Following the last Board meeting of 2024 and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 17 December 2024, the Association of Chief Executives (ACE) is pleased to to congratulate Adrian Smith OBE on his appointment as permanent Chair. We are also pleased to confirm the appointment of three new elected board members: Ben Connah, Secretary to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry; Elysia McCaffery, Chief Executive, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority; and Natalie Prosser, Chief Executive, Office for Environmental Protection.
At the AGM the Secretariat welcomed the Board and ACE members, as well as Colin Batsford, the ACE accountant. Mr Batsford reviewed and confirmed the organisation’s annual budget and finances. The finances were approved, and the Chair and new members of the Board were elected.
Adrian Smith OBE, CEO, Reclaim Fund Ltd
In December 2024, Adrian Smith OBE was elected permanent Chair of the ACE Board, having served as interim chair from April to December 2024. He has led Reclaim Fund Ltd as Chief Executive since 2010. As the operator of the UK’s Dormant Asset Scheme, Reclaim Fund Ltd makes it possible for monies in dormant financial products to be used to help social and environmental initiatives across the UK. Over the last four years, Adrian has been at the forefront of an agenda for expansion of the Scheme, successfully culminating in new legislation and £1 billion being made available to good causes as of January 2025.
Awarded an OBE for services to the UK Finance Sector in 2022, Adrian holds an MBA in Leadership & Sustainability and has over 30 years leadership experience in regulated Financial Services companies. Previous roles include senior leader at Britannia Building Society, Bank of Ireland and Bristol & West Building Society. Adrian also has a keen interest in improving prospects for rural communities and is Vice Chair of Plunkett UK.
Ben Connah, Inquiry Secretary, UK Covid-19 Inquiry
Ben Connah has been Secretary to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry since it was established in mid-2022; before that he had led the team setting up the Inquiry. He is responsible for supporting the Inquiry’s chair, Baroness Hallett, to deliver the Inquiry fairly and efficiently in line with her terms of reference. Before setting up the Covid-19 Inquiry, Ben spent more than 20 years in Whitehall, first at the Ministry of Justice and then at the Department for Education. His specialism has been social policy – working on issues including victims of crime, children in care and legal aid. He has also held a range of governance, private office and strategy roles. Immediately before the pandemic, Ben sponsored the Student Loans Company, one of the UK’s largest arm’s length bodies.
Ben lives in London and is a trustee of a small charity funding medical projects in east Africa and was until recently trustee of an education and enrichment charity based in north-west London.
Elysia McCaffrey, Chief Executive, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Since beginning her civil service career in 2002, Elysia McCaffrey has demonstrated a consistent focus and passion for protecting the most vulnerable in our society. She currently serves as the Chief Executive of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), a position she has held since June 2021. In this role, she leads initiatives to stop worker exploitation, focusing on protecting workers’ rights and promoting ethical labour practices, underscoring her commitment to ensure a fair and just environment for all workers.
Elysia has over two decades of experience in civil and public service, marked by her strong commitment to public welfare. Her career includes key roles such as Deputy Director of Infrastructure in the Cabinet Office, Interim Director of the Government Equalities Office, and Deputy Head of the Government Equalities Office. Additionally, she led the Department for Education’s transformation for four years.
Natalie Prosser, Chief Executive, Office for Environmental Protection
Natalie Prosser is a solicitor by background, with seventeen years in government, specialising in public and regulatory law, regulatory operations and governance. She is currently the CEO of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) where she has been since February 2021. Natalie leads all the work of the OEP including annual scrutiny of government progress against its legally binding environmental goals and targets, investigating and enforcing against public bodies responsibilities under environmental laws, assessing how well environmental laws are being used in practice and providing advice to government on new environmental laws.
Her previous roles have included General Counsel at the Gambling Commission; Director of Operations, Vocational and Technical Qualifications and Director of Legal at Ofqual; and regulatory and policy lead on the independent Farm Inspection and Regulation Review.
We also wish to express gratitude to Emily Miles, who has retired from the committee. Her invaluable time, support, and passion shared with Association of Chief Executives is much appreciated and we wish her all the best in her new role at Defra.
We look forward to working with the new iteration of the board in 2025.
Get to know the full ACE Board here.
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