Chief Executive of the Greater Cambridge Partnership to retire

Rachel Stopard, Chief Executive of the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP), has announced that she is stepping down from her role in May 2024.

Rachel, 59, has decided to retire after more than 37 years of local government service.

As the Chief Executive of the GCP, Rachel was employed to reinvigorate the Partnership and to bring clarity, focus and leadership to the delivery of the up to £1bn City Deal programme, to deliver major transport, infrastructure, and connectivity improvements across Greater Cambridge. Rachel has overseen significant progress across the whole of the GCP programme and ensured a clear pipeline of projects is ready to be delivered between now and 2030.

Rachel Stopard said:

“It has been a great privilege to work in public service for so many years. From my early days with Hertfordshire County Council to my time with the Greater Cambridge Partnership, I have seen how the sector has faced numerous challenges but has continued to focus on delivering for residents and communities.

“I never expected, when I arrived in Cambridge back in 2017, to stay here for this long. It has been a rewarding and energising programme that has kept me here – helping to make Cambridge a better place now and in the future.”

As the GCP moves into the next phase of its role to deliver the remaining elements of its programme, Peter Blake, the GCP’s Transport Director, will assume a new role on an interim basis as Director of the GCP, to provide leadership continuity and stability, working with the Board, colleagues and partners leading up to and through the planned Government Gateway Review of the GCP in 2025. Peter will be supported by the wider GCP team.

Councillor Elisa Meschini, Chair of the GCP Executive Board, said:

“I’d like to thank Rachel, on behalf of the Board, for her leadership of the GCP and to wish her well for the future. Rachel has ensured that we have a strong programme of work to deliver, to transform the transport infrastructure and connectivity across Greater Cambridge. She has worked tirelessly to ensure the GCP has become the partnership body able to deliver major change within a very complex local system of governance.

“I look forward to working with Peter Blake and the rest of the excellent team that Rachel has built at the GCP, which I am confident have the right combination of skills and capabilities to deliver the remaining parts of the programme for the benefit of residents across Greater Cambridge and beyond.”