After 20-years in the commercial world, I had a complete change in December 2013 and moved to the public sector, taking up the position of Chief Operating Officer at Hull City Council where I had day-to-day responsibility for the provision of all Council services including highways, city services, housing, personnel, ICT, economic development, regeneration and planning.I was appointed as Chief Executive in November 2015, where my strong commercial background brings real advantages as the sector has to reshape itself to reflect changing priorities, increased demand and substantially decreased funding. As Head of Paid Service, I have responsibility for all Council services and over 5,000 staff. I am also a Board Member of Hull 2017 City of Culture Company responsible for the delivery of the programme for Hull's time as UK City of Culture.Since joining the Council, we have delivered on a £120m investment programme aimed at making Hull a world class visitor destination and a place where people want to live, learn, visit and invest. This includes the complete regeneration of the Ferens Art Gallery (one of the country's leading provincial galleries), the Hull New Theatre and the first major investment in the city's public realm since the 1980's.Prior to this, I had 20-years of experience in the ports and logistics sector having undertaken roles, at various levels and in many locations around the UK, in commercial, marine, operational and general management.I have substantial experience in the operation and development of infrastructure and customer service businesses, including the delivery of projects ranging from £1m - £300m (the Green Port Hull offshore wind development project in conjunction with Siemens). I sat on the ABP Operational Board, am a past-President of the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce and sat on the main board of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and on the Business Advisory Board of the University of Hull Business School.