Top industry leaders bring a wealth of experience at a pivotal moment for the Playhouse

We’re pleased to announce the appointment of three industry leaders to our Board of Trustees. Sharon Jandu OBE, Katy Raines and Beth Watling bring a wealth of experience across business leadership, creative industries, and audience insight.

The appointments come at a pivotal moment for the organisation as it enters its next phase of development. They strengthen the Board’s expertise across commercial theatre, audience engagement and enterprise – supporting and enhancing the Playhouse’s ambition as a leading producing theatre with a strong civic role and growing national profile.

Sharon Jandu OBE is the Director of NPH Business & Policy Forum, Founder of the Yorkshire Asian Business Association, ISS Freeports Director of Strategic Partnerships & External Engagements for India, and Chair of Unity Enterprise. She sits on the board of the Unity Housing Association and is a Director for the Federation of Small Business, Board Member for the Association of International Accountants, Chair of the International Business Advisory Group at Leeds University Business School, and Advisory Board Member for Bradford-Renduchintala Enterprise Ecosystem at the University of Bradford.

She received an OBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for her contributions to international trade and, in 2024, was awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Leeds Trinity University.

“I am honoured to join the board of Leeds Playhouse, a cultural institution that sits at the heart of our region’s creativity, community, and ambition,” said Sharon. “The Playhouse has a remarkable track record of telling powerful stories and opening doors for people from every background. I am looking forward to supporting its mission and helping strengthen the role it plays in shaping an inclusive, vibrant future for Leeds and West Yorkshire.”

Katy Raines, CEO and Co-Founder of Indigo Ltd, is one of the UK’s leading consultants on audience-centred strategy for cultural organisations. She has developed and led research and audience strategy for large and middle scale organisations throughout the UK and Europe. During Covid-19 she developed and delivered the UK’s largest collaborative dataset of cultural attenders’ attitudes to returning to events, including After-The-Interval, and Missing Audiences involving over 800 organisations, which captured more than half a million responses from attenders. This crucial work led Indigo to win several awards, and Katy a national award for Outstanding Leadership at the Covid Response Awards.

Since then, she has led Indigo’s growth to become the sector’s leading audience insight consultancy, launching Indigo Share in 2023. The organisation’s collaborative research approach has delivered sector-wide research on sustainability (Act Green) and first-time attenders (Tomorrow’s Audience), as well as UK-wide benchmarks on audience experience via a large cohort of participating organisations.

“As someone who grew up in the North of England, I am passionate about seeing regional theatre and storytelling thrive,” said Katy. “Leeds Playhouse is currently one of the most exciting theatres in the country, and I look forward to supporting them and playing my part as an active Board member.”

Beth Watling is Managing Director of Playful Productions; one of the West End’s leading commercial, independent producing, executive producing and general management theatre companies. During her time at Playful, she has managed several large-scale West End musicals and UK Tours such as Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical and the UK & Ireland tour of Wicked.

Prior to Playful, Beth worked in the subsidised sector for over a decade and was the Producer for National Youth Theatre of GB. She commissioned and produced new writing and large-scale ensemble theatre across the UK, West End, and internationally in China, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. She has produced work for the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, FIFA World Cup, Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre.

Beth was a member of the British Council’s UK-Gulf Creative & Cultural Advisory Group and a member of the DCMS UK-China Advisory Group. She is currently on the board of Rifco Theatre Company and Bristol Old Vic Theatre’s Trading Board.

“My love for Leeds Playhouse dates back to an early age,” Beth said. “Growing up in Yorkshire, it was the first venue that introduced me to theatre, to incredible artists and to world-class companies. I’m so excited to be supporting Shawab and Tom in this new chapter, to ensure that Leeds Playhouse continues to platform ambitious new work and capture imaginations for years to come.”

Chairman of Leeds Playhouse Board Neil Adleman, partner and head of the theatre group at solicitors Harbottle & Lewis LLP, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Sharon, Katy and Beth as trustees of Leeds Playhouse. Between them they bring a range of expertise and experience from their roles as leading players in their respective industries. Their joining is timely as part of the wider renewal of Leeds Playhouse under the leadership of Shawab and Tom and ahead of Tom announcing his initial programme of productions.”

Leeds Playhouse Chief Executive Shawab Iqbal said he was delighted to welcome Sharon, Katy and Beth to the Board at such a defining moment for the Playhouse, adding: “We are building a Board that reflects the scale of our ambition. Sharon, Katy and Beth each bring expertise that is central to how we are evolving as an organisation – across business, audiences and commercial theatre.

“They join a committed and experienced Board whose stewardship has been critical to our success to date. Together, this strengthens our ability to operate at scale, deepens our impact in Leeds, and continue to grow our role as a national producing theatre. As we enter this next phase, it is vital that our governance matches both the ambition of the work on our stages and the communities we serve.”