Graham Burgess (Chief Executive) announces he will retire from Wirral Council on 31st December 2014

Graham Burgess (Chief Executive) announces he will retire from Wirral Council on 31st December 2014

Graham Burgess (Chief Executive) announces he will retire from Wirral Council on 31st December 2014

                                                      

graham_burgess

Above is Graham Burgess in July 2012 at the Council meeting that chose him as Chief Executive

Below is the text of a media release issued by Wirral Council and distributed by David Armstrong, Assistant Chief Executive to those at the Cabinet meeting this evening. Usually I don’t just reprint press releases, but as it’s late and it’s newsworthy I think people had better know.

===================================================================================================================

(Wirral Council logo)

MEDIA RELEASE FROM WIRRAL COUNCIL

October 9, 2014

Wirral Council Chief Executive, Graham Burgess announces his retirement

Wirral Council Chief Executive Graham Burgess informed tonight’s meeting of Wirral’s Cabinet that he is to retire on December 31, 2014.

Graham officially joined Wirral Council in September 2012. Previous to that, he had been Chief Executive of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, and remains a leading figure in the Local Government Association (LGA).

He said: ‘When I took up post, I said that first and foremost, my role was to help shape the transformation of Wirral. Wirral is now a very different place to when I arrived, and I feel now is the right time to hand over to let the next phase of this work begin.

‘I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with the organisations and communities that make Wirral a special place, and I will continue to take a strong interest in the borough’s future. I would like to thank the people I have worked with, including residents, Councillors, and staff for their hard work. There are many excellent people working for Wirral and I wish them every success as they take the authority forward.’

Councillor Phil Davies, Leader of Wirral Council today paid tribute: ‘Graham joined us at a very difficult time and has been a positive and transformational catalyst for change. I would like to thank him for galvanising a collective will to move forward positively and constructively.

‘I am sad to see him go. We have been a good partnership forged by a shared appetite for change and innovation. However. we will continue the positive progress already made, and look forward to choosing a new Chief Executive to continue to take us forward into the next phase.’

Before joining Wirral Council on a full-time basis, Graham had spent a considerable amount of time in Wirral, including as a member of the Council’s LGA-led Improvement Board.

Graham, who was born in and lives in Liverpool, was previously Chief Executive of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. He began working for Wirral Council as part of the LGA Improvement Board, after series of external reports highlighted major weaknesses in the authority.

Since taking up the post of Chief Executive on an interim basis, then later being permanently appointed to the role, Wirral has been selected as one of nine authorities to participate in the Public Services Transformation Network.

The Council’s improvement has also been named by the LGA as being the fastest turnaround of any Council in the country, and is held up by the LGA as an example of best practice.

Since Graham joined the authority, Wirral has made significant progress in managing the financial risks and challenges it faces. An independent ‘Value for Money,’ report, compiled by auditors Grant Thornton, and published in September, also found that Wirral had made significant progress in managing the financial risks and challenges it faces.

Ends

Follow Wirral Council on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WirralCouncil

For further information contact Gill Gwatkin, Press and PR Officer, Wirral Council, 0151 691 8360.

===================================================================================================================

If you click on any of these buttons below, you’ll be doing me a favour by sharing this article with other people. Thanks:

Author: John Brace

New media journalist from Birkenhead, England who writes about Wirral Council. Published and promoted by John Brace, 134 Boundary Road, Bidston, CH43 7PH. Printed by UK Webhosting Ltd t/a Tsohost, 113-114 Buckingham Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, England, SL1 4PF.

6 thoughts on “Graham Burgess (Chief Executive) announces he will retire from Wirral Council on 31st December 2014”

  1. Failure is leaving the sinking ship. No doubt the ‘media Dept of spin’ will do their best at ‘polishing the turd’ albeit in this case a solid gold one,when he recives his mega payoff!

    1. I sometimes wonder why there are so many nautical references on Wirral, then remember it’s surrounded by water.

      My own point of view is that the candidates for Chief Exec tend to be at, near or beyond Wirral Council’s “retirement age” as generally people who are picked are approximately double my current age.

      Therefore the only way around this is to pick someone younger. No I am not putting my name forward! I’m just pointing out for stability purposes I’m sure there will be candidates that won’t have to leave within 3 years of being appointed.

      I don’t have the tact or diplomacy required for such a job and anyway it would not be good for my blood pressure, I am told I should relax more. 😀 I’m better at what I do already. 🙂

  2. Due to a complaint received on 11th October 2014 from a person who wishes to remain anonymous, the poster of this comment was asked if he wished to withdraw the comment.

    Email was received from James Griffiths (the author of the comment) that indicated that he wished to withdraw his comment and it was erased and replaced with this text on 13th October 2014 at 7:40am.

    1. I am thinking of one day coming along to a public meeting about whistleblowers with bingo cards with instead of numbers, tired cliches on like “lessons have been learnt”. Each time somebody says that you cross it off and the first person to get a complete line, suddenly shouts out “I’ve blown the whistle, where’s my free t-shirt” and they are then presented with a t shirt with a whistle on…. anyway … back to work reading yet more apologies from Wirral Council officers… I suppose that is a change… people are apologising to me these days… I’m not used to people being so nice!!!

Comments are closed.