Our team
Leadership team
Dr Noorzaman Rashid
Chief Executive Officer
Noorzaman has a successful track record of leading professional services firms and public sector agencies and working with membership bodies at board level. He is a former Master of the Livery Company for Management Consultants.
After graduating in Three-Dimensional Design, he went on to study operational research and became an author and speaker on quality management and organisational performance. At the University of Warwick Business School, he led several international pieces of work in Japan, Russia, South Africa and the USA.
Noorzaman has worked for several professional services and technology firms including Harvey Nash Group, Norman Broadbent (part of BNB Resources) and ATKearney (part of the EDS Group), building significant businesses through organic growth, mergers and acquisitions.
Non-Executive roles have included Chair of the NHS Institute for Innovation’s Worldwide Board. He is founder of a Multi Academy Trust, E-ACT, through which he opened 30 City Academies with 29,500 students.
Mujahid Rasheed
Business Growth Director
Mujahid is a passionate results and process-driven commercial leader, with more than 18 years’ experience.
Having held several leadership positions within sales and marketing, business development and account management within many challenging business environments, Mujahid is well equipped to help lead on CEME’s business growth ambitions.
Mujahid started his career after attaining an MBA and an MSc in Business & Marketing. He has worked for many established organisations, including Debenhams, LA Fitness, Magnet, Capita, Royal Mail Group, Regus Group and Bizpace.
Mujahid joined CEME in 2023 to help materialise the vision set out by the CEO and senior leadership team – to deliver economic regeneration, be an accelerator for green technology and deliver business growth.
In the summer, Mujahid enjoys playing cricket for his town’s team.
Benyoucef Houcheche
Finance Director
Ben is a highly dynamic, experienced accountant (CIMA qualified). He joined CEME in 2014, working in the property sector for the last 30 years and in the charity sector for the past 10 years.
Having worked with major companies across the UK, he also used his language skills to work with international property companies in Europe.
As well as having a flair for numbers, Ben is a people person and a team player. He is passionate about CEME objectives and working hard to help deliver business growth. He aims to make CEME carbon neutral and is supporting CEME’s work to be home to a hydrogen innovation centre.
Lucy Groen
Head of Partnership and Skills
Lucy is a seasoned business operations professional with more than 13 years of experience leading teams and driving success. Passionate about forging strategic alliances and driving business growth, she is a skilled negotiator and relationship builder. Lucy excels at identifying and cultivating partnerships which expand reach, enhance offerings and deliver significant value.
Lucy has spearheaded partnership initiatives across various sectors, working at Macmillan Cancer Support, Diabetes UK and Business in the Community, with a diverse portfolio of companies, including Nationwide, Santander, RBS, Saint-Gobain, Tesco and Land Securities.
Ian Mitchell
Head of Operations
Ian is a facilities professional with more than 30 years’ experience, including shopping centre operations for 17 years. A certified member of the Institute of Workplace Facilities Management (IWFM), he holds a NEBOSH Diploma.
Ian has a wealth of experience in operations, customer service, facilities services and people management. He has held several senior management positions, including operation management and regional management of a large multi-sector portfolio, with responsibility spanning London and the East of England.
Ian has a proven track record in project management and has a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience in procurement, contract management, compliance management and health and safety.
Providing a strategic overview of facilities and operations and wider business needs, Ian is a well-respected member of the Senior Management Team.
Chris George
Head of IT
Chris has been delivering CEME’s IT service since its launch in 2003. Starting as part of the project delivery team during CEMEs construction, Chris took a role as a Systems Administrator when CEME opened its doors to the public and has since progressed to Head of IT. In this time, Chris has seen many changes in terms of the technology used and its applications within CEME. Chris is a hands-on manager providing support to staff and tenants for all software and systems used, as well as being responsible for CEME’s IT strategy, budget, infrastructure projects, supplier relationships and procurement, policies, procedures and training.
Chris also sits on the Board of the Riverside BID, London’s largest industrial business improvement district, which represents more than 450 businesses.
Board of Trustees
Valerie Owen
Chair
Valerie Owen is a chartered architect, town planner, development surveyor and environmentalist – an expert in sustainable development and regeneration. In her early career, Valerie specialised in conservation and heritage, converting redundant listed buildings for commercial use. She then became Architect Director at international consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, maximising investment returns by upgrading properties in major pension fund portfolios. Later, Valerie became Managing Director at London First, delivering sustainable development programmes through business and government partnerships.
Valerie is passionate about good design and sustainability. She has held numerous NED appointments, acting as commissioning client for major public sector projects. Until 2017, she was Chair of Lantra, one of the leading awarding bodies for land-based industries.
She currently runs Le Vaillant Owen Consultancy and holds ministerial appointments to Trinity House Lighthouse Board, Kent & Medway NHS Integrated Care Board and Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. In 2001, Valerie received an OBE for Services to Architecture. She is an Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University and Past Master of the Architect’s Livery Company. Valerie received the 2015 National Women in Construction Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2016 CBI’s ‘First Woman’ Built Environment Award, and a 2017 National Sunday Times NED of the Year Award. She lives in east Kent with her husband and three daughters and is actively involved with the RNLI and Girlguiding UK.
Neil Stubbings
Council Nominee
Neil Stubbings is a highly experienced Director (ACCA qualified) leading and delivering housing services, regeneration, economic development, services solutions and business re-engineering at senior manager level.
He is experienced in the delivery of innovative new build housing delivery models, wider regeneration and place shaping, as well as leading on developing inward investment strategies and the economic growth agenda.
Currently working for the London Borough of Havering, Neil has led the council procurement and delivery of three Joint Venture Limited Liability Partnerships to build up to 8,000 new homes across the borough plus master-planning for Romford town centre and Rainham.
He sits on the Board of CEME as Council Nominee.
Alessandro Attanasio
Having spent the first 12 months of his career working within a local authority as a HR Assistant, Alessandro Attainasio joined Ford Motor Company as a graduate in Human Resources in 2005. He had the opportunity to work in a number of different roles and support a number of different skill teams including finance, manufacturing and marketing, sales and service, and spent a considerable amount of time working in employee relations roles based in Dagenham, most recently as the HR Manager, Transport Operations and as the Senior HR Business Partner in Dagenham Engine Plant.
Having spent a significant amount of his career with Ford in Dagenham, Alessandro has had an awareness of CEME and its unique proposition and the opportunity to use its facility. He also has a keen interest in skills development, particularly within manufacturing and when the opportunity to become a non-executive director and occupy Ford’s position on the Board came about, he put himself forward to provide input to strategic discussions affecting CEME’s future.
Eman Martin-Vignerte
Eman is the Director of External Affairs and Government Relations at Bosch UK. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Electrical and Medical Engineering from the University of Paderborn/Ulm, Germany.
With more than six years of experience in software and hardware engineering in the automotive industry, she has played a key role in business development for telehealth in the UK and Ireland. In 2004, Eman served as the project manager for electronic pump, Hyundai customer, and spent a year in Korea. She also contributed to the development of ceramic Medtronic control units for vehicle engines at Bosch GmbH.
Eman’s expertise extends beyond her professional roles. She is an active member of various boards and advisory boards, including Buckingham Business First, CBI Southeast, Local Enterprise Partnership Buckinghamshire and UK5G. She is also a member of OCAVIA, the Oxford-Cambridge ARC Virtual Institute for Aviation, and serves as an advisor for WE-Transform, the Workforce Europe transformation agenda for transport automation under the EU Commission. Additionally, Eman provides advisory services at Autotech Europe and serves as a board member at Cenex.
Recognised for her leadership abilities, Eman is a fellow at the Leadership Fellow Society of Leadership Fellows, St George’s House, Windsor Castle.
Rajeev Verma
Rajeev is the Chief Engineer at Leonardo UK, leading aerospace and defence campaigns with a proven track record of managing cross-functional, geographically dispersed teams. He has extensive experience working with major industry players, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, NATS, and QinetiQ, where he has overseen the development of mission-critical and safety-critical technologies.
Rajeev excels in thought leadership, driving organisational transformations, integrating advanced technologies such as digital twins and AI, and ensuring engineering governance and quality assurance. Alongside his work in aerospace and defence, Rajeev has a strong interest in clean and green technologies and robotics with AI.
Simon Theobald
Simon Theobald is an experienced finance director (ACCA qualified) and has worked extensively for charitable and not for profit organisations, providing financial support and guidance across a wide range of different sectors.
Simon has led on raising finance and social investment for both capital build projects and to increase working capital facilities, enabling organisations to secure additional contracts for future growth and expansion of services.
He has experience in the healthcare and education sectors, as well as investment promotion and destination management while working as director of finance and corporate services at the West Midlands Growth Company.
He is currently interim Finance Director at the Heart of England Forest, a charity helping to reverse centuries of woodland decline by creating and conserving a huge broadleaf forest for the benefit of the environment, wildlife and people in Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
Simon joined CEME in early 2024 in his first trustee appointment. He is particularly interested in the ongoing work around green tech and the business growth potential of the CEME model.
Ian Fitzpatrick
Ian Fitzpatrick brings more than 25 years of rich experience in the further education (FE) sector, progressing from lecturing roles to senior leadership, including Principal level positions. With an initial background as a qualified automotive engineer, he transitioned into the construction equipment industry, and later became a business owner specialising in the remanufacturing of construction equipment. His passion for education led him to shift focus, aiming to inspire the next generation of engineers.
Throughout his career in FE, Ian has cultivated strong partnerships with major industries such as construction, aviation and rail. These collaborations have created exceptional opportunities for young people to gain valuable experience and training in key sectors. He has also engaged closely with government bodies, including the Department for Education and the Department for Business and Trade, contributing to the development and delivery of successful bids both in the UK and internationally.
Currently, Ian is working with New City College on delivering the Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) for Central London, with a focus on advancing green and digital skills. His efforts bring together FE institutions across the capital to collaborate on creating new educational resources aimed at meeting the evolving skills demands for a sustainable future. His leadership in this area is driving innovative approaches to address current and emerging skill gaps in key industries.
Richard Hutchins
Richard is Managing Director of the Oxford to Cambridge Partnership, a position he took up in June 2023.
Prior to this Richard spent 20 years in the West Midlands in a variety of senior executive roles in economic development and higher education. He was Deputy CEO of the Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands; Director of Jaguar Land Rover Programmes at Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick; Chief Operating Officer at West Midlands Growth Company; and Director of Strategy and latterly Chief Communications Officer at the University of Warwick.
Richard has also held a number of non-executive and government advisory roles. He was a founding Director of Sustainability West Midlands, NED at Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, Chair of West Midlands Manufacturing Consortium and Chair of the WMG Academy for Young Engineers Trust. He served on the UK Government’s National Food Survey Committee and Defra’s Milk Task Force.
Richard’s early career was in academia and research. He has a PhD in Food Marketing from Newcastle University.
