The UK’s biggest food redistribution charity FareShare has begun the hunt for a new CEO, as long-standing boss Lindsay Boswell plans to step down next July.
Boswell this week announced he would step down from the helm of FareShare, a role he has held since 2010.
In that time, FareShare has grown the number of charities receiving food from 600 to nearly 9,500, and redistributed enough surplus for 36.7 million meals last year.
Having forged agreements with all the major supermarkets and many suppliers, FareShare has been at the forefront of national efforts to redistribute food. It played a key role during the pandemic and is now stepping up to the financial crisis, which has pushed up demand for food from banks and charities.
It was also a key partner in The Grocer’s successful Waste Not Want Not campaign to reduce food waste and increase redistribution.
Helped by the campaign, FareShare received a government grant of £1.9m in 2019, as part of a trial to tackle food waste.
In September, it called for £25m in long-term government funding to help cover the cost of surplus food from the supply chain, which it claims could save an estimated £140m overall. The call has not yet been met.
“FareShare has an ambitious plan for investment and growth over the next three years and from this position of strength, this is an excellent time to hand over the baton to a new leader,” said Boswell, a former army commander whose previous roles include CEO of the Institute of Fundraising, London director of the Princes Trust volunteers and director of operations at Raleigh International.
“The long notice period, healthy state of our finances, scale of our ambition and stability at board level make this the optimal time to make this transition.
“I’m biased but this had to be one of the best jobs in the food industry with the ability to really deliver at a time when there is such demand and need in our society and there is still eye-watering amounts of surplus food that could help our mission.”
Consultants Odgers Berndston have been retained to carry out the recruitment process.
No comments yet