24 November 2009
Career sea change
Michael Burton
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Tendring District Council
£112,000 - £120,000 -
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION
North Yorkshire County Council
£71,252 - £85,341 pa -
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR HOUSING LANDLORD
Dacorum Borough Council
£63,153-£72,843 -
GROUP MANAGER DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT & PLANNING
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£47,505-£56,109 -
ELECTORAL SERVICES MANAGER (DEPUTY RETURNING OFFICER)
Herefordshire Council
Up to £48,000 per annum
The lively seaside city of Brighton and Hove has a new chief executive, John Barradell, a former computer sales manager who in his spare time was a volunteer police officer. He talks to Michael Burton about his new job
Running a city council like Brighton and Hove has to be one of the more attractive posts in local government. Dubbed ‘London-by-the-sea’ the city now has a new council chief executive in a former police volunteer from the capital, John Barradell, who started last month.
For many managers, working in Brighton must be a dream job and John certainly describes it as ‘an amazing place.’ Apart from the seaside and the Sussex countryside behind it, the city is cultured and cosmopolitan, boasts a lively café society and trendy residents from Fatboy Slim to Billie Piper.
Its attractive lifestyle has attracted a growing hi-tech industry. ‘More people are signed up on Brighton Facebook than actually live in the city.’
The council has even appointed a social media officer which has strong support from the local blogosphere.
John began his career in the computer industry working for Unisys and HP in sales and marketing covering East Europe where he was responsible for desktops and PCs. He left in 1997 to work in a telecom consultancy.
In the meantime he had become a volunteer police officer working for the specials in London and ended up as a chief officer working 16 hours week, an occupation he continued until 2007 by which time he was in charge of 1500 officers. Much of the work involved street patrols and he believes that the specials embody the original concept of the police force created by Sir Robert Peel – that the public are the police and the police are the public.
The part-time post gave him experience of public sector work, though for 20 years his career was entirely in the private sector.
In 2002 that changed when he joined Westminster City Council as community safety manager, a job which plainly drew on his work with the police specials. He worked his way up through the council to deputy chief executive under Peter Rogers, taking over from Joe Duckworth who became chief at the Isle of Wight (and is now at Newham).
He recalls: ‘I felt ready to do the chief’s job and as a family we chose three places, Cambridge, London or Brighton. As it happened the Brighton job came up. It’s a very diverse council and I needed the support of all the groups (Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens) which I got.’
Despite its assets, the city and the council also have their share of problems including pockets of persistent deprivation and a lack of major private sector employers. Although the city is not especially ethnically diverse it covers a wide range of income groups plus a huge number of students based at the two universities, and a large gay community.
While on the one hand it boats luxury seafront apartments and the highest density of graduates in the country, it also includes 40,000 residents with no educational qualifications. ‘The challenge is how to break through this inter-generational cycle and we’re working very closely with young people in particular.’ It has a new academy sponsored by ex-Capita chief and MJ columnist, Rod Aldridge, who was brought up in nearby Portslade.
In London’s commuter range, Brighton and Hove has few major employers itself. As John says: ‘You can go into shops and be served by someone with a first class honours degree who has decided to stay on in the city.’ Regeneration is an issue, with the area around Brighton station being earmarked for refurbishment for a decade with no sign of it starting. The council also owns its own housing stock and finding investment remains a challenge.
Against this backdrop, the council, like all others, faces the meltdown in central Government funding from the next CSR round. ‘We’re starting to think about the 2011 budget. We have to find an extra £15m even without any cut in grant. It’s a challenge just to stand still.’ And he also recognises the council’s defects which include an image lagging behind that of the city. ‘The place survey shows that satisfaction with the council does not match satisfaction with the place. Some didn’t even know we run libraries. As a potential resident in the area it took me 45 minutes to get through to the council.
As an organisation we need to reconnect with Brighton and Hove. People say we don’t listen.’ In Hove there is even a group, Hove Alone, wanting to break from the council and return to pre-unitary days when Hove was a separate district.
He believes the Total Place agenda is inevitable. ‘We have no choice. We have to move to the next level and we have to be clear that outcomes come first.
So overall what does the ex-computer marketing manager think of local government? ‘It’s got some incredibly talented and dedicated people. The downside is its slow speed at changing things.
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| Barradell: "The challenge is how to break through this inter-generational cycle and we’re working very closely with young people in particular." |
Its attractive lifestyle has attracted a growing hi-tech industry. ‘More people are signed up on Brighton Facebook than actually live in the city.’
The council has even appointed a social media officer which has strong support from the local blogosphere.
John began his career in the computer industry working for Unisys and HP in sales and marketing covering East Europe where he was responsible for desktops and PCs. He left in 1997 to work in a telecom consultancy.
In the meantime he had become a volunteer police officer working for the specials in London and ended up as a chief officer working 16 hours week, an occupation he continued until 2007 by which time he was in charge of 1500 officers. Much of the work involved street patrols and he believes that the specials embody the original concept of the police force created by Sir Robert Peel – that the public are the police and the police are the public.
The part-time post gave him experience of public sector work, though for 20 years his career was entirely in the private sector.
In 2002 that changed when he joined Westminster City Council as community safety manager, a job which plainly drew on his work with the police specials. He worked his way up through the council to deputy chief executive under Peter Rogers, taking over from Joe Duckworth who became chief at the Isle of Wight (and is now at Newham).
He recalls: ‘I felt ready to do the chief’s job and as a family we chose three places, Cambridge, London or Brighton. As it happened the Brighton job came up. It’s a very diverse council and I needed the support of all the groups (Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems and Greens) which I got.’
Despite its assets, the city and the council also have their share of problems including pockets of persistent deprivation and a lack of major private sector employers. Although the city is not especially ethnically diverse it covers a wide range of income groups plus a huge number of students based at the two universities, and a large gay community.
While on the one hand it boats luxury seafront apartments and the highest density of graduates in the country, it also includes 40,000 residents with no educational qualifications. ‘The challenge is how to break through this inter-generational cycle and we’re working very closely with young people in particular.’ It has a new academy sponsored by ex-Capita chief and MJ columnist, Rod Aldridge, who was brought up in nearby Portslade.
In London’s commuter range, Brighton and Hove has few major employers itself. As John says: ‘You can go into shops and be served by someone with a first class honours degree who has decided to stay on in the city.’ Regeneration is an issue, with the area around Brighton station being earmarked for refurbishment for a decade with no sign of it starting. The council also owns its own housing stock and finding investment remains a challenge.
Against this backdrop, the council, like all others, faces the meltdown in central Government funding from the next CSR round. ‘We’re starting to think about the 2011 budget. We have to find an extra £15m even without any cut in grant. It’s a challenge just to stand still.’ And he also recognises the council’s defects which include an image lagging behind that of the city. ‘The place survey shows that satisfaction with the council does not match satisfaction with the place. Some didn’t even know we run libraries. As a potential resident in the area it took me 45 minutes to get through to the council.
As an organisation we need to reconnect with Brighton and Hove. People say we don’t listen.’ In Hove there is even a group, Hove Alone, wanting to break from the council and return to pre-unitary days when Hove was a separate district.
He believes the Total Place agenda is inevitable. ‘We have no choice. We have to move to the next level and we have to be clear that outcomes come first.
So overall what does the ex-computer marketing manager think of local government? ‘It’s got some incredibly talented and dedicated people. The downside is its slow speed at changing things.
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