Gareth has a strong track record of delivering transformation, efficiencies and commercial opportunities. Having worked for over a decade in government, Gareth has led a range of innovative programmes to re-design and reshape public services to continue to deliver outcomes for residents and customers while meeting challenging savings targets. He has specific expertise and experience in commercialisation, economic development, council owned companies, regeneration and a range of operational services.
As the current Chief Executive of Cheltenham Borough Council he is leading an organisation that is delivering a nationally recognised development to the west of the borough to make Cheltenham the cyber capital of the UK, bring sustainable and inclusive growth to the region and support an ambitious re-shaping and development of the regional economy. This ambitious, multi-agency programme includes GCHQ, other local authorities, Gloucestershire LEP, Homes England, BEIS and a range of multi-national tech companies as key stakeholders.
Prior to Cheltenham, Gareth was the Managing Director of Ubico – an environmental services Teckal company owned by seven local authorities with a staff of over 650 covering 1200 square miles. At Ubico, Gareth led a significant transformation, expansion and consolidation of the business to improve performance and make it more efficient. He also completed a Board Effectiveness Review to ensure company governance was fit for purpose for the future growth of the organisation.
At the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Gareth delivered key capital projects to support the regeneration of town centres and led the re-design of leisure and library services. This included significantly increasing visits to libraries against a backdrop of national decline. Prior to the Royal Borough of Greenwich he worked for Lambeth Council and led programmes as part of Lambeth’s drive to become a cooperative council. This included winning a national award for innovative engagement and consultation approaches with young people.