Southampton: Airport MD joins board of Solent LEP

Dave Lees, managing director of Southampton Airport, has been elected to the board of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

He was chosen by a vote of the LEP's business members after responding to a call for Solent business leaders working in aerospace, aviation, high-end manufacturing, logistics, ports and key international gateways.

Lees joined Southampton Airport in 2007 as planning and development director before becoming MD in 2010. He has developed the airport’s masterplan, which predicts how the transport hub, one of three international gateways to the Solent, will develop in the years to 2030.

He said: "The LEP has a vital role to play in delivering the economy that business needs and local people deserve. I am hugely proud to be involved and am looking forward to joining my new colleagues on the board at an exciting time for the LEP."

Solent LEP chairman Gary Jeffries said: "We were keen to appoint a senior business leader from a key sector who would complement the existing strengths of the board, and Dave fits the bill perfectly.

"His huge industry experience combined with extensive knowledge of the Solent, its strengths and its challenges, make him an ideal candidate to contribute to our work in the years to come and to assist us immediately in our growth deal negotiations with government."

Lees fills the board seat vacated by former Southampton port director Doug Morrison when he retired at the end of 2013.

He joins a fully-elected, private-sector-led board consisting of leaders from the Solent business, local authority and academic community.