Exciting Speaker Lineup at Riviera Connect EXPO!
We brought together an inspiring lineup of industry experts and business leaders to share insights, trends, and strategies to help you grow and succeed.
Get ready for a day of valuable knowledge, networking, and innovation!
Councillor Chris Lewis
Cabinet Member for Place Development and Economic Growth and Deputy Leader of the Council
Chris has a career spanning business, tourism, local government and economic regeneration. Brought up in London, he was actively involved in business and both local and national politics, standing for Parliament in 1983.
He owned and successfully operated a Business Travel Agency for over 20 years, arranging travel for the BBC and other organisations. Following its sale to a major international company, Chris became a Director and worked on projects in the UK and overseas. He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Travel and Tourism.
In 2000, Chris moved to Torbay and operated a group of holiday cottages. Elected to Torbay Council in 2007, he subsequently served as Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Economic Regeneration and remains Councillor for Preston. He was a founder Director of the TDA and served on the South West Regional Development Agency Board from 2009–2012.
Chris is currently Deputy Leader of Torbay Council, with responsibility for Place Development and Economic Growth, and is involved in major regeneration projects across the Bay.
Tarah Gear
Director of Brand and Place Futures at Milligan
For over 18 years, Tarah has developed big brands and destinations across venues, real estate, retail and leisure with a special focus on technology and customer experience. Tarah works at the intersection of regeneration, narrative and identity, shaping destinations across real estate, retail, leisure and venues, she leads the strategic development of brand and storytelling for the places Milligan creates, aligning customer needs, stakeholder priorities and long-term purpose.
Her work spans projects from coastal towns to major city centres, with a consistent focus on people, culture and the social infrastructure that enables places to thrive. Tarah’s role brings together brand, communications and ESG, ensuring that both the vision and values of a place are clearly defined and carried through from early strategy to delivery.
Alongside her work in regeneration, Tarah is also a published children’s author. This reflects a deep belief that stories have the power to connect communities, inspire imagination and reframe how we see the world around us, an ethos that underpins her approach to placemaking.
David Carter
Director of Regeneration and Place Delivery at Torbay Council
David is currently overseeing the development of Torbay Council’s Regeneration and Affordable Housing programmes which have been merged to create a Housing Led regeneration strategy, to target delivery of 200 units of affordable housing per year by 2030 predominately on brownfield land.
After a 20 year career in the private sector David has worked at Director level in the Public Sector since 2016 at North Somerset Council, West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and Somerset before joining Torbay in 2024. David was part of the board set up in 2018 to steer Bristol Temple Quarter Masterplan delivery which achieved £100m of Government Funding in 2022 to regenerate the area and deliver up to 10,000 new homes.
Martin Tresidder
Development Director at Milligan
Martin is a delivery focused property professional with over 35 years’ experience. He has worked as contractor, consultant and developer or client lead, where he has spent most of his career.
He spent his formative years working for main contractors. In the late 90’s Martin joined Whitbread Property and delivered numerous new developments across the UK and internationally. In the mid 00’s Martin worked for Multi Development and Queensberry Real Estate where he delivered some nationally significant and award-winning mixed-use regeneration developments. In recent years he was Director of Project Management at St Modwen before leading the Project Management team at Gleeds in Bristol.
Martin has worked across many property sectors, including mixed use regeneration, urban residential, education, retail, F&B, Hotels, commercial, industrial, logistics and residential strategic land.
His extensive experience in Project and Development Management means he is well placed to find solutions to complex property challenges.
Chris Wheeler
National Head of Development – Regeneration at Willmott Dixon
Chris is National Head of Development (Regeneration) at Willmott Dixon Developments and leads the business across South Wales and the South West of England. Having moved from roles in operations and construction into development, he brings almost 20 years’ experience across the development process, supporting customers to shape and deliver regeneration and development opportunities.
His expertise includes placemaking, stakeholder management, community engagement and negotiation. Chris specialises in town centre regeneration for local authorities, with a particular focus on residential-led development and unlocking complex projects through a range of tenures and funding approaches.
Talk Information
Marc Rocker
Every business is now a technology business, and every business faces cyber risk.
Marc Rocker is a Cyber Insurance Executive at Brown & Brown, helping businesses understand and manage the risks associated with cybercrime and technology-related disruption. Working with organisations of all sizes, he advises on cyber resilience, risk management, and cyber insurance solutions that can help businesses recover when incidents occur. Marc is passionate about making complex cyber topics accessible to non-technical audiences, providing practical guidance that business owners can act upon. Through his work at Brown & Brown, he helps organisations strengthen their cyber defences, better understand emerging threats and prepare for the worst should a cyber incident occur.
Talk Information
Connor Van Bussel
In my role as SEO Executive, I work on increasing website traffic for clients, including copy, on-page optimisation, link-building, and search engine analytics.
Outside of work I enjoy bouldering, doing martial arts, writing fantasy novels, playing tabletop games, and all things nerdy!
Talk Information
Carolyn Custerson
Carolyn has over 35 years experience working in the UK tourism industry. In January 2017 Carolyn was appointed as the Chief Executive of the new ERBID Company. Previous roles include: Chief Executive of the English Riviera Tourism Company, Chairman of Visit Devon, Managing Director of Close Focus Tourism Consultancy, Specialist Tourism Advisor for Business Link Devon and Cornwall, Senior Tourism lecturer at Plymouth CFE and UK Product Development Director SAGA Holidays. Carolyn is a member of TMI (Tourism Management Institute) Tourism Society and representative of the Visit England Destinations Forum with responsibility for leading on the new England’s Seafood Coast Project. Carolyn has also been appointed as Chairwoman of the English Riviera Destination Management Group.
