CEO Today United Kingdom Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 22 CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2019 CHARITY SIMON GILLESPIE CEO of British Heart Foundation (BHF) ABOUT SIMON GILLESPIE Simon joined the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in 2013, following seven years as Chief Executive of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. He has a family connection to heart disease, and fundraises and volunteers for the BHF. His early career was in the Royal Navy, including command of HMS Sheffield and advising government ministers. From 2000 to 2004, he was Director of Operations at the Charity Commission. He then moved to become Head of Operations at the Healthcare Commission, where he was responsible for the inspection of NHS and independent healthcare facilities in England. Simon has extensive national and international experience of charity and non-profit governance as a non-executive director, advisor and trustee and is a former President of the European Heart Network. Simon was recently honoured with an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, recognising his services to patients and medical research. Simon was also the only charity CEO to win an Employee’s Choice Award from Glassdoor this year, after being voted one of the top 50 CEOs in the country by employees and volunteers. Simon was also named a 2018 Charity Comms Inspiring Communicator in recognition of his tireless public advocacy of the BHF’s cause. Under Simon’s leadership, the BHF has grown to become one of the largest charities in the UK. It funds more than half the research at UK universities into heart disease and circulatory diseases such as stroke and vascular dementia, together with risk factors like diabetes. As the world’s largest non-profit funder of heart and circulatory disease research, the BHF has a global profile, and its work saves and improves lives across the world. Since the BHF was formed in 1961, research funded by the BHF has been at the world’s forefront in areas such as organ transplantation, genetics, prevention, treatments and aftercare. For example, key discoveries funded by the BHF have helped to halve the death rate from coronary heart disease. Today, in the UK alone, hundreds of people will survive a heart attack who would previously have died. To build on this progress, Simon has driven the development of an ambitious new strategy that will take the charity up to 2030. Informed by researchers, people affected by heart and circulatory diseases, supporters and staff, the bold new strategy sets out progress the charity wants to see, whether that is new treatments, improved care or better management of risk factors such as high blood pressure. The task remains huge: there are over 7 million people in the UK with heart and circulatory disease and nearly 1,000 people each day will have a heart attack or stroke. Simon continues to work closely with the NHS in driving innovation - he has been selected as a member of the NHS Assembly and is now co-chair of NHS England’s Cardiovascular Disease Delivery Board, both of which are tasked with making the NHS’s long term plan a reality. Simon has put people at the heart of the BHF. The charity relies on the support of individuals, communities and companies to thrive and develop its life-saving work. The BHF has over 4,000 paid staff and about 20,000 volunteers, and is the largest charity retailer in the world, with over 740 shops and stores, and a rapidly developing online sales presence. The charity’s retail operation offers companies mutually beneficial opportunities to manage unwanted stock, reduce dumped waste and fund lifesaving research, allowing donations to be claimed against tax and enhance reputations. CONTACT W: gillespies@bhf.org.uk Weblink: www.bhf.org.uk Twitter: @simonmgillespie FIRM PROFILE The BHF is a dynamic, innovative, inspiring and inclusive organisation, led by values - Brave; Informed; Compassionate; Driven - and striving to be Fearless in a quest to Beat Heartbreak Forever.