Kerri has held a number of senior-level leadership roles in cities, including the large UK cities of Manchester and Liverpool, and has more recently re-used these skills to lead transformation of in-house services in cities and metropolitan areas on an interim basis.

In 2023 Kerri was asked to step-in to transform the UK city of Portsmouth’s Regeneration Directorate (450 staff) after a period of challenge. Portsmouth is a densely-developed historic city, having been an English Royal naval base since the 1100s, subsequently becoming the home of the British Royal Navy. It is also the UK’s only island city, which gives it a unique set of resources, including the UK’s largest municipal freight & passenger port, and challenges in terms of environmental & climatic protection.

The Directorate delivered strategy & services for Urban Planning, Heritage & Building Control;, Property, Investment & Asset Management; Transport; Highways & Infrastructure (rail, bridges, sea defences); and Economic Development. It also provided Council-wide support services for Community Engagement and Project & Programme Management.

Part of Kerri’s role included responsibility for a capital budget of GBP 1.5bn and a revenue budget of GBP £55m.

Key achievements included:-

Leadership of the city’s £200m City Coastal Defence Scheme, which at the time was the UK Environment Agency’s largest single investment, and a designated UN-Habitat/UNESCO ’Decade Action’ in recognition of its world-leading sustainable approach to flood protection and biodiversity enhancement
transformation of Portsmouth’s statutory Planning service, which on joining was in the lowest 10 performing city planning services in England & Wales and at risk of being designated by the Government Ministry for planning (MHCLG), and on her departure was the 3rd best-performing city planning service. The foundations Kerri helped lay have been sustained, with the city’s Planning service being finalists for ‘Planning Team of the Year’ in the 2025 UK Planning Awards
leading a complex Planning strategy & submission to create for a new 2400-home city centre neighbourhood, including the city’s first new park for over100 years, right through to full approval
resolving blocks which had stalled the progress of several strategically-significant development schemes in the city projects, including new housing-led neighbourhoods. One 200-home scheme is now fully complete; two others (850 homes and 600 homes) are under construction; a further had its future clarified via submission of the UK Government’s 1st self-determined IROPI request, a highly-technical & specialist provision of the EU Habitats Directive
Leading the 1st stages of £1.3bn Highways PFI Expiry - the 1st full Highways service PFI expiry in the UK - including a successful Government Gate 0 Review.
Reorganisation of the Directorate to improve delivery practice, quality and efficiency, including changes to the Directorate’s staffing structure