Margaret Fay OBE

Margaret Fay was appointed Chairman of One NorthEast in December 2003.

Margaret is the former Managing Director of Tyne Tees Television.  In her 22 years with Tyne Tees she moved from her initial role in the Accounts Department to her first managerial role in Facilities Management where she had responsibility for all Tyne Tees’ premises and services.  Her next promotion was into Production where she held various operational management positions before her appointment to the board as Director of Operations following the takeover in 1992 by Yorkshire Television.

Following a further takeover in 1997 by Granada she was appointed Managing Director, which she held until she took early retirement in December 2003 in order to take up her current post.

During her time at Tyne Tees, Margaret was known for her open and direct style, continued to deliver against objectives and, in addition to the various posts she held, continued to specialise in human resources and industrial relations issues.

Over the last few years at Tyne Tees Margaret established strong relationships with the region’s business and political communities. This has continued throughout her time as Chairman of One NorthEast and in 2006, she led the Agency in achieving the top “performing strongly” grading in a National Audit Office assessment of its work.

In 2007 Margaret played a key role on behalf of the RDA network as its Chair of Chairs – this involved her leading discussions with senior Government Ministers and officials about national economic development issues.

Margaret is a Board Member of English Partnerships, a non-executive Director of Darlington Building Society and Patron of Tees Valley Community Foundation. For the past nine years, ending in December 2007, Margaret was also a Governor at the University of Teesside.

Margaret was awarded the OBE in June 2004 for services to broadcasting and an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration in July 2004 from Sunderland University for her services to Broadcasting, Business and Regional Life.

In June 2005, Margaret was appointed the Prince of Wales Ambassador for the North East of England.

Email Margaret at margaret.fay@onenortheast.co.uk