My Story

Who I am and why I want to be your local councillor

I come from a working class family. I grew up on a council estate, in a small mining community. When I was younger life could be tough at times, but council housing, council services and public transport gave my family the stability that it needed to survive and to succeed. Growing up in a low income household meant that times were often hard, so I know what it feels like to struggle, when hard graft in itself, isn’t always enough to guarantee that you can put food on the table. For a large part of my working life I was lucky enough to run my own small business, enabling me to build a more comfortable future for my own children, but the scars of that earlier life are still there, hiding just below the surface.

I know what it’s like to be given a chance at a better life and believe that this shouldn’t come down to simple luck or catching the breaks at the right time. I was fortunate enough to do well at school, which led me to sixth form and then on to university where I studied Business and Financial Management. After graduating I went into a senior management role for one of the large supermarket chains, before starting and running a successful small business for over 18 years, with the last 10 years of that time, between 2010 and 2020 trading out of Crystal Peaks Market. For the last couple of years I’ve worked as a constituency caseworker for our local MP Clive Betts, helping to resolve issues for a number of Beighton residents

As a result of running a business in the local area I know Beighton really well and I also know quite a few of it’s residents. They also know me and on a number of occasions whilst out campaigning in the area I’ve had people turn round and say ‘didn’t you used to own the watch stall in the corner of the market’

Yep, hands up, that was me, guilty as charged !!

What happens in Beighton matters to me as it effects a lot of people who I know and people who I care about and that’s why I want the very best for Beighton and I will do everything that I can to make sure that Beighton gets the very best