Mandy Ridyard
Mayor’s Business Advisor, West Yorkshire Combined Authority
With a background in chemistry and manufacturing, Mandy moved to West Yorkshire in 1994. Having worked for CarnaudMetalbox, Mars Inc and Rank Hovis McDougall, she jointly led a buyout of Produmax in 1997.
Produmax is an aerospace engineering firm, and is a global expert in flight assemblies. It exports 70% of turnover worldwide to prestigious clients including Boeing. Her leadership has seen Produmax achieve world class employee engagement, win two prestigious national aerospace awards and the MAKE:UK SME of the year 2021.
Having joined the board of the Leeds City Region LEP in 2019, she now chairs its successor, the West Yorkshire Business Board. She was appointed as Business Advisor to Mayor Tracy Brabin in 2023.
Mandy is passionate about business, innovation, skills, and inclusivity. As Chair of Space Hub Yorkshire, she has led the development of a regional strategy for Space, and is now leading its deployment. She is also Chair of the West Yorkshire Innovation Network, was a future ready Skills Commissioner, and is an advocate for our region, innovation, manufacturing, productivity, women in engineering and skills.
