New Deputy Chair appointed

Friday 26 January 2007

The Secretary of State for Health has appointed Dr Ian Reynolds as the new Deputy Chair at the Food Standards Agency. He replaces Julia Unwin who has become Director at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in December 2006.

Dr Reynolds, 55, who gained his PhD in animal endocrinology and has published in the field of drug residues in meat, has been a Board Member at the FSA since May 2006.

He is a former employee of Glaxo and Cyanamid where he worked in business development and regulatory affairs. He was Chief Executive of Nottingham Health Authority from 1992 to 1995 and Chief Executive of the Priory Hospitals Group from 1995 to 1997. Dr Reynolds is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and also a qualified vet.

Since 1998 he has been a self employed consultant, advising venture capital houses on both business planning for acquisitions and turnarounds in the health and social care markets.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr Reynolds said:

'I am hugely excited by this new opportunity. The FSA is an organisation I have come to know well and admire in the last eight months and I am looking forward to working both with the Board and the Executive in this role. Food issues are at the top of the nation's agenda and I have been very impressed by the work the Agency has done on food safety and nutrition. I am looking forward to the challenges ahead.'

Dame Deirdre Hutton, Chair of the Food Standards Agency said:

'I am delighted Ian is joining us as Deputy Chair. His scientific and business background will be an invaluable asset to the Agency and his wise counsel, already in evidence from his time on the Board, is a tremendous help to us all. I look forward to working closely with Ian over the next few years.'