John Beesley has been a Bournemouth hotelier for over 30 years and he also heads a hospitality consultancy specialising in hotel management and development working across England and Wales.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality.

He has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors through serving on a variety of trade and political bodies alongside his business career in hospitality. He has a very good understanding of the practicalities of the interface between both local and national government and business, and how to plan strategically to develop soundly based decision making and sustainable outcomes.

In the public sector, John has been a local Councillor since 2000 and held a number of positions at regional and national level.  He was Leader of Bournemouth Council for 7 years and previously Deputy Leader for 5 years, and for 12 years he was also responsible for Bournemouth Council’s Finance and Budget. He is currently Chairman of the Audit & Governance Committee on the newly formed BCP Council.