THE members of the new Crewe Town Board have been revealed ahead of the body's first meeting.

The Town Board will oversee regeneration of the town centre under the government's Towns Fund deal, which could see £25 million made available for projects.

Its chairman Doug Kinsman outlined its vision is to revive Crewe when the 17-strong board was set up in July. Mr Kinsman serves as operations director at SG World in Crewe, while at the time the only other known member of the body was Crewe and Nantwich MP Kieran Mullan.

But they will be joined by a list of key stakeholders with local knowledge including businessmen, councillors and property experts as well as council regeneration chiefs.

They are ready to make key decisions on how millions of pounds of government cash will be spent reviving a town centre that was hard hit long before the pandemic. The members will get together as a board on Friday, September 18, but it will be a closed virtual meeting.

Crewe North councillor Jill Rhodes, who also serves on Crewe Town Council, is joined by fellow Cheshire East councillor Nick Mannion, who is the authority's portfolio holder for environment and regeneration.

Paul Colman is the chief executive of the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, while another board member is Adam Knight, who is the theatre director at Crewe Lyceum Theatre.

Sally Hepton is director of government relations and corporate social responsibility at Bentley Motors.

Physiotherapist Rick Carter has worked in the football industry at Crewe Alex, Port Vale, Stoke City and Manchester United and has overseen the growth of CTC Healthcare, which has offices in Crewe, Nantwich, Stoke and Stafford.

Dr Matt Tyrer is the acting director of public health at Cheshire East Council, while fellow board member John Adlen is growth director at Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.

Andy Butler is a director at property company Legat Owen, which has offices in Nantwich and Chester.

Others enlisted on the board are local pastor, the Rev. David Edwards, Mark Hills, the chief executive of Crewe YMCA and former Crewe town councillor Simon Yates, who has a track record of NHS service in Cheshire.

As well as time spent as a local politician, Simon served as chief executive of Mid Cheshire Hospitals Trust.

Making up the body are three serving Cheshire East officers with expertise in growth and regeneration.

Frank Jordan is the executive director of place and acting deputy chief executive of the authority. Peter Skates is the council's director of growth and development and Jez Goodman is a development and regeneration manager.

All those appointed as board committee members (not council officers) are taking up voluntary roles after an open invitation and appointment process which was approved by a shadow board in January of this year.

Crewe was one of 101 towns invited to share in a £3.6 billion cash pot. The Board intends to develop a Town Investment Plan in partnership with Cheshire East, Crewe Town Council and local residents to bid for a £25m share of it.

If the proposals are successful Crewe will receive the funding up to 2026 to support long-term economic growth.

The Board has also received £750,000 of government cash it can spend immediately on projects to aid economic recovery from the impact of Covid-19.

When the board was set up Cllr Rhodes said: "While some previous regeneration efforts have been affected by changing economic circumstances, the diverse mix of people on the Town Board will work hard together to make sure the impact of new investment will lead to success".