Design Council chief executive John Mathers to step down
The chief executive of the Design Council John Mathers is to step down from his position this coming November.
Having guided the Design Council to win grant funding from The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) until March 2020, and a £3.65m award from the Big Lottery Fund, Mathers said that it is time for "new blood" to enter the organisation in the role.
In a note to staff, Martin Temple, chairman at Design Council, said Design Council is "entering a new phase", with trustees having just launched a new initiative to "address issues of national significance" with the aim of impacting positive social, environment and economic change.
Mathers said: “The organisation is now very different to the one I joined, with great progress in major initiatives such as Design for Europe, our groundbreaking Design Economy research, the UK’s first product accelerator programme, Spark, and support to cities and places around the country. I’m very proud to have been part of Design Council in such a vibrant period in its history.”
Prior to joining Design Council he held roles including president at the DBA, chief executive at Holmes & Marchant, chief operating officer at Blue Marlin and senior roles at Fitch and Enterprise IG.