Patrons

Peter Mileham

Yorkshire Born Peter Mileham is aged 63.

His early career was in the construction industry, joining the Shepard Building Group of York in 1964. His main responsibilities at that time were in the field of speculative housing development. In the early 1970′s Peter was promoted and transferred to Manchester where he was Senior Surveyor on a number of significant contracts in the North West.

Being naturally inclined towards the promotional side of business, Peter joined Liquid Plastics Ltd of Preston, manufacturers of specialist coatings for the construction industry, as a Sales Executive in 1973, rapidly gaining promotion to Scottish Sales Manager and the Deputy National Sales Manager. In 1979 the expansion of the business demanded the formation of a marketing department, which he founded, joining the board of directors as Marketing Director in 1982. This position was held until 2003 over which time turnover had increased from roughly £300,000 to over £40 Million today, with markets in 150 countries around the world. Over the past ten years, Peter has played a major role in establishing branches in Belgium and the USA and setting up two additional manufacturing businesses in the UK which now collectively operate as the lotech group.

In addition to his directorshiops of Liquid Plastics Lts, Peter was the local chairman (Preston & North West) of the Yorkshire Bank and a member of SABRE, a body devoted to supporting Britains Army Reservists and Employers.

Strongly interested in business development and encouraging small business to succeed, Peter joined the Chamber of Commerce movement in 1990 and served as Director and President of North and West Lancs Chamber of Commerce, Vice Chairman of North West Chambers, Director of British Chambers of Commerce and Chairman of the British Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce.

He became President of the British Chambers of Commerce in 2006 and held the position until the summer of 2008.

Peter was born in Scarborough, where he was educated at local schools. He went on to further education at York & Hull Technical Colleges qualifying as a member of the Chartered Institute of Building. Peter is a keen supporter of the arts and is married with two daughters.

He became Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire in 2004 and, in this capacity, is a member of the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund Committee.

Ben Wallace

Ben and his wife Liza live just outside Lancaster in the north of the County.

They have three young children. Ben has been the Member of Parliament for Wyre and Preston North since May 2010.

After leaving school at eighteen, Ben did a short stint as a Ski Instructor in Austria before entering the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the Scots Guards at twenty. Ben saw operational service in Northern Ireland and Central America.

During his military career he served in the posts of Platoon Commander, Company Commander, Operations Officer and as an Intelligence Officer in Northern Ireland. In 1991 he was Mentioned in Despatches.

Ben was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent North East Scotland in May 1999. He became Shadow Health spokesman for the Conservatives and served on the Health Select Committee.

In 2003 Ben stood down and moved to Lancashire. He was selected as Conservative candidate to fight the marginal seat of Lancaster & Wyre. Until the General Election of 2005, Ben was employed by QinetiQ as their Overseas Director in the Security & Intelligence Division.

At the last General Election changes to the constituency boundaries in Lancashire meant that the constituency of Lancaster and Wyre was divided to form two new constituencies: Wyre & Preston North and Lancaster & Fleetwood. The new constituency of Wyre and Preston North also includes areas which had previously formed part of the Ribble Valley constituency and the Fylde constituency. In May 2010 Ben stood for election in the newly created constituency of Wyre and Preston North and was successful in being returned to Parliament.

Ben’s interests are the NHS, Home Affairs and Foreign Policy. When time permits he enjoys Rugby, and Skiing and Horse Racing as well as spending time with his family in Lancashire