senior technical groups across government and the sector, including the Technical Reference Group for the UK City of Culture, with a particular focus on cultural infrastructure, place-based growth and data. Harman was previously Head of Economics at the British Film Institute and held economist roles at HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs, advising on major economic and fiscal policy issues including productivity, globalisation and environmental taxation.