Tom Riordan was born and educated in Northallerton and graduated with a modern history honours degree from Trinity College Oxford in 1989. He immediately joined the civil service's fast stream management scheme with the then department of the environment and progressed quickly through a variety of jobs, specialising in environmental policy and representing the UK in international negotiations on climate change and endangered species.
Tom gained a first class Masters in business administration at Imperial College, London in 1997, specialising in regional economic development networks, and returned to Yorkshire with the task of setting up the regional development agency which became known as Yorkshire Forward. Once it was successfully established, he became its chief executive in February 2006.
Tom’s achievements at Yorkshire Forward include record performance in attracting foreign investment into the region, securing award-winning regeneration developments and helping 100,000 businesses during the recession.
In March 2010, Tom was honoured at the Yorkshire Post environment awards as the region’s ‘green champion’, as the individual deemed to have done most to promote environmental measures, following his visionary work in pioneering carbon capture initiatives. In October 2008 Tom led a task force for the Chancellor that co-ordinated the response to avert job losses in the financial services sector.
Tom is also a trustee of The Trust for Education and was previously co-chair of the Government’s national ethnic minority business task force. As one of Bradford University’s honorary graduates in July 2008, Tom became a Doctor of Letters.