Andy is a science graduate and managing director of Lettergold which is an engineering company that employs twenty staff. Lettergold specialise in domestic water treatment products and solutions. The company is in Hammond Close Newmarket, so Andy is in town every day and has a good understanding of how the town functions, commuting from nearby Herringswell.
Andy is married to Belinda, and they have two daughters who both live in Newmarket – the elder is an equine vet and the younger is a racing manager.
Andy has been a councillor since 2003 sitting on the town, district council and the county council. Andy recently joined Red Lodge parish council as a co-opted member because councillor numbers were getting low and there was a risk of the council becoming inquorate.
On the town council, while mayor, Andy restructured it to save £100,000 per annum in staff costs. This allowed the council to contract out some of the services it struggled with to the district council such as the cemetery management and the horticultural contract. This has allowed the town council to make a significant investment into the Memorial Gardens to create a facility that every youngster in town really enjoys.
When the first lockdown of the Covid pandemic set in during March 2020 – Andy, as chair of finance and policy on the town council, set up a fund of £15,000 to manage a Corona Virus Helpline which worked together with the county/district ‘Home but not Alone’ service connecting volunteers with vulnerable people in Suffolk.
Prior to May 2023 Andy was the portfolio holder for regulatory and environment on West Suffolk district council. West Suffolk declared a climate emergency and they remain on target to be carbon neutral by 2030. Andy also chaired the Suffolk wide environment portfolio holder’s group during that time.
In a previous portfolio role for leisure and culture, Andy chaired the Project Executive Board (PEB) which was the committee that delivered the £19m asset that’s the National Horseracing Museum which is a world class museum that puts Newmarket on the destination map to bring prosperity into the town.
In terms of interests, Andy enjoys eventing (as a spectator) and racing, especially Newmarket Nights at the July Racecourse.
Andy is the current Chairman of the Newmarket and Red Lodge Branch.