Alison is currently a NED with University Hospitals Tees and a Governor of Northumbria University, having also previously served as a NED of a major Northeast housing association and as a trustee of a local charity.
Alison grew up on Teesside. After training and working as a corporate solicitor in London, she became a partner and head of the Commercial Team at Dickinson Dees (now part of Womble Bond Dickinson), where she led on commercial projects, including the procurement and construction of several new hospitals.
She then moved into the public sector, as the Assistant Director of Capital Investment at Newcastle Council, the Executive Director of Commercial Development at Sunderland Council then the Group Commercial Director of Tees Valley Combined Authority, Director of Development at Teesside Airport and Interim CEO of the Tyneside Cinema. In those roles she bid successfully for external funding, managed extensive investment programmes and worked on regeneration projects across the North East, including the procurement and delivery of the second Tyne Tunnel, the Northern Spire Bridge, the development of new business parks and large public-private housing projects. She is experienced in working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders at the private/public sector interface.
