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Hilary Florek appointed Chair of the Marine Management Organisation

Hilary Florek has been confirmed as the new Chair of the Marine Management Organisation.

New Marine Management Organisation Chair Hilary Florek

The Environment Secretary Michael Gove has appointed Hilary Florek as the Chair of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

Hilary joins the MMO with a wealth of knowledge from previous board-level appointments, recently serving as Chairman of the Port of Tyne Board of Directors from 2014-2017. She is a strategic communications and marketing specialist with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors.

Hilary will join the MMO as a member of the Board from 1 January 2018 and formally take over her duties as Chair on completion of the Board meeting on 8 February 2018. Her appointment is for three years. She will be paid £40,459 per annum based on eight days work a month.

The MMO is an executive non-departmental public body established in April 2010 and given powers under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. Its mission is to enable the sustainable development of our seas. It carries out a wide range of activities such as marine planning, marine licensing and work related to nature conservation and fisheries management.

Hilary Florek, Chair of the Marine Management Organisation, said:

I am delighted to be taking up this appointment as Chair of the MMO and looking forward to working with the team at an exciting and challenging time for the organisation.

Hilary succeeds the Outgoing Chair, Sir Bill Callaghan, who was appointed on 1 May 2011.

Sir Bill Callaghan said:

I am delighted that Hilary has been appointed as my successor. Her wide range of experience and skills will be a valuable asset to the MMO.

The recruitment was carried out in accordance with the ‘Ministerial Code of Practice for Appointments to Public Bodies’. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, there is a requirement for the political activities of appointees to be made public. Hilary Florek has not declared any significant activity.

Biographical details:

Hilary Florek is a strategic communications and marketing specialist with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. Having initially joined the Port of Tyne Board of Directors in 2008, she was Deputy Chairman for over three years before taking on the position of Chairman from 2014-2017.

Previously PR and Communications Director for the Vaux Group PLC, she established her own marketing consultancy, HFPR Ltd, in 2000. She currently serves on the Board of social housing association, Karbon Homes, the Board of North East Access to Finance and she is also a Trustee of the North Music Trust at the Sage, Gateshead. She is also a Director of the BE-UK Employee Ownership Trust Co Limited.

Hilary has served as non-executive director on the boards of the Community Foundation for Tyne & Wear and Northumberland and the County Durham Foundation. She is a former Trustee of the Sunderland Youth Enterprise Trust and was a Board Member of Project North East.

Published 15 December 2017