Meet the Destination Basingstoke Team

Destination Basingstoke currently has a staff of two - a managing director and business development manager. The company is managed through a non executive board of directors, who all serve Destination Basingstoke on a voluntary basis.

Mike Loftus Chairman

DB Director Mike Loftus photo

Mike joined Clydesdale Bank in 2005 from HSBC in the Thames Valley where he worked for 11 years in various senior roles, where he is now chairman. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, and has over 40 years banking experience. Mike is also Director of an HR Consultancy and became a Director of Destination Basingstoke Ltd in 2007, and Chairman in 2008. Mike is married with two daughters and has three grandsons. Interests (time permitting) include charity work, football, golf, rugby and holidays.

"Having worked in Basingstoke for many years and been on the receiving end
of negativity regarding the town, I felt compelled to do something to redress the balance. I'm very pleased to work with all my colleagues at Destination Basingstoke all of whom share a common passion and belief to work together to build on the strengths of the town. Its a great place to live, visit and work. Basingstoke and Deane is ambitious and has an extremely bright future!"

Contact Mike Loftus

Felicity Edwards Managing Director

DB Director Felicity Edwards photo

Felicity Edwards was appointed as Managing Director of Destination Basingstoke in September 2008. Previous to that she was Development Manager at Hampshire Museums Trust and in this role was seconded to Destination Basingstoke to develop the Perk card scheme. Prior to that, she was town centre manager in Basingstoke 1997 to 2002.

Felicity lives with her husband and two daughters in Chineham, firmly believing – based on her own experience - that Basingstoke is a place that offers a fantastic quality of life for families.

“Destination Basingstoke is living proof of the enthusiasm and commitment of people who live and work here. We all believe it is a great place and want to share that belief with the rest of the world. There’s no need for marketing gloss, we simply want to tell people the truth about the place and they will soon realise that it really is a very good place to be.”

Contact Felicity Edwards

Nina Muir Business Development Manager

Nina joined Destination Basingstoke in September 2008 and has been developing the perk card scheme as well as managing the Place to be Proud of Awards, among many other things. Nina lives in Basingstoke with her young daughter.

"I was delighted to take up this post at Destination Basingstoke to promote the area. I have lived in various parts of Basingstoke on and off for over 14 years and love what it has to offer, particularly in terms of accessibility to London, it’s beautiful historic villages and surrounding countryside and great facilities the town has."

"Being part of the Place to be Proud of Awards this year demonstrated to me how many wonderful people we have here in Basingstoke who give their time and expertise tirelessly to many great causes and activities going on in and around Basingstoke. I look forward to receiving next year’s nominations in the coming months."

Contact Nina Muir

Kathryn Price Marketing & Events Manager

Kathryn is a born and bred Basingstoke girl and after moving away to university took up marketing posts in London and then the Midlands. It was with great enthusiasm that she returned to Basingstoke in 2007, after 10 years away, to settle with her young family in Overton.

“I truly believe that Basingstoke is a great place that has a huge amount to offer both residents and businesses, and am delighted to be at the forefront of promoting the area, working for Destination Basingstoke. My role includes working on a number of marketing projects to promote the area and its assets as well as managing the annual Inspire Business Awards. As a business owner myself (working alongside my husband in my ‘spare’ time) I understand the importance of credibility, reputation and promotion to local businesses, and so relish the opportunity to assist businesses through INSPIRE. I thoroughly enjoy my work meeting and working with local businesses in the north Hampshire area and would urge people to get involved and enter the awards.”

Contact

Kathryn Price

Mark Jones Vice Chairman

Mark has worked at Gazette Newspapers for 12 years. As well as being the editor of The Gazette – the area’s longest-established local newspaper – Mark has been involved in many community initiatives and organisations in the Basingstoke area.

He is vice-chairman of Destination Basingstoke, one of the founding members of the A Place to be Proud of Awards, and a member of the Stand Up 4 'Stoke Basingstoke RFC fundraising appeal.

Under Mark’s editorship, The Gazette and its sister free newspaper The Basingstoke Extra have championed the many positive aspects of life in Basingstoke through the “Basingstoke – A Place To Be Proud Of” campaign which he launched in The Gazette in September 2003.

"Basingstoke is a place to be proud of. It's a great town and borough which offers something for everyone whether you live, work or just visit here. As the editor of The Gazette, which has been serving the Basingstoke community since 1878, I am delighted to support, and be involved in, Destination Basingstoke's campaign to spread the word about why Basingstoke has got so much going for for it, and why it's the place to be."

Contact Mark Jones

Kevin Lee Director

K DB Director Kevin Lee photo evin is Managing Director of Tenon Group plc’s Basingstoke office. Kevin has worked for Tenon (previously BKL Tenon, and BKL Weeks Green) for 30 years, and has been Managing Director for 10 years. From 2004 to 2006 Kevin was Regional Managing Director for the Southern Region, overseeing offices in Windsor, Reading, Basingstoke, Southampton and Bournemouth.

Kevin is an avid supporter of Basingstoke as a place to live and do business, and is a keen follower of all things ‘Basingstoke’ including cricket, rugby and football. Kevin is a well known and respected member of the Basingstoke business community, and was delighted to be asked to sit on the board of Destination Basingstoke.

"Basingstoke is a great place to be, I want to help make sure that everyone knows it".

Contact Kevin Lee

Warren Sadler Director

Warren Sadler is a partner at Lamb Brooks Solicitors in Basingstoke.

"Basingstoke is a great place to live and work. We have a diverse range of businesses, excellent transport links, a progressive Council, and tremendous scope for growth. As a parent with three young children, I find that the town offers a high standard of living with first-class amenities."

Contact Warren Sadler

Tony Curtis Director

Tony is a Chief Executive at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. Most of his career was in planning and related services at various authorities and he has led a large number of diverse projects during his career including numerous town centre redevelopment schemes, major commercial and retail developments, housing and regeneration projects and education schemes. Basingstoke and Deane is an excellent council which its external auditors say is continuing to improve well. One of the council's key priorities is economic prosperity and it is very keen to promote Basingstoke as a place to live, visit, work and do business. The council fully supports Destination Basingstoke. Tony is an active member of the Board and, as a local resident and the Chief Executive of one of the major employers in the town, passionate about putting all the strengths and qualities of Basingstoke on the map.

Contact Tony Curtis

Steven Connolly Director

Festival Place has been involved with Destination Basingstoke from the beginning. As a dominant regional shopping centre, based in the heart of Basingstoke’s community, Festival Place takes its’ responsibilities towards communicating to the outside world what a great place Basingstoke is to live, work, shop and be entertained in earnest.

‘Half of Festival Place’s customers come from out side of the Basingstoke We are very proud of the contribution Festival Place makes to the attractiveness of the town for employers, employees and residents in the area. My role within Festival Place is to ensure we deliver an appealing, unique shopping and leisure experience to all our customers.’

Steven Connolly has been Centre Director for Festival Place since October 2007. Previously Centre Manager for the Dolphin Centre, Poole, Steven began his career as a Store Manager for W H Smith.

Contact Steven Connolly

Craig Killick Director

DB Director Craig Killick photo Craig Killick is a local businessman with specialism in marketing. As well as running a beauty business, he also works as a marketing consultant. Having also lived in Basingstoke since birth, Craig is passionate about sharing a positive message about the town.

"I joined the Destination Basingstoke board for one simple reason. Much of the feedback I get about the town I have lived in for over 35 years is outdated and I appreciate that there must be a reason for this.

"I am keen to help shape new perceptions of the town based on the reality of what is actually happening here now versus the Basingstoke of the past and there is more than enough positive messaging to work with - the facts about Basingstoke speak for themselves. I'm here to help give them a louder voice."

Contact Craig Killick

Rupert Batho Stakeholder

DB Stakeholder Rupert Batho photo Originally a 'Basingstoke Boy', Rupert returned to the town in 2006 when he was appointed Managing Director of MEPC's Chineham Park, a commercial development that has 50 companies and 3,000 people working there. As a property developer and manager, the importance of promoting the positive attributes of Basingstoke's people, place and amenities to the wider audience is fully appreciated. Rupert is passionate about supporting Destination Basingstoke so that the features of this dynamic town is known by as wide an audience as possible.

Contact Rupert Batho

Paul Chamberlain Director

Paul is Director of Regional Programmes for the University of Winchester which have their Chute House campus in Basingstoke.

Contact

Paul Chamberlain

John Harrocks Director

DB Director John Harrocks photo John is Chief Executive of North Hampshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has been involved with Destination Basingstoke since its inception.