Six New Board Members at Sport England

Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale, has appointed Denise Barrett-Baxendale MBE, Professor Ian Cumming OBE, Chris Grant, Wasim Khan MBE, Andy Long, and Karen Pickering MBE as Board Members of Sport England for terms of three years each.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale MBE

One of the most prominent and respected women in the world of football, Dr Denise Barrett-Baxendale MBE is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Everton Football Club and Chief Executive of the Club’s official charity, Everton in the Community.

Before venturing into the world of sport, Denise spent 16 years working in education and fulfilled a host of academic, leadership and innovation roles. Denise joined Everton in 2009 and quickly made rapid progress in transforming Everton in the Community into the ‘best-in-class’ organisation it is today, winning multiple international and national awards and culminating in Denise being awarded an MBE from the Queen for services to the Merseyside community.

She expanded her role in 2011 becoming Chief Operating Officer at the Club and just under two years later became Everton Football Club’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer. In her club role, Denise has played an integral part in improving the matchday experience of supporters, in turn helping to increase attendances and enhance Everton’s reputation both nationally and abroad.

Away from Everton, Denise sits on a Creativity Commission for the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, is a Non-Executive Director and Vice Chairperson of British Canoeing and serves as a patron of St Vincent’s School for the Blind in West Derby, Liverpool.

Denise is a Fellow of Liverpool Hope Business School and in October 2015, Denise was inducted as a Fellow of Angela Hall at Liverpool Hope University where her role will see her build relationships with resident students to guide and inspire them. A keen volunteer, Denise also enjoys walking, reading and theatre. Denise’s term will commence on 9 September 2016 and end on 8 September 2019.

Professor Ian Cumming OBE

Ian is Health Education England’s (HEE) first Chief Executive, a position he has held since 2012. HEE is one of the six Arm’s Length Bodies responsible for the national oversight, regulation and management of the NHS in England. Ian started his career in the NHS as a Healthcare Scientist before moving into NHS management in the late 80s. In 1995 he took up his first hospital Trust Chief Executive post. Since then he has held CEO positions at a Teaching Hospitals group, as an NHS Commissioner and, from 2009-2012, as CEO of the NHS in the West Midlands.

Ian has been awarded honorary degrees by Lancaster, Manchester Metropolitan, Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Universities and Honorary Fellowships by the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the University of Cumbria. He is an Honorary Professor of Healthcare Leadership at Lancaster University Medical School and Visiting Professor of Healthcare Management at the University of Pavia, Italy.

Outside the NHS Ian is a Level 3 Swimming Coach and Deputy Head Coach at Pershore Swimming Club (voluntary). He is also a qualified Sports Therapist and is currently completing an MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine. In 2016 the Amateur Swimming Association invited Ian to chair their national Commission on Swimming and Health. Ian’s term will commence on 28 October 2016 and end on 29 October 2019.

Chris Grant

Chris has been Chief Executive Officer of Sported since 2014, where he has been spearheading its mission to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people through sport. After an early career in Parliament and Higher Education, he spent 20 years building a successful consulting practice in the development of organisations and their leadership.

He served as a volunteer Trustee of International Inspiration, which works to use the power of sport for the benefit of young people around the world. In 2011 Chris was involved in setting up the FRE Flyers, a multi-sports club for young people in London’s East End inspired by the Olympics and Paralympics. He is also a Senior Advisor at the Original Search Company. Another dimension to his sports-related work is in facilitating a number of elite coach development programmes for UK Sport. Chris’s term will commence on 9 September 2016 and end on 8 September 2019.

Wasim Khan MBE

In 1990 Wasim became the first British born Pakistani to become a professional cricketer in England. He played in the historical double winning team at Warwickshire in 1995. In 2005 Wasim was recruited by Lord Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England, to plan and deliver Chance to Shine, a £50m cricket education programme in state schools. By 2014 £55m had been raised and the programme had delivered to over 2.5m state school children, including 1m girls.

In 2015 Wasim completed an Executive MBA at Warwick Business School and also took on the role of Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Cricket Club. In doing so, he became the first person of South Asian origin to become a CEO of a County Cricket Club. His autobiography, Brim Full of Passion, won the coveted prize of Wisden Book of the Year in 2006.

He currently sits on the England Cricket Board’s Anti-Corruption Unit and has previously been involved with the Equality & Human Rights Commission Sports Group and The Prince’s Trust Cricket Group. Wasim’s term will commence on 28 October 2016 and end on 29 October 2019.

Andy Long

Andy is Chief Executive of Pentland Brands, a privately owned UK-based business with a portfolio of sports and lifestyle brands including Speedo, Berghaus and Canterbury. In this role his business perspective encompasses sport globally from occasional activity through to elite performance, and across all age groups.

Initially trained as a management accountant, Andy’s whole career has been in consumer goods, living and working across different regions of England as well as briefly overseas. After 25 years playing and volunteering in grassroots rugby he is now most active in the gym and as a parent volunteer, occasionally indulging his competitive instincts by trying to beat his own personal best at the local park run. Andy’s term will commence on 9 September 2016 and end on 8 September 2019.

Karen Pickering MBE

During her 20 year international career Karen won 35 major championship medals and 38 National titles despite breaking her back in a car accident in 1996. She was 4 times World champion, broke 2 World Records and competed at 4 consecutive Olympic Games. Since her retirement from competitive swimming Karen has become a popular motivational and after dinner speaker and commentates for BBC 5 Live, BBC TV and Channel 4.

In 2013 she founded The Karen Pickering SWIM Foundation, to run alongside her swim schools, offering bursaries to those who might otherwise be unable to afford swimming lessons. Passionate about giving elite athletes a voice she was Chair of the British Athletes Commission and formerly sat on the executive boards of the English Institute of Sport and the BOA-Athlete Commission. Karen’s term will commence on 28 October 2016 and end on 29 October 2019.

Sport England Board Member roles are remunerated at a rate of £218 per day. The appointments have been made in accordance with the OCPA Code of Practice. It is a requirement of the Code that political activity by those appointed is declared. None of the above have declared any political activity.