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Friends of The Fox Inn

Steering Group profiles

 

David Oliver (Chair)

Retired Head of a comprehensive school. 9 years as Chair of a large community health &  well-being centre. Dealt with many funding applications & business plans in both roles. resident of Shropshire UNA.  Visited the local pub on average twice per week until it closed. Keen quizzer.

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David Thorpe (Vice-Chair)

A resident of Ryton for over 10 years, I have a background in finance, operations and procurement and, for the past 18 years, have operated a procurement focused consultancy advising central government and international businesses. Bringing practical experience of sourcing, negotiation and business planning, I will assist with the planning and relaunch activities of The Fox Inn.

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Martin Sells (Treasurer)

A Management Accountant of 35 years experience.  Moved to Ryton in 2019.  My wife and I enjoy walking in the hills with our Border Terrier (Dylan), live music and motorhoming.  A pint usually features in most of these activities.

 

Helen May (Secretary)

A Chartered Accountant with 20 years experience in finance, business planning, strategy and communications.  I live with my family in Ryton, we are avid pub-goers and keen participants in village events.  Treasurer of the local Village Hall.  We own 2 holiday cottages in the village.

 

Keren Davies (Steering Team)

A resident of Ryton for the last 10 years, have previously run a local pub (the Bridge Inn). Currently working for the Prison Service . An avid pub goer and supporter of village events, I understand the importance of having a village pub in such a rural area.

 

Chrissie Fox (Steering Team)

With my husband Tony, we own and manage a successful local company building Shepherds Huts.  Our family have lived in Ryton since the 1950’s, and we love being part of our amazing village.  We have a large family, and pub-life was very much part of it, enabling us all to catch up with friends and locals. 

 

Robin Gough (Steering Team)

Having lived in the village for 36 years, my family and I have been a regular at The Fox Inn. Now retired from my career in IT Project Management, I am a parent carer for our adult disabled son. Previously, I was very involved in both the campaign to stop The Fox Inn change-of-use (20 years ago), and the project to replace our old village hall with the fabulous one we now have. Importantly, I wish to represent the views and needs of our disabled son who wishes to continue to use the pub as it is an extremely important local facility for him,and many others.

 

James Hardaker (Steering Team)

Originally from Skipton, North Yorkshire, I moved to Shropshire in 2014 to attend Harper Adams university and have never left. After years working on a local dairy farm, I am now a mechanic at Edwards and Farmers. Myself and Emma moved to Ryton just over a year ago, the final decision to move here was made because of the access to a local pub. 

 

Emma Higgins (Steering Team)

Having recently finished my final year studying Agri-Business at Harper Adams university, I  have continued to work on my family's dairy farm where I predominantly rear Youngstock. James and I have lived in Ryton for just over a year, one of the factors that helped us make the decision to move here was the pub. I have been coming to The Fox for years through young farmers. James and I love walking with our Springer Spaniel and believe that no walk is complete without a pub at the end. 

 

Adele Inman (Steering Team)

We moved to Ryton village in November 2022 after living in Cheshire for over twenty years. I am of the strong opinion that a village pub is a vital hub to any village community in so many ways and this was a very important part of our criteria when we were looking for our family home.  Consequently,  I am very enthusiastic about supporting the reopening of The Fox Inn not only for the enjoyment of adults but for my whole family to enjoy and cement our sense of belonging to Ryton. 

 

James Marsden (Steering Team)

I have lived locally for the past 14 years, with my wife and now 3 children. We have lived in Ryton for the past 5 years, having had a meal at The Fox Inn when I first came to visit Shropshire nearly 20 years ago! A great village pub is such an asset to the village, and one that our family is keen to see preserved for the community for many years to come. As a farm vet serving the local community, I know how important such public meeting places are to those working in isolated rural locations.

 

Lloyd Nutting (Steering Team)

I am retired After 50 years of owning and running various small businesses. Two of these businesses were pubs with restaurants and one also had accommodation. We bought the Plough at Wall in 1990 when it was boarded, we completely renovated it and reopened it, over the 13 years we were there we extended it 3 times to accommodate the growing trade. In 2008 we took a 10 year repairing lease on The Bucks Head in Church Stretton and retired in 2018 when the lease was up.

 

Lisa-Jayne Powis (Steering Team)

I am a local business owner and have lived in Ryton since 2012. I have developed my holiday let business through high profile social media pages. I have become involved in the campaign to reopen The Fox Inn not only as our family used to enjoy visiting but our holiday let guests have always supported the pub and thoroughly enjoyed having a pub within walking distance.

 

Dave Wright  (Steering Team)

A new arrival in Ryton. I was a Police Officer for 31 years split between London and Manchester and then worked for a housing trust for several years in administration. In the last 18 months I have had experience as working as a barman in several pubs/restaurants.I am currently renovating our house and holiday let.