Chair of Covent Garden Market Authority
- Body
- Chair of Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA)
- Appointing Department
- Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
- Sector
- Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
- Location
- CGMA offices in Vauxhall, London for Board and other essential meetings. Office, home or remote working for other times
- Skills required
- Business / Commercial, Change Management, Major Projects, Transformation
- Number of Vacancies
- 1
- Remuneration
- £546 per day
- Time Requirements
- 1-2 days per week.
Campaign Timeline
-
Competition Launched
01/10/2018
-
Closed for Applications
05/11/2018 at 18:00
-
Panel Sift
07/11/2018
-
Final Interview Date
23/11/2018
-
Announcement
January 2019
Announcement
An announcement has been made on the outcome of this appointment.
David Frankish has been appointed the new Chair of Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) and will take over from Pam Alexander OBE on 1 February 2019 as she steps down at the end of her second term after six years.
David has extensive board level experience of the UK grocery logistics sector and food manufacturing. He is currently Vice Chair of NFT Distribution Ltd, one of the UK’s largest grocery logistics providers, and is also Chair of the Employment and Skills Board at the CBI.
Date: 15/01/2019
Assessment Panel
- Panel Member
- Sonia Phippard
- Added
- 01/10/2018
- Panel Role
- Panel Chair
- Positions
- Director-General, Environment, Rural & Marine Senior Independent Panel Member
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| Political Activity | nONE |
|---|---|
| Notes | - |
- Panel Member
- Stephen Dance
- Added
- 01/10/2018
- Positions
- Director, Infrastructure and Projects Authority Other Panel Member
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| Political Activity | None |
|---|---|
| Notes | - |
- Panel Member
- Angela Bray
- Added
- 01/10/2018
- Positions
- Board member of Visit Britain Independent Member
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| Political Activity | Conservative Member of Parliament for Ealing Central and Acton from 2010 to 2015. |
|---|---|
| Notes | - |
- Panel Member
- Mark Bayley
- Added
- 11/10/2018
- Positions
- Non-Executive board member at Ofwat Other Panel Member
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| Political Activity | None |
|---|---|
| Notes | - |
Vacancy Description
The role
The CGMA Chair will lead a board of up to 7 Non-Executive directors, providing strategic direction in the operation of an efficient fruit and vegetable and flower wholesale market that provides value for money to the taxpayer. Through the leadership of the Chair, the Board and Senior Executive Team (‘the Executive’) will work together to deliver a challenging redevelopment project that will secure the market’s future and maximise its viability to enable government to disengage from having responsibility for the market. In creating a brand new market infrastructure, the Chair will lead the Authority through a period of significant change that is part of a wider vision of a consumer facing Food Quarter.
The CGMA’s offices are in London, situated on the market site at Nine Elms in Vauxhall. There are a minimum of 6 board meetings a year, as well as 2 days away as a board and preparation time. However, the board currently plans to meet at least 9 times during 2019 due to time-critical and significant issues concerning the redevelopment of the site. The Chair will also sit on the CGMA Remuneration Committee and chair the CGMA Pension Trust. Attendance at regular meetings with Defra Ministers and senior officials is also required. Other ad hoc meetings can usually be held by conference call.
It should also be noted that the current Chair also sits on the wider Nine Elms Strategy Board and is Chair of the Nine Elms Cultural Steering Group. This activity supports links between the wider Nine Elms regeneration project and the success of the Food Quarter, but is not a requirement of the role as such.
Chair’s responsibilities and key challenges
As Chair, you will have the following responsibilities and key challenges over the term of your appointment:
1. Responsibility to Defra Ministers for the overall leadership, direction and effectiveness of CGMA, including the redevelopment project.
2. Providing effective strategic direction to the Board and the Executive.
3. Driving progress of the market redevelopment project to ensure it provides business continuity for the market tenants throughout and is successfully delivered in accordance with its objectives, as well as providing assurance to Defra ministers.
4. Building and maintaining the capability of the Board so that it is effective, cohesive and focussed, including annually assessing the performance of members and committees to ensure it is composed of the right set of skills, knowledge and aptitudes to enable it to meet its objectives;
5. Leading the Board in its relationship with the Executive, providing support but constructively challenging when necessary, and ensuring there is sufficient capability.
6. Driving organisational efficiency and effectiveness to ensure CGMA delivers value for money
7. Supporting the Executive in managing risks to CGMA and Government associated with the redevelopment and ensuring the effective performance and engagement of the development partner in order to protect the value of the public investment and the tenant businesses.
8. Supporting the Executive in the development of a long term business plan and financial strategy for CGMA.
9. Partnership working and stakeholder engagement:
• Driving collaborative working with Defra to deliver Government’s longer term objectives for the market, including the future financial viability of the market and success of the Food Quarter;
• Supporting the Executive in maintaining and building positive relations and effective engagement with key stakeholders, with a particular focus on the market tenants; and
• Promoting a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion on the Board as well as more widely in CGMA.
Person Specification
The person
We seek an individual with the clear strategic and innovative thinking necessary to deliver effective strategic direction during a major long term redevelopment project. As Chair you will have a collaborative style and be able to inspire the confidence of Ministers, Board members, Executive Directors, development partners, market tenants and other stakeholders. You will have a proven record, at senior level, of managing change in a commercial environment and a sound understanding of the property development or construction sectors as the market redevelopment will dominate the role.
The Chair and Board are expected to adhere to the Nolan principles governing the conduct of public servants.
Essential criteria
In their applications, candidates must be able to demonstrate evidence of all of the following essential criteria:
1. Strong leadership with the ability to deliver effective strategic direction and develop a long term vision.
2. Proven ability of building organisational capability.
3. A collaborative style with the ability to manage and maintain successful relationships with all levels of Government and a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders.
4. The ability to embrace, lead and manage significant change within a commercial business setting.
5. Strong commercial acumen, including a significant understanding of the commercial property and/or construction sector.
Additional Information
We actively encourage applications from individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. Defra is a Disability Confident employer.
How to Apply
To apply for this post, you will need to submit the following documentation to us by no later than 12:00 noon on Monday, 05 November 2018:
1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
2. A Supporting Statement (approximately two pages) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the person specification.
3. A completed Diversity Monitoring Form. All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest confidence, will not be provided to the selection panel and will not affect your application in any way. The completion of the Diversity Monitoring Form is mandatory and includes the option ‘prefer not to say’;
4. A completed Declaration of Interests Form (please note section on conflicts of interest and due diligence below); and
5. A completed Candidate Supporting Information Form.
Applications should be sent via Veredus’ website: https://www.veredus.co.uk – quoting reference number 931018.
All submissions will receive an automated response. If you do not receive confirmation of receipt when submitting your application, please contact us on 0207 932 4236.
At Veredus, we take care to protect the privacy of our candidates and clients. To read more about how we collect, store and share your data please read our privacy notice which can be accessed here: https://www.veredus.co.uk/privacy-and-cookies
Further information
If you have any questions about the role or would like to discuss the post further, please contact our advising consultants at Veredus: Bruno Anili on 020 7932 4204 or James Greengrass on 020 7932 4286.