03-10-2023

hub East Central Scotland appoints Professor John Brown CBE as new Chair

hub East Central Scotland, the public sector development partner for delivery of community facilities, has confirmed the appointment of Professor John Brown as the new Chair.

Professor Brown has been Chair of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde since 2015 and is due to step down from this role at the end of November. He is a former Senior Civil Servant and is an advisor to the Scottish Government on corporate governance. John is the author of the NHS Scotland Blueprint for Good Governance and is a Senior Faculty Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh‘s Quality Governance Collaborative.

John is an MBA qualified Chartered Management Accountant with over 30 years’ experience of leading large customer facing organisations through transformational change. He has an extensive track record of working with key stakeholders to create a shared vision and realise the organisation’s full potential. In 2010, John was awarded a CBE in recognition of his contribution to improving leadership in the public sector. 

John is an Honorary Professor of the University of Glasgow and the University of Dundee, where he is also a member of the School of Business Advisory Board.

John takes over from Ian Mullen who stepped down earlier this year after successfully leading the Board since the company’s inception.

Gary Bushnell, chief executive of hub East Central Scotland, said: “We are delighted to welcome John to the Board as our new Chair. His extensive experience across public and private sector will be an invaluable asset to the organisation as we extend our focus to create long term social impact in communities across our region.”

John Brown added: “I am delighted to be joining the team at hub East Central at an exciting time as they continue to deliver a range of new community facilities designed to meet the specific needs of their localities. Not least of these is Scotland’s largest education project at the new £112 million Dunfermline Learning Campus, due for completion next year.

“Looking ahead, our focus will remain on working closely with public sector partners to support strategic development that will enable the transformation from an initial concept to providing high quality facilities that boost skills development, economic impact and sustainability in our communities.”

Hub East Central Scotland has successfully delivered £600 million of facilities that are open and serving communities, with a further £240 million currently in construction and a development pipeline of new projects of around £200 million.

The benefits that hub brings to the community go far beyond the buildings that are delivered.  All projects achieve significant positive social impacts and community benefits.

Over 50% of hub contracts are awarded to Scottish SMEs and a focus on local employment and developing skills creates jobs through apprenticeships on every project.