Head of Culture & Leisure, London Borough of Havering and a Spinout Pathfinder.

Simon Parkinson has been working for Havering Council as Head of Culture and Leisure Services since 2006. Prior to that Simon worked in senior management positions for 17 years, mainly for local authorities, but also as Managing Director for a Trust which managed local authority owned leisure centres. Simon also has experience of working in the voluntary sector and for the Sports Council (now Sport England).

Havering has been selected by the Cabinet Office to become a part of the national Pathfinder Programme (phase 2) which is promoting the benefits of transferring public sector services to “Employee Led Mutuals”. Simon chairs the corporate officer group in Havering that has been set up to co-ordinate the work associated with the transferring of Council services to “Employee Led Mutuals”.