Councillor Lloyd Briscoe - Biography
Lloyd is the proud son of a Yorkshire coalminer. Both of his grandfathers were coal miners – as were all four of his great-grandfathers.
His father (Jim) happened to excel at football, playing at the highest level as a professional with Sheffield Wednesday and Raith Rovers. Jim’s footballing career took him to Gainsborough Trinity, then to Thanet (Ramsgate FC and Margate FC) and finally to Broadhall Way, bringing the family to Stevenage in 1968.
The Briscoe family lived in Green Street and Lloyd (aged 12) was enrolled into The Barclay School, whilst his younger brother went to Almond Hill. His elder sister went to work at The Aldine Press in Letchworth.
Jim had only been in Stevenage a few months when the football club went into liquidation. Anxious for senior football to survive in the town, Jim sought the backing of a local entrepreneur (Sid Stapleton) to bank-roll the enterprise of a new club, Stevenage Athletic.
Eight years later, this club too floundered in debt, and defaulted.
Jim, by this time a well-known character in the community, teamed up with another prominent local individual (Vic Folbigg) and marshalled a group of enthusiastic volunteers to form a committee and to start up another senior club. This was 1976, and this is when and how the current Stevenage FC started.
From that day to this, Lloyd has been wholly immersed in the local footballing fraternity. He qualified as a County Referee in 1993. He was chairman of the Stevenage Borough Juniors FC for eleven years and chairman of the Stevenage FC Supporters Association for eighteen years. A founding trustee of the Stevenage FC Foundation charity, Lloyd regularly volunteers at Broadhall Way on match-days and as an ‘elder’ within the Stevenage FC community he is now the club’s historian. As a voice for the fans of the club, Lloyd is also the delegate to the Football Supporters’ Association. His hobby involves conducting research at the British Library, specifically about football in Stevenage going back to 1884.
Lloyd is currently writing a book on the topic and the draft already comprises five chapters.
Lloyd attended the Barclay School and went on to marry at the Holy Trinity Church. His two sons (Adam and Sam) maintained the Barclay alumni connection, and Lloyd went on to become a governor at the school for some sixteen years – six of which as Chair of Governors. He was also a governor at the Camps Hill School for four years.
On leaving school, Lloyd went to work for the John Lewis Partnership in Stevenage, who generously allowed him time out to be a some-time “roadie”, touring the length and breadth of the UK with a classical rock band called ‘The Enid’.
With the wanderlust days behind him, Lloyd went on to forge a career in Logistics. His working life involved time spent with blue-chip companies such as Dixons, Tate and Lyle, and The Wine Society - which is where an opportunity to enhance his personal portfolio introduced him to Compliance Management, specialising in BS, EN and ISO standards. Attaining a Level 6 qualification with the British Safety Council, Lloyd has over thirty years’ experience as a safety specialist with such organisations as the Environment Agency, Bibby Distribution and Goldstar Heathrow. It was during these latter years that Lloyd was invited to chair the South-East Regional Council of the Freight Transport Association after occupying a similar role previously with the Road Haulage Association.
These days, Lloyd still plies his Compliance trade with Link CCTV, a national company based in Stevenage.
Lloyd has proudly served as a member of the Stevenage Borough Council in the Martins Wood ward since 2014. During that time, he has served on numerous committees, task forces and action groups. He spent seven years as an Executive (Cabinet) Member of the Council overseeing the Economy, Enterprise, Skills and Transport portfolios. For the last eight years, Lloyd has served on the committee of the Oval (Stevenage) Community Association, in the heart of the Martins Wood ward.
Lloyd’s consort and this term’s Mayoress is Sarah Pattison. Sarah, now a recent grand-mother, was born and bred in Stevenage and has been Lloyd’s partner for almost 27 years. Their shared passion is travelling, live music and the theatre.
Lloyd loves museums. He is a vehement supporter of our local heritage and is delighted to be able to undertake his forthcoming mayoral duties during the 80th anniversary of Stevenage as the very first ‘New Town’. So it is in this vein that the theme for the mayoral year is to be “Preserve the past – Protect the future” – designed to complement the varied and numerous events planned for this coming year.
Lloyd will be supporting two charities this term:
Stevenage Community Trust: Stevenage Community Trust is an independent charity that provides funding and support to charitable organisations and people in need
Muster Point: In recognition of the notion that Stevenage Borough Council is a signatory to the Armed Forces covenant , the Muster Point is a veteran-led community offering peer support, regular meet-ups, and practical help for members of the Armed Forces community.