Sir Harry Studholme is Chairman of the South West Regional Development Agency, and currently Chair of the RDA network until the end of September, and has been involved in business, mainly in South West England, for the last 30 years. He has worked in accounting and general management in a range of sectors including manufacturing, land management and insurance, and in organisations ranging in size from quoted company to small businesses.
After studying Engineering at Cambridge University, Harry worked for Chartered Accountancy firms in London, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Tax Adviser. Wanting a broader experience of management he moved to Yorkshire to work as the general manager of a packaging company and then as the Financial Controller of a quoted clothing manufacturer. In 1990 he moved to the South West to manage an Exeter based signage manufacturer and a family farming and forestry business. In 1994 he became a director of an insurance company, Integer, which he subsequently chaired. As a consequence of his experience of disputes in the insurance sector Harry qualified as an accredited mediator in 2007.
Harry has been involved in representing business for over twenty years and has worked to improve the effectiveness of government support in this area. He is a GB Forestry Commissioner, and, prior to taking up the role of its Chair, had been a Board Member of the South West Regional Development Agency since 2002.