Gloucestershire's Local Enterprise Partnership, GFirst LEP, has announced the appointment of three new board members; Deborah Potts, Russell Marchant and Jenny Raymond.

This follows an open recruitment process where nearly 100 local business leaders applied.

Diane Savory, chair of GFirst LEP, said: "We were overwhelmed with both the quality and quantity of the applicants looking to join the GFirst LEP board. The list really was a 'who's who' of business talent in the county.

"We have been very successful as an LEP attracting over £106 million in funding into the county, and we must continue to work with the business community to be even more ambitious and to challenge ourselves to achieve even more.

"I am sure the experience, energy and enthusiasm from our newest board members will help us achieve this."

Deborah Potts has over 25 years' professional experience of supporting Voluntary & Community Sector (VCS) organisations to grow. Deborah is currently CEO of both Active Gloucestershire and The Music Works.

As previous CEO of Women in Sport and interim director of operations for the English Federation of Disability Sport, she also has a strong track record in championing equality of opportunity for marginalised groups.

Russell Marchant has been the principal and CEO of Hartpury College since September 2012, prior to that 11 years as principal and CEO of Barony College, Dumfriesshire. An agriculturalist with a keen interest in all rural businesses, Russell is a keen member of the LEP Agri-Food & Rural Business Sector Group and newly appointed to the LEP Employment & Skills Board. Russell is passionate about all things land-based, and all sports, and is excited about the potential that is all around us in Gloucestershire.

Jenny Raymond is a partner with Harrison Clark Rickerbys' dispute resolution department in Cheltenham. She specialises in a wide range of commercial disputes including financial services, banking and insurance disputes. She trained and qualified in London and has a broad range of experience, representing a range of clients from multinational companies to local individuals. She has lived in Gloucestershire for four years, having grown up in a local community in Pembrokeshire. Jenny feels entirely at home in the county, and loves the sense of community as well as the huge opportunities that the county has to offer.

Picture captions: Deborah Potts (top), Russell Marchant and Jenny Raymond.