After a successful period as Partnerships UK’s Chairman, Sir Derek Higgs has decided to step down. He will be succeeded by Gordon Horsfield.
The appointment of Sir Derek Higgs in 2000 was a key development in the Government’s priority to improve public sector delivery. By creating Partnerships UK as a public private partnership, it offered an interface between the public and private sectors and a body with the expertise to accelerate the development, procurement and implementation of infrastructure renewal across the country.
Speaking about Sir Derek’s time at PUK, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said:
“I should like to thank Derek for his enormous support over the last seven years. Under his leadership Partnerships UK has gone from strength to strength and has become a major force in supporting the delivery of public services.
“I welcome the appointment of Gordon Horsfield who provides the skills and experience necessary to lead Partnerships UK to future success.”
James Stewart, Partnerships UK’s Chief Executive said:
“The creation of Partnerships UK offered an exciting new challenge to make a difference to the quality of the deals achieved by the public sector. Derek’s experience has been hugely influential in helping PUK achieve its objectives.
“The large number of projects that we now see delivered and operational across key areas of the public sector is testament to his vision and significant contribution in these achievements. I should like to thank him for all his support. I am also delighted that someone with Gordon’s experience and background has agreed to carry on the excellent work Derek has done as Chairman of PUK.”
Gordon Horsfield joins the Board of Partnerships UK on 1st April 2007 and will take over as Chairman on 1st June. He brings a wealth of experience. The principal part of his career was with Price Waterhouse, becoming Head of the UK Corporate Finance and Recovery Group in 1995. Following the merger with Coopers and Lybrand in 1998 he was Director of Operations of the resulting UK firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. After retirement from PwC in early 2003, he took up the Chairmanship of what was to become Drax Group plc leading it to a listing in 2005. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Norwich and Peterborough Building Society and Chair of Council of the University of York.
Gordon Horsfield said :
“Partnerships UK plays a key role in accessing private sector capital and skills necessary for the development of publicly provides services and infrastructure within the UK. I am joining the business at an interesting and challenging time and I very much look forward to working with the excellent team which Derek and James have brought together.
Also joining the Board of Partnerships UK on 1 April 2007 is Andy Friend. Until recently Andy was Chief Executive of Laing plc and has extensive experience of the PFI/PPP market as well as a background in public sector management both in the United Kingdom and Australia. Among other things, he is currently acting as Commercial Adviser to the Department of Transport.
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Sir Derek Higgs is stepping down to focus on his role as Chairman of Alliance & Leicester plc. He will remain as Chairman of Partnerships UK until its May board meeting.
- Partnerships UK was launched in June 2000 with a defined public sector mission to build upon the success of the Treasury Taskforce and to provide a permanent and sustainable centre of excellence to develop and expand the Government’s PPP programme.
- Partnerships UK works alongside the public sector to help develop and implement more efficient PPPs through its transactional, project and contract management work. It has developed some innovative models such as NHS LIFT and Building Schools for the Future programmes which are making a major contribution to improving the quality of public services. It has further expanded its work into providing support across a range of areas including the Wider Markets programme, equity investments in science and R & D and the IT sector.
- Press enquiries to Malcolm Graves at Partnerships UK on 020 7273 8383 or 07785 316773.