Peter Judge: Our man in Moldova

Aug 21 2009 By Alastair Gilmour, The Journal

TEASHOPS near Hadrian’s Wall have good reason to be grateful to Peter Judge. As should the region’s designers, fund managers, scientists, property developers and members of the Moldovan government.

It’s not that One North East’s head of legal services and procurement is a rambler with a penchant for Earl Grey and former Soviet Union territories – they’re all elements in the huge role he fills for the regional development agency.

Peter is a former mergers and acquisitions lawyer and clearly relishes the commercial aspect of his profession; making deals happen, seeing change through and helping businesses and individuals to achieve their goals. Every major project in the region has passed through his and his team’s hands over the past six years – the Newcastle Science City company, Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Limited, Centres of Excellence Training Companies, Buildings for Business, Onsite North East and the Dot07 design initiative.

"I feel we’re the architects behind the scenes," he says. "It’s such good fun to be able to design things that work – that’s the important thing, something that will deliver on the ground.

"The first thing I did when I arrived at One North East in October 2003 – it was a bit contentious at the time – was to integrate the tourism activity within the agency, moving it out of Northumbria Tourist Board.

"Then we took the national lead in the creation of Business Link as a single regional operator, we took the national lead on the Manufacturing Advisory Service, building on the back of a very successful North East Productivity Alliance initiative, and we were first to deliver JEREMIE (the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises Initiative) the brainchild of the European Commission and European Investment Bank aimed at boosting small business finance.

"The way we’ve managed to lever £125m of cash when money’s tight is fantastic for the North East. Plus we’ve done quite a lot of innovative things like Passionate People Passionate Places which was great – and it’s old news now, but we’re equal best-performing regional development agency and my team was named a particular strength in the assessment."

Between leaving Newcastle law firm Ward Hadaway and taking up his One North East position, Peter took a master’s in European and international law at Durham University, which he did simply because it was "a passion" and, anyway, he was confident that the right position would come along later.

He says: "I actually think this is the best job in the North East for a lawyer and I think I suit it really well, which is why I enjoy it so much. The master’s covered all the ways countries get on with each other and how the EU works – and from a legal perspective that’s quite interesting. My first degree was from Northumbria University in English law, so to see it from a higher level changes the perspective. It opened the whole thing up for me.

"I’ve begun to be recognised on the international circuit and have advised the Moldovan government and the Romanian government on the design of their administration structures and the potential to have regional development agencies. Unfortunately, when the new Moldovan government came in there was a bit of a riot over the elections, so that’s put a bit of a hold on it.

"I like that side of keeping things real in that it recognises your professional expertise. I’ve also started being invited on to expert groups at the European Commission. Funnily enough, I like this peace-making thing. I’d like to get involved in even bigger projects, to expand my expertise. The reason I did European and international law was that my ultimate dream is to write peace treaties for the United Nations.

"My One North East job allows me to use that European law element and effectively work at a governmental level. It also gives us the opportunity to work with institutions such as the European Union, European investment banks, central government departments, local authorities, everything. It’s got a really good breadth.

"The thing that’s important is the integrity of it all, it’s at the centre of everything we do – we’re trying to make a difference, that’s what I like. We’re getting a really, really good reputation with central government for doing big, innovative things and that’s been really hard work.

"There’s a lot of groundwork getting that reputation but it makes things easier when you want to do the really brave stuff. JEREMIE was the first one in England – they’ve already done Wales. We’ve got pole position and we’re already approved by the European Investment Bank of Funding. We had to get permission from the Treasury and the Department of Communities and Local Government; loads of ‘knitting’ to sort out to make it happen."

The project Peter is most proud of is the Centres of Excellence with their respective trading arrangements as he feels the team got it right from the start – an important factor because by following that model, subsequent events are achieved more easily.

"It’s worth doing something thoughtful and innovative from the start," he says. "A lot of lawyers are blamed for being dull and being a blockage – not quite fairly – but I’m proud we can use the law to find solutions and to make things work. In corporate finance you make the deals happen and here it’s the same but amplified.

"The reason I like the structural stuff is because it’s something that really works between the partners’ different positions – balancing the requirements of science with the requirements of developers and the funding application at the Centres of Excellence, for example, so when you get the balance right you know the relationship going forward will work."

Peter has very much created the legal services and procurement role for himself. He started off with three in his team, now that’s 18, simply because he believes the job’s being done well.

"We recognise new responsibility," he says. "I have a much bigger role in procurement now – how to make sure that in a difficult and complex area we’re getting it right with the maximum benefits; good value for money.

"We also make sure that suppliers are proper and we get the right products. We produced the regional procurement strategy, plus we help businesses win public contracts, so it’s not just about buying. But I’m also the person who gives the agency all its legal advice, advising the board directly and running the approval process to make sure it all stacks up and if anything goes wrong, we’re properly protected."

Peter Judge seems to have done 101 jobs since October 2003. The difficulty now is finding the time to advise the 101 members of the Moldovan parliament.