Board of Trustees
David Watson
Chair
David is a cultural leader and consultant with over two decades of experience working across many of the UK’s leading arts, cultural, heritage and entertainment organisations, as well as landmark national initiatives.
He is currently Interim Executive Director (& Joint CEO) of National Dance Company Wales and also works as consultant supporting arts and cultural organisations with strategic business planning, programming, creative producing, branding, marketing, digital innovation and fundraising.
David’s previous roles and collaborations include work with National Museums Liverpool, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Hull UK City of Culture 2017, English National Ballet, the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Ceremonies, the Royal Opera House, and Rambert Dance Company to name but a few.
Alongside being Chair of Storyhouse, he also is Chair for Back to Ours, a leading community arts organisation in Hull. He has also served as a trustee for One Dance UK, Middle Child Theatre, Dance Umbrella, and Islington Arts Factory.
Alongside his leadership and consultancy work, David is the Founder and Creative Director of MlkMen, a playful, design-led sock brand, and Lumanique, a luxury home fragrance company. He is also the producer and host of Before the Applause – a hit podcast exploring what it really takes to create world-class arts, culture and creative experiences, featuring guests from across the creative industries.
Before establishing his career as a senior cultural leader, David trained professionally as a dancer at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds and went on to perform and choreograph for stage and screen across the UK and internationally.
Bense Burnett
Trustee
Bense’s career spans senior leadership roles across numerous countries within a global healthcare business. He brings expertise in Business Strategy, Project Management, Change Management and Governance having delivered complex, cost-effective services and major organisational change programmes internationally.
Throughout his career, he has been passionate about applying his expertise to deliver a ‘best in class’ consumer experience. His knowledge and advice have been used by the UK Government’s Business, Skills & Innovation Department to assess Shared Services capabilities for its Research Councils in order to drive a major strategy delivery plan. His long-held interest in the arts, together with his recent retirement means that he now has the opportunity to apply his commercial experience to supporting Storyhouse moving forward.
John Grout
Trustee
John qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young before working in the UK and internationally with commercial, banking and charitable organisations. He retired as Finance Director of CAF Bank in 2020 and now works part-time as Treasurer of Charities Aid Foundation.
Ryan Guest
Trustee
Ryan brings the perspective of a young person who has been engaged with Storyhouse for over four years, including Storyhouse’s very own young leaders programme. He is committed to amplifying the voices of young people in Chester and widening the organisation’s inclusivity and appeal.
He is Deputy Manager at the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation charity, leading a volunteer team and overseeing the day-to-day operation. Alongside this, Ryan has six years of technical theatre experience, including stage, sound, and lighting work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Sioned Jones
Trustee
Sioned is a senior manager and leader in the not-for-profit sector, where she has worked for over two decades. In that time she has worked in a range of organisations, including the international NGO, Oxfam, the UK’s leading sight loss charity ,RNIB, the women’s rights NGO, founded by Annie Lennox, The Circle, the international advocacy organisation, Tax Justice Network and is currently Director for Wales at the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, BookTrust. In addition, she is a trustee at Magic for Smiles, a small charity working to support the wellbeing of refugee children through magic shows and tuition.
The common thread weaving through Sioned’s professional and personal life is her desire for social justice. Originally from North Wales, having moved to London in the late 80’s, Sioned returned to the North West in 2017, settling with her family in Chester. In her spare time, she enjoys attending live music and events at the wonderful array of cultural arts venues and events across the region, including, of course, Storyhouse.
Kirsty Lowe
Trustee
Kirsty has spent her career to date working in education, her current role is focused on mental health, emotional well-being and safeguarding. She has a passion for inclusion and removing barriers to learning in the broadest sense. Personally and professionally she has witnessed the transformative benefits of participation in community, culture and the arts and she is committed to broadening access to such opportunities for all.
She has studied educational leadership to post-graduate level and is experienced in governance at a number of different settings as well as working with three different local authorities on admissions and exclusions appeals. Kirsty and her family have been enthusiastic supporters of Storyhouse since it opened, particular favourites are the cinema and the Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre each summer.
Maria Perny
Trustee
Maria has over 25 years experience in the global energy marketing and trading industry being based in Houston, Texas for the majority of her working life while holding senior executive positions with responsibility for teams in the USA, UK, India and Singapore. Her roles have covered Commercial Trading and Financial Management, Risk Management, large-scale technology project implementation, Change Management and Operations in addition to strategic leadership responsibilities. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
While living in Houston, she was on the Operating Committee of Books Between Kids, a wonderful charity working to help impoverished and at-risk children own books of their own and to develop a love of reading. In 2021, she moved to Chester and having recently retired is delighted to be able to leverage her expertise for the benefit of the wonderful welcoming community of Chester and specifically the Storyhouse mission.
Vidya Venugopal
Trustee
Vidya is an international development lawyer working in a multilateral development bank and has predominantly worked in the banking sector over the last decade. At her current role, she is responsible for advising clients in South Asia on the legal and operational issues concerning the projects being financed by the institution. Prior to coming to Chester with her spouse, she lived, studied and/or worked for significant periods in India, Middle East and the US.
With a passion for art and literature and specifically the institutions and places that enables their impact, she is looking forward to applying her skills to support the Storyhouse mission. Most days when in Chester, she can be found taking her break in one of the many indie coffee shops that dot the city.
Ric Watts
Trustee
Ric is a producer of theatre, arts and festivals, based in Manchester. He is currently Executive Producer for Factory International, producing world-class work across a range of artforms for the newly opened Aviva Studios and the city-wide festival of original work Manchester International Festival, alongside helping manage a busy, large producing team.
Previously, Ric was Senior Producer at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester for four years, producing over 30 main-stage productions. Additionally, he has worked in producing roles for a number of leading theatres and festivals, including HOME, Theatr Clwyd, Contact, Transform Festival and Queer Up North International Festival. During a 20-year producing career he has also spent significant time working with independent artists, producing award-winning work on tour around the UK and internationally, and providing strategic development support and mentorship.