Deputy Lieutenant and former High Sheriff of Cumbria Marcia Reid Fotheringham has been welcomed this week as the new patron of Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster (BECBC).
Her appointment will formally begin in September, following on from Professor John Fyfe who had been in the role since 2018.
BECBC is a private sector-led membership organisation that is deeply rooted in its local community. At the forefront of its ethos is a deliberate focus on collaboration of businesses for the benefit of the wider business community. Its members are also heavily involved in social economic causes and take part in BECBC’s award-winning Business and Schools Collaboration Project.
Mrs Reid Fotheringham, who moved to Cumbria from the USA in 1997, said: “I am honoured to have been invited to become BECBC’s patron. Over the last 20 years in Cumbria, and in my previous role as High Sheriff, I have seen the strength, determination and resilience of the people of Cumbria and the many organisations innovative Cumbrians are involved with.
“BECBC is an excellent example of this. Its members’ extraordinary focus on collaboration is inspiring. I look forward to supporting their efforts to strengthen business in this region and beyond.”
Mrs Reid Fotheringham was born in London and moved as a child to New York where she was raised and educated. After moving to Cumbria, she has helped her husband Jim run his dental practices, worked as a psychologist/family therapist for the NHS in Cumbria, sat as a magistrate for adult and family courts, as a board member of the Safety Net agency and of Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, and ended her 12-month stint as High Sheriff of Cumbria this year.
In addition to her BECBC role, which she will hold for three years, Mrs Reid Fotheringham is also the Deputy Lieutenant of Cumbria.