A Wolverhampton based loans company has increased the strength of its board by making two new key appointments.
Black Country Reinvestment Society (BCRS) has co-opted Professor Ian Oakes, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research and Enterprise, University of Wolverhampton and Adrian Wilkinson, Superintendent Pharmacist at The Midcounties Co-operative onto the Board.
Professor Ian Oakes is responsible for promoting the University’s research agenda and developing the growing knowledge transfer arena at regional, national and international levels.
Over the last 10 years, Professor Oakes has held a number of senior management posts in higher education before joining the University of Wolverhampton in 2008. He has been involved in a programme of national and transnational technology transfer activities operating across a range of sectors and has led the development of a number of initiatives focusing specifically on the transfer of technology from academia to businesses.
Professor Ian Oakes said: “I am delighted to be joining the board of Black Country Reinvestment Society. The University of Wolverhampton has an important and strategic role in stimulating economic development and enterprise across the Black County and West Midlands region.
“It is vital to harness the skills and talents of our entrepreneurial graduates by helping them stay in the region and with the help of the University’s incubator facilities to create new business opportunities. I believe that retaining and growing skills is crucial to the survival and growth of the Black Country and wider Midlands. For this to happen our graduates need to be able to access finance, and BCRS funding could be invaluable to them.”
Adrian Wilkinson, superintendent pharmacist, became pharmacy development manager with West Midlands Co-op Chemists, now Midcounties Co-op, eight years ago. He has chaired the Disability Diversity Focus Group, has been a school governor at Moreton Community School in Wolverhampton and participates in numerous heath focused community activities.
