A leading figure at Sellafield Limited has joined the board of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (Cumbria LEP) as its nuclear industry expert.

Rebecca Weston, who is enterprise director at Sellafield Ltd, has joined the board with immediate affect and will serve an initial period of three years.

Mrs Weston has a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including Strategy and Planning, as well as Corporate Affairs and Transformation.

She also leads the innovation and research and development programmes at Sellafield Ltd, which provides the organisation’s facilities and business units with technical support and helps develop the science, technical and engineering skills and capabilities it needs.

Mrs Weston has served in various senior leadership positions in the areas of Operations, Technical and Commercial and prior to joining the executive team at the end of 2015, was head of portfolio for the Retrievals and Decommissioning Directorate.

On her appointment, she said: “I’m delighted to accept a position on the Board of the Local Enterprise Partnership and look forward to playing my part in a re-energised LEP that can help deliver growth in the Cumbrian economy.

“Sellafield is one of the UK’s largest industrial sites and has a huge impact on the local economy. I want to ensure that the broader economy benefits from the investments being made to clean up the nuclear legacy."

Lord Inglewood, chair of Cumbria LEP, said he was “delighted” to welcome Mrs Weston to the board, with her appointment reflecting the organisation’s desire to forge closer links with the nuclear industry.

He added: “This will be especially important in light of the nuclear sector deal announced by the Government, which is set to bring major benefits to the county. The nuclear industry will also be a crucial part of the new Local Industrial Strategy for Cumbria to take the county’s economy forward and accelerate its growth up to 2030.”

A Chartered Engineer, Mrs Weston has a degree in physics from Oriel College, University of Oxford, holds a PhD in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and is an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA), Leadership, Business and Management.

A previous chair of the Cumbria branch of The Nuclear Institute, she is also chair of the Centre for Leadership Performance, a not-for-profit private limited company that aims to improve leadership capability in Cumbria.