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ACE News

24 JUN 2021

CHANGES TO BOARD AND CEO UPDATE

Interim CEO hired to help transition as new chair appointed

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) has written to members updating on its board composition and the search for a successor to Hannah Vickers.

The letter advised that following the recent resignation of Paul Reilly as ACE chair, Dave Beddell was duly elected to the position at an exceptional board meeting. Dave, who was previously vice-chair, will assume office until the end of the calendar year whilst also continuing to oversee ACE’s Voice of Consultancy workstream.

The letter also shared that whilst the process to appoint a new CEO was progressing well, it is unlikely that a new chief executive will be in place before the autumn. With this in mind, the board have decided that both the ACE secretariat and members alike would all benefit from some additional support during the transition in leadership.

The board has therefore agreed to appoint an interim part-time CEO, Laurence Brett who will formally join ACE on Monday 12 July. He will spend two to three days a week working with us and will be in place until a new, permanent chief executive joins us later in the year.

Laurence comes from AECOM where he is vice-president for global capability. Having held a number of executive posts during his 30-year career, Laurence brings extensive experience of organisational leadership and senior stakeholder management.

Dave Beddell, chair ACE said: “For the second half of the year, the focus is on maintaining our strong voice with policymakers, supporting members through to recovery, and seeing through ACE’s annual plan. Added to that is ensuring a smooth leadership transition and I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Laurence – however briefly – to ACE to help us achieve that.”

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