East Cheshire Hospice has a new Chair – someone with a long-standing link to their predecessor.
Juliette White CBE takes over from Will Spinks who recruited her to ICI Pharmaceuticals, now AstraZeneca, in 1990.
Will retires after reaching the nine-year limit as a Hospice Trustee, the last seven as Chair.
Protocol dictated that Will had no say in Juliette’s appointment as Chair, but he did help launch her career.
Juliette, from Macclesfield, said: “I applied to the ICI graduate programme and Will was on the panel that ran an assessment programme which ultimately resulted in my recruitment into the pharmaceutical business.”
Both worked for AZ for a long time.
Juliette spent her entire 34-year career there before retiring last year, while Will served the company for 28 years before he was Registrar, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Manchester.
Will said: “When you step down from the board you can’t name your replacement. That’s for the board to decide.
“The board ran that process and interviewed applicants who met staff, volunteers and donors before choosing Juliette.
“I was absolutely delighted as I’d known Juliette for a long time. I know how good she is so it’s great to see that baton handed on.
“I was part of the panel which appointed her at ICI. We never actually worked closely together as colleagues but were both in the same business.
“We both started in HR and we both ended up in general management positions so there’s some similarity to our career paths in that sense.”
Juliette has shadowed Will on the Hospice Board since last year. She said: “I’d like to place on record my thanks to Will who has been an exceptional Chair and leader.
“He made sure it’s an incredibly well-run organisation and my intention is to build on his strong legacy.
“I want to continue to extend the Hospice’s reach, both for our patients and in respect and recognition of Will’s outstanding leadership.
“We both have a strong passion for patient care after so long in the health care sector.
“Our mission at AZ was the provision of treatment of patients and helping them live well.
“Our objective at the Hospice is to help people at their most vulnerable continue to live well and to support their families.
“That strong purpose was at the core of what we stood for professionally. I’m succeeding someone whose values and philosophy are very much aligned to mine.”
