MPA strengthens Executive team and Council
Seven new senior appointments bring wealth of additional experience to Mineral Products Association
NOW well into its 10th anniversary year, the Mineral Products Association (MPA) has announced the appointment of three new members to its Executive team: Tony Jones as director of health and safety; Neal Weston as director of regions, to succeed Brian James at the end of the year; and Dr Robert McIlveen, head of public affairs, to succeed Jerry McLaughlin from the year-end.
Mr Jones is an experienced SHEQ specialist having worked in the security, safety, oil and gas, and mineral products industries. He spent several years working with major international oil companies throughout the Middle East and Africa and prior to that was in the British Armed Forces for 23 years.
Dr McIlveen has a first-class BA (Hons) degree in History & Politics from the University of Warwick and an MA in Politics and a PhD focused on political party organization and campaigns from the University of Sheffield. He was a Research Fellow in the Environment and Energy Unit at Policy Exchange, then public affairs manager and European affairs specialist at Network Rail. Latterly he was UK public policy manager at Royal Mail. He has extensive political campaigning experience at both national and local level.
Mr Weston holds a BA (Hons) degree in History from the University of Liverpool and has spent much of his career working for membership and representative organizations in a variety of policy, communications, public affairs and stakeholder roles. His early career experience included working in the US Congress and for MPs and senior political figures in Westminster. Most recently, he was external relations manager at the Institution of Civil Engineers for five years and subsequently head of policy and communications at the trade body Airlines UK for 12 years.
The MPA has also appointed four new members to its Council: Mike Hill, who has been chief executive of the Hills Group since 2008; Katherine Evans, head of planning and a senior partner at law firm TLT LLP; Joanne Garwood, managing director of aggregates and asphalt at FM Conway; and Jacqueline O’Donovan, managing director of O’Donovan Waste Disposal.
Commenting on the appointments, MPA chief executive Nigel Jackson said: ‘I am delighted that Tony, Robert and Neal have joined the MPA’s Executive team in this important year as our membership grows and the issues we are now dealing with increase and become more integrated and complex.
‘Having already diversified and strengthened the MPA board earlier this year, we are also delighted that Mike, Katherine, Joanne and Jacqueline are joining our Council. Collectively, they bring a wealth of additional commercial and industry experience to the Council, which will ensure that we represent the interests of all our members, large, medium and small, more effectively across the mineral and waste resources agenda.’
