All change at ELBA
Key Points
- Chief Executive Liam Kane to retire on 31 March
- New Chief Executive is Ian Parkes, currently Director of SOA Development Ltd
- Two new Trustees appointed to the ELBA Board
Following a Board meeting held yesterday afternoon, Mr Chris Watson, Chair of the East London Business Alliance (ELBA), is pleased to announce the following additions and changes to ELBA’s senior management team and its Board of Trustees.
- Liam Kane, ELBA’s Chief Executive is to retire with effect from 31 March after leading the organisation to great success over the last 14 years. ELBA has grown beyond recognition under his leadership and the Board wish to record their grateful thanks for his remarkable achievements and efforts and to wish him every success for the future.
- Ian Parkes, is to become ELBA’s new Chief Executive. He is currently the Director of SOA Development, a London-based agency that advises corporates, London councils and many community organisations on their strategic development, as well as managing and designing projects, providing event management and supporting organisational development. Ian is a Greenwich resident and a very experienced business executive who also brings wide-ranging community experience to ELBA through his work as a Chair and as a Governor for a number of schools, his time as a member of the Peabody Trust and as Chairman of the South West London Housing Partnership.
- Lisa Hollins, Director of Service Development at Barts Health, a leading NHS provider for east London, has joined the Board as a Director and Trustee. Lisa brings insight into and experience of crucial public sector service areas where ELBA can bring, in the future, the full strength of its volunteering support to bear.
- Jenny Baskerville, Senior Manager-Corporate Responsibility at KPMG, also joins as a Director and Trustee. Jenny leads on all KPMG’s education and employability interventions and will bring to the Board, a practising CSR professional’s experience and point of view directly.
Warmly welcoming these changes Chris Watson said:
“Replacing Liam, who has so successfully led ELBA in his own unique style for so many years, was always going to be a challenge but, following a thorough search of the market with the aid of recruitment company Harris Hill, the Board are confident that in Ian Parkes we have found the right person.
ELBA is in strong condition financially and operationally and Ian’s experience in leading several organisations, as well as his personal volunteering record, give us great reassurance that he will confidently lead ELBA on to the next stage of its development.”
Liam Kane said:
“I have had the great privilege of leading an outstanding team of committed social regenerators over all these years. We achieved amazing growth through the years of significant central government funding for improving local communities, survived the post financial crisis period and are back on a growth trend with the committed support of our corporate partners – a good time to hand over the reins. In Ian Parkes we have found someone who has everything necessary to lead ELBA on its next stage of growth and improvement.”
The renewal and re-purposing of the ELBA Board since Chris Watson’s elevation to the Chair in May 2015 will continue. The Board, which traditionally draws its membership from the Financial services sector, now numbers eight in total and the intention is to add at least two more members from other sectors in the current year.
To download the press release, please click here.
Notes to Editors
About the East London Business Alliance (ELBA)
East London Business Alliance (ELBA) is the leading social regeneration charity in east London. With 25+ years’ experience, it facilitates corporate involvement and investment in community organisations, education and employment across the east London boroughs. Working with over 100 City and Canary Wharf companies, ELBA enables successful cross-sector partnerships between companies and the community, each year placing more than 13,000 business volunteers into more than 250 local organisations, schools, colleges and universities and supporting several hundred local people into work.
For more information visit: www.elba-1.org.uk.
For media enquiries please contact:
Chris Watson, TMS Partner, CMS London | 020 7367 3295
Ian Parkes, Director SOA Development | 020 7068 6960
Liam Kane, Chief Executive | liam.kane@elba-1.org.uk | 020 7068 6960
