Chair

Covent Garden Market Authority

London

  • Location London
  • Sector Central Government
  • Client Covent Garden Market Authority
  • Job Type Permanent
  • Salary/Remuneration £546 per day for 1 -2 days per week
  • Reference GSe101262
  • Closing Date Monday 2nd October 2023

Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) is a statutory corporation with a legal obligation to provide and run a horticulture wholesale market. CGMA owns the 47-acre site on which the New Covent Garden Market is situated, in Nine Elms, London, and is in the midst of a major redevelopment to create a vibrant new Food Quarter for London. Operating as a commercial landlord, CGMA has a statutory duty to at least break even, taking one year with another and in its latest published accounts, had a turnover of £15.4m and a workforce of 32 staff members.

The market itself is home to 164 mainly SME businesses employing 2,500 people, with a combined turnover of £677m in 2021-22. It supplies a large proportion of the fruit and vegetables in meals served outside the home in London, from hospitals to the peak of the hospitality industry, and serves a large proportion of London’s florists.

The Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is responsible for the appointment of CGMA’s Chair and Board and is now seeking a new Chair to lead the CGMA through a period of significant change. Key challenges for the organisation include; successful delivery of the redevelopment project including ensuring the market tenants continue to have a voice and are integral to the vision for the new market; ensuring the market is well-managed and prepared for the future; and that the market is run efficiently and delivering value for money.

We are looking for a new Chair who will bring strong integrity and leadership, able to deliver strategic direction and long-term vision. Stylistically, they will need to be collaborative and inclusive with the ability to build and manage relationships internally and externally. Strong commercial acumen is essential and, with the redevelopment in mind, significant understanding of asset management.

As well as attending Board meetings and away days, the Chair will also sit on the CGMA Remuneration Committee and chair the CGMA Pension Trust, as well as attending regular meetings with the Covent Garden Tenants Association, the developers, Defra Ministers and senior officials. The market is operational overnight and attendance at night on an occasional basis (potentially a few times a year) should be expected.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) wants Britain to be a great place to live. Our work plays a critical role in the wellbeing of everyone in the country through the creation of healthy environments, a world leading food and farming industry, a thriving rural economy and enhanced protection against floods and animal and plant diseases.

Appointing high-calibre people from diverse backgrounds, with relevant skills, knowledge and experience, to the boards of public bodies and statutory corporations will help ensure that the work of Defra and its partners is more effective, resilient and accountable and meets the needs of a modern and diverse Britain.

We positively welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds. All public appointments are made on merit following a fair and open competition as regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

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Documents

  1. Public Appointments Guidance Notes.pdf

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