Diane Savory, who has just stepped down as chief operating officer of fashion clothing chain SuperGroup, is to lead the new organisation that will drive and expand Gloucestershire's economy. 

Diane is to chair the revamped GFirst (whose legal entity is Gloucestershire Development Company) which will run the county's proposed new Local Enterprise Partnership or LEP.

It is hoped the Government will approve the Gloucestershire LEP proposals later this week.
The other new GFirst board members from the private sector are well known names in the county's business world-Roman Cooper, chief executive officer of Allcoopers Ltd, Adam Starkey, CEO of Green Gourmet Ltd and Michael Tripp, group CEO of Ecclesiastical Insurance. 

The appointments, which are all unpaid, will ensure that any future county LEP will be driven by the private sector-a key part of the Government's economic policy.
There will three more board members from the private sector whose identity is expected to be announced this week and two members from the public sector, Chas Fellows and Steve Jordan, the Cheltenham Borough Council leader. 

Diane Savory, who saw through Supergroup PLC's development from market trader to darling of the London Stock Market, said yesterday: "GFirst is the County economy's engine room and I look forward to directing its energy with a fresh team of board members who share my passion for Gloucestershire." 

Formerly Gloucestershire First, the organisation has been rebranded as GFirst and moved to a new headquarters at Gloucester Docks from it previous base at Shurdington.
David Owen, chief executive of GFirst, said: "With the addition of Diane Savory, Roman Cooper, Adam Starkey and Michael Tripp as board members, we are building a challenging, results-orientated board, the hallmark of any successful enterprise."

Both David and Diane joined in paying tribute to GFirst's outgoing chairman John Hazelwood, who has seen the organisation through the recent recession. 

GFirst says it has co-ordinated a response to redundancies by placing hundreds of people into new jobs, combined rural and urban economic planning, led on tourism destination marketing worldwide and has also added, to date, £14.5m value to the County's economy through its rural development programme. 

But the new board's first task will be to lead the new LEP which, if the bid is successful, will place Gloucestershire alongside Cumbria, West of England and Liverpool as Government-endorsed 'players' in the devolution of economic development activity.
LEPs will be able to cut through red tape in encouraging business and are a replacement