Our Expertise

Prior to joining Coast to Capital, Tony was a Director at the global insurance giant AIG and led support services across Europe, Middle East, Africa & India for 5 years. He joined Coast to Capital in 2016 as Chief Operating Officer and took up the post of Chief Executive & Managing Board Director in December 2021 and has led the organisation for the last 4 years, initially as a Local Enterprise Partnership and then through to its current independent status.

Tony has worked on many major infrastructure and property projects during his career and is a Chartered Engineer by background, and is also an experienced non-executive director with his first appointment in 2016. He was a group Board Director of the Lampton Group for just under 7 years, holding non-executive roles as Chair of its Finance, Audit & Risk Committees and also as Chairman of Lampton Homes. He was also a non-executive director of Be First Regeneration for 6 years, appointed by Lord Bob Kerslake, and Chaired its Audit & Risk Committee for this time, as well as a non-executive director and Vice Chair of the BD Group for nearly 3 years before stepping down to focus on his Coast to Capital role.

Professional Qualifications:

Cali joined Coast to Capital in 2017 where she led the management of the £275m Local Growth Deal portfolio comprising of over 90 projects. She holds extensive experience in both project and programme management and has worked effectively with public, private and third sector organisations to support the delivery of growth projects, developing business cases, and unlocking funding.

In her role as Executive Director, Cali continues to provide expertise and support to organisations, most recently to include both management and reporting of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund programme, undertaking research and insights to develop a Leisure Strategy for Tandridge, and also putting together an updated Employment & Skills Plan for Crawley.

Cali is passionate about local economic growth, regeneration and social value. She is committed to supporting and collaborating with different parties to fully understand their vision and priorities; helping to shape and develop ideas into realistic and deliverable projects.

Professional Qualifications:

PRINCE2 Practitioner & IRM Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management.

Luke has a range of experience in economic development and project delivery. He joined Coast to Capital five years ago, initially as a Business Growth Executive, where he developed the LEP’s strategy for inward investment and international trade and led the delivery of that service. Luke worked closely with the Department for International Trade to handle regional FDI enquiries and to support UK and foreign businesses to move to the Coast to Capital area. This insight on trade and investment activity led to him to act as deputy project lead on the Gatwick Freeport submission to government.

Now working as Senior Consultant, Luke manages delivery of projects Coast to Capital is commissioned to support. This includes a detailed research report into Airport Economic Zones for Gatwick Airport, a report into the business environment in Epsom & Ewell and a transport study for East Surrey. As an economic project officer at Runnymede Borough Council he led a variety of projects, including the development and roll out of a new online business support platform. He also supported a number of infrastructure investments, including the Longcross Park enterprise zone, near Heathrow Airport.

David has over 40 years’ experience from working in the insurance, banking, automotive design, automotive manufacturing engineering, power generation and economic development sectors. He brings a wealth of financial and administrative experience gained in the UK and abroad, including project management, budgetary control and project appraisals of multi-million-pound programmes. Born in Brighton, David has lived in Sussex for most of his life and knows the region extremely well. He is passionately committed to continued economic growth and regeneration.

Amanda is an experienced senior Director having worked in various roles across the private, public and third sectors for over 30 years. A KPMG-alumni and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, she specialises in corporate governance and is particularly passionate about promoting the role of arts and heritage as central to a thriving economy.

She holds a first-class honours degree in Accounting with Computing from the University of Ulster together with a postgraduate diploma in Professional Accounting from Queen’s University, Belfast and an MSc in Innovation, Leadership & Management from the University of York.

Amanda has particular experience in leading organisational change through extensive modernisation programmes and of delivering major capital redevelopment and regeneration projects. Before moving to Sussex from her native Northern Ireland, Amanda was Director of Finance & Planning at National Museums Northern Ireland where she was Finance Director for the £20m redevelopment of the Ulster Museum, winner of the prestigious Art Fund Prize, and more recently the Project Director for the £32m Royal Pavilion Estate Masterplan in Brighton & Hove during her time as Deputy Chief Executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival.

She is currently the Chair of Sussex Past, a regional heritage organisation responsible for several Sussex landmarks including Fishbourne Roman Palace, Lewes Castle and the Long Man of Wilmington and also Trustee and Treasurer of the Council for British Archaeology. She chairs Good Space, the South East’s volunteering for wellbeing programme for arts, heritage and sports organisations and is currently working with Lady Mary Peters on the development of a dedicated Sports Museum for Northern Ireland.

Richard has a wide career within the lighting industry mainly providing solutions to the Retail sectors, and working for major lighting companies based in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. As LED lighting came to prominence Richard sourced product from China and worked on significant projects such as international airports.

Following 30 years in commercial lighting Richard worked locally for a number of years providing property maintenance services to Estate Agents and Landlords before taking on a role as a Constituency Manager for a local MP.

Alongside his business experience Richard became a local councilor in Horley in 2017 and for the last two years has been Leader of the Council at Reigate and Banstead. He is also a substitute member on the Board of the District Council Network and a Board Member of the United Kingdom Darts Association. He has always been involved in community work, as a Leader in the Scout movement for fifteen years and then becoming an integral part of the Round Table Organisation both locally and Nationally.

Before turning his focus to horticulture and the rural economy, Richard spent 25 years leading innovative businesses across cloud communications, fintech, SaaS, and international BPO delivery in Kenya, South Africa, British Guiana, and the EU. His commercial experience underpins a pragmatic, entrepreneurial approach to regional economic development.

Today, Richard is a prominent advocate for the horticultural and rural industries, championing their role in delivering sustainable, resilient growth through the adoption of technology and data-led innovation. As a Board Director of Coast to Capital, he supports purpose-led strategies that drive impact across the region, forging partnerships between public, private, and third-sector organisations.

He is Chair of the West Sussex Growers’ Association, representing a sector with £1bn turnover and 10,000 employees, and a former Chair of the CEO Group at the Agricultural Industries Confederation (Crop Protection & Agronomy), representing a £17bn farmgate market. His work aligns closely with national economic goals, including the Industrial Strategy and devolution priorities, by enabling cross-sector collaboration and unlocking regional investment.