Potential, people and passion

Potential, people and passion are the watchwords for the new woman at the head of the company charted with promoting Sunderland city centre.

Sharon Appleby has taken over as head of operations for the city’s Business Improvement District (Bid) and has big plans.

Sharon is familiar with the city, its challenges and its opportunities.

“I have worked in Sunderland since 2001, with Sunderland Housing Group and then Gentoo and have seen so may changes within the city,” she said.

“I had a huge amount of challenge at Gentoo but have always been allowed to develop new things and push the boundaries with lots of different things.

“It was time for me to leave Gentoo, definitely. From my point of view. I had done what I could do there.”

Sharon was already a member of the Bid board and found herself excited by the potential of the city centre.

“Because I was on the board of the Bid, I had started to get an understanding of what the challenges were but also what the potential is.

“I think when you look around you can’t fail to notice how much potential there is in Sunderland and also when you look at the amount of stuff that is already nailed on in terms of investment and development.

“I wanted to be part of that as it starts.”

But she needs the traders on-board to make the most of opportunities.

“I think the bit about the job that really, really excites me is about working with people, working with the businesses primarily, because they are the people who are the levy payers, they are the stakeholders,” she said.

“The consumer is absolutely vital but working with the businesses is the key thing for me.

“I love working with people, looking at issues and working together to try to solve that problem. This job gives limitless opportunities to do that, especially when you look at the numbers.”

The Bid has a small, dedicated team, at its Software Centre offices, but Sharon is aware of its limitations and the need to attract support.

“We cannot do this with the budget and the numbers of people, without working with other people,” she said.

“That’s a key thing for me, that we have to be able to do that and we have to be able to do it well. And we have to then prove that the collaboration has been successful.

“It is about asking for help, saying to people, ‘We need your help to deliver this,’ then they say ‘Tell us what it is you want,’ as opposed to not asking them for anything, then they almost feel excluded.

“My style is very co-operative and is much more about what we can do together.”

“I love working with people, looking at issues and working together to try to solve that problem. This job gives limitless opportunities to do that” SHARON APPLEBY