Swim England

A nation swimming

Swim England appoints Richard Hookway as its new chairperson

Swim England has appointed Richard Hookway as its new chairperson.

Richard, a former board member of Centrica and chief executive of Centrica Business, will officially begin a four-year term in the role on Wednesday 1 September.

He will take over from Sue Smith MBE, who has held the title since last October after Mike Farrar stepped down due to work commitments on the front line during the pandemic.

Richard has a wealth of experience in business, finance and technology and has extensive first-hand knowledge of corporate governance.

The 59-year-old worked for BP for 35 years, latterly as chief operating officer for Global Business Services and IT, before moving to Centrica in 2018. He is currently serving as a non-executive director on the board of Royal Vopak and is a member of its Audit Committee.

Richard is also a senior advisor with one of the major global consulting companies.

Impressive background

He has a BSc in Mathematics from Manchester University and an MSc in Management (Sloan Fellow) from Stanford University in the US.

His love of aquatics stems from his three children who are all still involved in the sport through swimming, water polo and triathlon.

Sue will also step down from her role on the Board at the end of August having steered the Board and organisation through the pandemic and into recovery.

Jane Nickerson, Swim England chief executive, welcomed Richard to the Board – and praised Sue for the work she has done since taking over from Mike.

She said: “Richard has an impressive background and we’re looking forward to welcoming him to the Swim England Board.

“Sue has done an outstanding job in very challenging circumstances and I thank her for the valuable contribution she has given to the organisation throughout her time serving on the Board.”

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