Anwen Griffiths

Anwen Griffiths is a Partner at Lee & Thompson LLP, a leading law firm for the media, technology & creative industries. With a background in film production, Anwen has over 25 years of experience and specialises in advising on all legal and commercial aspects of production and finance across the screen sectors – film, television and games. She represents many of the lead financiers and producers in the industry.

Anwen has also been heavily involved in supporting public funders in the growth of indigenous talent, having previously worked at the BFI and spent six years as a member (and subsequently vice-chair) of Ffilm Cymru Wales, the delegate for National Lottery Funding in Wales, with specific focus on promoting a sustainable sector and culture.

Dr. Romana Ramzan

Dr. Romana Ramzan is a Producer at the BAFTA Award winning No Code Studio in Glasgow, Scotland. Over the past decade, Romana has demonstrated a commitment and desire to drive forward changes in the industry to make it a safer and more welcoming space for people from underrepresented groups through her advocacy work. She has been at the forefront of driving innovative initiatives, within the industry and academia, that have demonstrated success nationally and internationally.

Romana was one of the main founders, and organisers of Scottish Game Jam, she was previously a Director of the Global Game Jam and has also served on the BAFTA Scotland Committee for Games. She was one of Develop Magazine’s “30 Under 30” and in March 2014, Romana was awarded the Asian Woman of the Future Award at the Scottish Asian Women’s Awards. Most recently, Romana was named as one of the Top 100 Women in Games in the UK by MCV.

Robin Saunders

Robin Saunders is Managing Partner of Clearbrook Capital Partners, a private investment and advisory group working with growth companies across a variety of sectors, including entertainment, business services, real estate, utilities and asset management.

Prior to founding Clearbrook, Robin was a corporate banker leading global teams specialising in securitisation and principal finance within banks including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and WestLB. She has served on numerous boards in retail, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, consumer products and utilities sectors. She has also served on the board of the UK Government’s industry regulator Office of Rail and Road.

Robin is a Visiting Fellow of the Said Business School at the University of Oxford, a Commissioner of the US-UK Fulbright Commission and an enthusiastic supporter of arts and education organisations.

Andrew Smith

Andrew M. Smith OBE DL joined the Pinewood Studios Group in June 2008 as Corporate Affairs Director. Synonymous with world class British and international productions, the Pinewood Studios Group is home to some of the most successful feature films and TV shows of all time, including James Bond and Star Wars.

Andrew is Chair of the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership; a member of BAFTA, the British Film Commission Advisory Board, the British Screen Forum, the Department of International Trade Creative Industries Trade Advisory Group and a Governor of the British Film Institute. In June 2021 Andrew was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and in January 2022 was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 2022 New Year’s Honours for services to ‘Business and the British Film Industry’.

Phil Stokes

Phil is a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has an extensive background in working with, auditing and advising film and media companies. He led PwC’s entertainment and media industry group in the UK for twelve years to 2017 and its EMEA Telecoms, Media and Technology practice from 2011 to 2015.

He founded and led the firm’s global Digital Transformation group, responding to the impact of new technologies and changing consumer behaviours across all industries. He advises companies and charities on financial controls, risk management, corporate governance and financial reporting.

Phil is a partner in The Clive Barker Archive and has co-authored several books with and about the author, artist and film-maker, Clive Barker. He is a trustee of Groundwork London, a school governor, a commissioner on the Durham Commission and chairs the BFI’s Audit, Risk and Governance Committee.

Members of the BFI Board of Governors are not remunerated. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election.

Andrew Smith declared being the Chair for Stoke Poges Conservative Branch but stated that he resigned in 2018 on being made a Governor of the BFI.

Anwen Griffiths, Dr Romana Ramzan, Phil Stokes and Robin Saunders declared no political activity.

Sewage flooding a river for hours was blamed on Anglian Water’s slow response to the incident.

The company has been fined £18,000 for failures at a pumping station near Peterborough that an investigation said showed up their “reactive attitude” to pollution.

District judge Ken Sheraton said Anglian Water should have given “a higher category of response” to a second sewage pump failing because the site at Yaxley was operating at a lower capacity with another pump already out of order.

The pumps were meant to regulate the flow of effluent but had stopped working a week apart, meaning raw sewage poured into Pig Water Drain for several hours and the damage was done before an engineer arrived at the pumping station in Windsor Road.

Investigators from the Environment Agency said at least 60 fish died with no chance of surviving the incident in February 2019. The final death toll was believed to be higher, with the fish killed by reduced oxygen and toxic ammonia in the water.

A dog-walker reported a creamy substance on the surface of the watercourse. The woman said she saw fish leaping from the water like they’d been electrocuted or attacked.

Louis de Quincey, who led the Environment Agency investigation, said:

With only a single pump in operation, this was always likely to increase the chances of an incident. Anglian Water should have sped up its response time as a result. Many hours passed before a technician stopped sewage entering the water.

Anglian Water could and should have acted quicker.

An Environment Agency officer called to the scene saw effluent gushing into the “grey and murky” water from a pipe traced back to the pumping station, supposed to control the flow of sewage through the sewer network.

Anglian Water staff seemed blind to the ongoing incident – one employee telling the technician there was nothing wrong, that no sewage was being pumped into the river.

Roach, pike and eel were among 60 dead fish recovered from the scene, but fisheries specialists from the Environment Agency believe many more would have been killed by a sharp decline in water quality caused by the release of the effluent.

In polluting Pig Water Drain, Anglian Water pleaded guilty to breaching regulations 12 (1) (b) and 38 (1) (a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

Sitting at Peterborough magistrates’ court on 4 May 2022, district judge Sheraton also ordered Anglian Water to pay £10,957.80 in costs to the Environment Agency and a victim surcharge of £170.

Hauliers serving music concerts, sports and cultural events will be able to move their vehicles freely between Great Britain and the EU thanks to new measures for the haulage sector announced today (6 May 2022).

Designed in consultation with the live music, performing arts and sports sectors, the new dual registration measure is expected to come into force from late summer 2022. It will apply to specialist hauliers that transport equipment for cultural events, such as concert tours or sports events.

Dual registration will mean drivers with an established base in Great Britain and in another country outside of the UK will be able to transfer their vehicle between both operator licences without the need to change vehicles, have their journeys limited or pay VED in Great Britain. 

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: 

British talent has long been at the heart of global performing arts and our specialist haulage sector is critical to the success of their tours.

It is unacceptable that because of EU bureaucracy, the operations of our specialist haulage sector on which our artists rely have been put at risk, impacting the livelihoods of touring artists and sportspeople.  

Dual registration helps put this right and means that touring events can take place seamlessly across Great Britain, the EU and beyond, keeping our incredible cultural sector thriving for years to come.

Creative Industries Minister Julia Lopez said: 

Live events are at the heart of the entertainment and sports industries, giving fans and performers unique and memorable experiences.

I welcome this move, which will better enable Britain’s creative talent to grow their audiences, showcase their work abroad and make sure people across Europe have the chance to see many of their heroes on their doorstep.

Since the UK’s departure from the EU, British specialist hauliers have been limited to visiting just 3 EU stops per tour. However, under the new legislation, companies with operating bases in both Great Britain and another international location can switch vehicles between the respective operator licences and make use of the internal movements permitted within each territory.

This opportunity applies not just to the EU, but also to other countries, opening our doors to cultural exchange from all over the world.

We are continuing to work closely with our EU partners and the live music industry to ensure that smaller artists can continue to tour freely around the world.

Tarrant Anderson, Company Director of Vans for Bands, said:

We are really pleased that the Department for Transport has engaged in detail with our sector on this critical issue and has come up with a solution to keep the live music touring industry moving. Without this initiative a large number of tours this year would simply have been unable to take place.

Craig Stanley, Touring Group Chair, LIVE (the voice of the UK’s live music business), said:

We are delighted that our close work with government has paid off and welcome this move, which will allow European music tours to continue this summer.

We now look forward to working with government on options to permanently resolve this issue, such as the negotiation of an EU-wide cultural exemption.

The Government has today announced further steps to support farmers with cost pressures caused by demand and instability seen across the globe. Under the latest plans, Direct Payments in England will be paid in two instalments each year for the remainder of the agricultural transition period, to help farmers with their cashflow.

The deadline for submitting Basic Payment Scheme 2022 applications is Monday 16 May 2022 and, under these plans, farmers with eligible applications will receive the first payment of 50% from the end of July and the second from December.

With agricultural commodities closely linked to global gas prices, farmers are facing rising costs for inputs including manufactured fertiliser, feed, fuel and energy. Due to heightened worldwide demand as the global economy reawakened following Covid, by February the price of gas had quadrupled on the previous year, and with the instability caused by Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine that price has risen further.

Output prices, particularly wheat, are also high and from analysis published by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) it is clear that farmers should continue to buy their inputs as usual. The steps government is taking to bring forward payments will allow them to do so.

Environment Secretary, George Eustice, said:

While increasing farm gate prices may mean that farm profitability remains stable, we recognise the short term pressures on cash flow.

We have decided to bring forward half of this year’s BPS payment as an advance injection of cash to farm businesses from the end of this July. It will give farmers some additional cashflow earlier in order to provide some confidence. We will also make this a permanent change to the way we pay BPS in future with twice yearly instalments going forward.

In the days of the EU this would never have been possible due to the way audits worked and the need to enforce the three crop rule during the summer.

Rural Payments Agency Chief Executive Paul Caldwell said:

Bringing forward half of this year’s BPS payment from the end of July will be a welcome boost to cash flow for many farm businesses during uncertain times.

This is not just an opportunity to support farmers here and now through a cash injection. It’s a permanent change to bring Direct Payments in line with what will be a more regular payment system under the new environment land management schemes.

This builds on a package of measures to support farmers announced in March, including: a delay to changes to the use of urea fertiliser by at least a year; revised and improved statutory guidance on the Farming Rules for Water; slurry investment grants to help meet those rules; and further details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive which will reward farmers for manufacturing more organic-based fertiliser products.