Leisure Parcs' managing director, Marc Etches, has secured his place on the first board of The Cultural Consortium in the north west of England.

He will work alongside other 'champions of culture' to drive forward the region's cultural agenda.

The attractions industry is well represented on The Cultural Consortium board, which includes David Fleming, director of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside; English Heritage commissioner, writer and broadcaster, Loyd Grossman; Gordon McGregor Reid, director and chief executive of Chester's Zoological Gardens; and Robert Woof, director of The Wordsworth Trust.

In the north west, 15 per cent of the workforce are employed in cultural industries and it is hoped that the new board will promote such initiatives as the current bid to secure Liverpool as the European Capital of Culture 2008.

It will be working with the Northwest Development Agency, the Northwest Regional Assembly and Government Office NorthWest. In all, there are eight regional Cultural Consortiums, set up by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport in the UK.