Economic Development

David F Smallman
For the last 42 years David Smallman has been involved in international business development and contract negotiation for corporations and local governments, during this time he has lived in Canada, France and the USA and travelled on business to some 55 countries. In 1990, encouraged by some of the current Team members, European political contacts and associates in international financing, he created Pathfinder Team Consulting Ltd to bring together people of experience to provide truly independent advice. Since then the Team have worked in over 40 countries on a variety of projects advising companies and governmental bodies; including the restoration of a railroad to developing long term economic development strategies for US local and state governments. His firm currently acts as the European representative for Louisiana Economic Development. David is a regular speaker on both sides of the Atlantic at business events where he is known for his extempore style of presentation on how to succeed in international business. He is member of the editorial Board of International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry for whom he contributes articles on worldwide business development. He is currently contributing a series of articles on business to the Aberdeen Press & Journal.

Lord Foster of Bishop Auckland
Derek Foster, presently the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, was first elected to the House of Commons in 1979 following a career in both the public and private sectors. His joining of Pathfinder in 2006 brings over 40 years of political experience in economic development. He is the ex- Chair of the North of England Development Council. He is Chair of Economic Development for Tyne & Wear Metropolitan County and on the Board of the County Durham Development Company. He is Chair of the North East Committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund. During his 26 years in the Commons he served for 9 years the Labour Party's Chief Whip and in 1993 Her Majesty The Queen appointed Derek a Privy Councilor; he was elevated to the Lord's in the summer of 2005.

John Reynolds
John Reynolds has over 20 years involvement in Economic Development in local authorities in the North East of Scotland. A former Lord Provost and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Aberdeen, he has many contacts in local, national and international governments. John was awarded an honorary professorship by the Marat Ospanov West-Kazakhstan State Academy for services to the country and received a personal commendation from the Prime Minister. He is currently a Baillie and convenor of the Licensing Committee of Aberdeen City Council and was invited to address the Nicholson Committee regarding the new Alcohol Licensing law to be introduced in Scotland, which has now been enacted. John is Vice Chairman of the Grampian Houston Association, a trustee of the Grampian Japan Trust and Chairman of the Friends of Aberdeen International Youth Festival.

Sir Alan Traill
With 44 years experience in insurance based in the City of London, where he has served as the Lord Mayor as well as being an Alderman on the City Council for more than a third of a century, he still advises clients in the USA on specialist insurance needs. He acts both as a consultant on a wide variety of projects and as an Expert Witness. He is a qualified Arbitrator. His expertise has been instrumental in assisting a variety of Pathfinder clients to fully understand the risk abatement methods available to them in projects as diverse as casino gaming in the USA, public transport in Central America and mining development in Venezuela. From 2003-2006 he was appointed to the Board of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, and was responsible for re-writing their insurance law both for Agents and Companies.

Pam Forgie
Pam has over thirty years of comprehensive experience in a wide range of businesses, including 12 years in the Middle East, based in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., ,She has held management roles in Public Sector Accountancy as well as in Banking and Recruitment, She returned to the vibrant energy capital, Aberdeen, in 1999 to work in the oil & gas sector.

Pam’s career path and travel led her into Marketing and Business Development roles with large international organisations in the Energy Sector in UK. She brings to PTC experience in having developed overseas market entry for clients and sold into markets such as Malaysia, Australia and Russia and led a market visit of 23 trade association member companies to the Netherlands.

Her recent work has included guiding UK wide companies wishing to enter the Aberdeen, North East and Energy market and for trade associations, helping energy and engineering member companies develop business growth opportunities.

She has driven forward the growth of organizations, found them new opportunities, expanded their portfolio of services, increased their profile internationally and helped them build their businesses.

Pam has a large network of contacts in the industry, including Operators, Contractors, Suppliers, key Industry Associations and Government Bodies and has worked with those bodies on initiatives to benefit the supply chain, as a whole.