Meet Our Board of Directors
Nick Swales (Chair)
Nick is the Regional Director for Wealth Manager Rathbones and also brings considerable experience having previously been Chair of The Percy Hedley Foundation and has also served on a number of other charities and trusts in the region and at a national level for nearly 30 years.
Nick became Chair of the Board of the Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust in 2018.
Julie Blackie
Julie runs a successful group of online businesses, most notably Pink Boutique, which she founded with her daughter. She has opened a hotel and theatre, run a Saturday School and worked for various charities. She has extensive experience in youth and community work and managing urban regeneration programmes.
In the past Julie has written for radio, stage and television, including
Casualty and
Hollyoaks, and published several books including 'The Prodigal' which topped the Amazon crime bestseller list. She enjoys renovating property, especially listed buildings.
Julie became a Newcastle Theatre Royal trustee in September 2017.
Lorna Edwards
Lorna is a chartered accountant and chartered company secretary with over 10 years of experience in finance and governance. Lorna trained as an accountant with PwC and UNW in Newcastle, advising clients in the public, private and not for profit sectors before moving to Arriva plc and qualifying as company secretary. At Arriva, Lorna Chaired the Group’s UK defined contribution pension scheme governance committee well as holding several other Trustee and Director positions.
Lorna has a passion for the performing arts and with a love of dance and musical theatre.
Lorna became a Newcastle Theatre Royal trustee in October 2019.
Scott Holland
Scott is Sales Director at Mediaworks; working with businesses across the UK and internationally he brings considerable Digital Strategy experience to the theatre. Over the past six years he has advised clients across the legal, retail, fashion, finance and FMCG sectors on Digital Transformation and online growth strategies.
Scott also has a background in Enterprise IT solutions spending 7 years locally with TSG (Technology Service Group), and prior to that extensive experience in Retail Management.
Originally from Scotland, studying at Aberdeen University, he has lived in the region for the past 20 years
Scott became a Newcastle Theatre Royal trustee in January 2020.
Ray Mills
Ray is a chartered accountant who spent the first phase of his career at PwC as an adviser to public and private sector clients on regeneration, infrastructure finance and property development. He is currently a non-executive director of several small companies in the music, film production and house building sectors and a trustee of both The Newbridge Project, a charity which provides subsidised studio space for artists in Newcastle and Gateshead, and of the national environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy.
Ray became a Newcastle Theatre Royal trustee in July 2017.