CHIEF EXECUTIVE APPOINTED

The new Chief Executive of PRRT is Eddie Gaw. Eddie joins the Trust fresh from the hot seat of Corporate Services Director at the Rivers Agency, so much in the news with the recent flooding which afflicted Northern Ireland.

When asked why he applied he happily admits that in researching the post and talking to colleagues and friends he heard only good things about PRRT. In short, this helped make up his mind to take the post.

Eddie is typical of the latest breed of chief executive. Academically and professionally qualified – he did a psychology degree at Queen’s – and after joining the Department of Finance and Personnel in 1985 he joined a civil service trainee accountant scheme qualifying as a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountants. His move into accountancy reflected the new emphasis on resource accounting as the civil service introduced private sector accounting practices.

As an accountant Eddie moved around various departments, not only upwards with promotion but expanding his breadth of expertise and responsibility. From DoE Finance where he qualified, he moved through Deputy Accountant to Principal Departmental Accountant for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. It was here as Head of Profession that he acquired personnel responsibilities which included the training, recruitment, retention and development of all  finance staff.

Realising the challenge of human resources management with the attendant complexity of  equality legislation, human rights and data protection, he took the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development qualification.

As well as the relevance of the course, he still values the networking contacts from his student colleagues as opportunities to test his thinking on both Finance and HR issues.

He stayed with DARD from 1998 to 2004 when he was seconded to Ofreg, the forerunner of the present utilities regulator. The move also took him further out of his accountant’s role as Head of Finance and Administration into dealing with policy issues. This was a time of breaking new ground in organisational development and policy-making legislation on the regulation of utilities, including water.

In 2007 he joined the Rivers Agency to become part of the management board working with two Engineering Directors and a CEO. By now he was ready to assume responsibility across the breadth of an organisation and he applied for the post of  PRRT Chief Executive.

Although only in the chair a few weeks he is clear in his thinking about PRRT:

“My focus will be on quality within the organisation. Our processes, policies and procedures must be right. Yet at the same time we must balance our professional demands with our resources.”

He also believes that an organisation functions smoothly more because of the efforts of the staff on the ground rather than the management alone. He is particularly mindful of this point by his regard for the huge efforts put into the flooding emergencies by the joint efforts of the engineering, administrative and industrial staff of the Rivers Agency. “We have to value and acknowledge the work of staff at all levels in any organisation.”

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