Culture Secretary appoints Commissioners to English Heritage

Culture Secretary Sajid Javid MP has appointed 7 new Commissioners to English Heritage with effect from 1 June 2014: Alex Balfour and Victoria Harley for terms of 3 years; Sally Balcombe and Prof Martin Daunton for terms of 4 years; and Victoria Barnsley OBE, Prof Michael Fulford CBE and Michael Morrison for terms of 5 years.

Sir Laurie Magnus, the Chairman of English Heritage, said: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues on the Commission at this very exciting time for English Heritage. They bring vital experience and skills (well recognised in their respective fields of expertise) to help us establish Historic England as a distinct and confident public body committed to championing the wide ranging contribution that heritage makes to our social, environmental and economic welfare. They will also have an important role in the launch of our English Heritage charity, which will take over responsibility for the care of The National Heritage Collection, helping to build our reputation for outstanding historical interpretation whilst developing our digital offering and working towards our goal of financial self sufficiency.”

Sally Balcombe

Sally Balcombe was Chief Marketing Officer for Travelport GDS from 2008-2011, responsible for all aspects of the marketing mix: the product portfolio with specific ownership of product strategy and management; strategic pricing; market strategy and research; brand; and websites and marketing communications globally. She is currently advising a number of sectors, primarily focusing on travel, on their multi-channel and digital strategies. She has been a board member of VisitBritain since 2013, and also sits as a Non Executive Director of 2 online travel businesses.

Alex Balfour

Alex Balfour joined the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) as Head of New Media in 2006. He built a team from scratch that delivered 77 digital channels to 150m consumers. He continues to work in the field of building digital capability and optimising digital performance. He is also a member of the UK Government’s Digital Advisory Board, and a Director of several businesses in the financial services sector including The Pensions Advisory Service, Credec and Datatracks (UK).

Victoria Barnsley OBE

Victoria Barnsley is a British businesswoman and entrepreneur who founded and led the publishing house Fourth Estate from 1984-2000. From 2000-2013 was the UK Chief Executive of HarperCollins, where she was responsible for guiding the brand to great heights during her tenure. She has twice been voted Publisher of the Year, most recently in 2012. A former trustee of the Tate, she has held various high profile publishing industry roles including President of the Publishers Association and Chair of World Book Night.

Prof Martin Daunton

Professor Martin Daunton has been Master of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge, since 2004 and will be retiring at the end of September 2014. He moved to Cambridge as Professor of Economic History in 1997, having previously taught at the University of Durham and University College London. He has been President of the Royal Historical Society (2003-2007), and was a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum (now Royal Museums Greenwich) from 2002-2010 where he was active in discussion of how to interpret events in British history such as Trafalgar and the end of the slave trade. He is curently a member of the academic awards committee of the Leverhulme Trust. From 2012, he has been head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. He continues to teach, write and research in modern economic history.

Prof Michael Fulford CBE

Professor Michael Fulford is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Reading, and is probably best known for a series of digs run by the university at Silchester. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and has served on both its Council and its Executive and Research Committees. In 1994 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, and is currently its Honorary Treasurer. He edited the academic journal Britannia from 1994-98, and is currently President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. He has published widely on Romano-British and Roman archaeology, especially on the dynamics of towns, landscape archaeology and the economy.

Victoria Harley

Victoria Harley is the Manager of the Brampton Bryan Estate in Shropshire, since 2001. She was previously employed at Sotheby’s where she specialised in carpets, and then worked as a consultant in New York and a Gallery Director in London. She is also a Trustee of the Offa’s Dyke Association, a Patron of Marie Curie Cancer Care, a Governor of two schools in Leintwardine and Banbury, and has served on 2 committees of the National Trust.

Michael Morrison

Michael Morrison of Purcell Miller Tritton, is a conservation architect of immense standing, and is best known for his work in caring for some of the country’s best known historic structures, including the British Museum and the University of Oxford. He is also a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s expert panel on buildings and land.