Dame Gillian Guy, Baroness Bichard is a British administrator who is currently the Independent Assessor of the Financial Ombudsman Service. She was previously

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Citizens Advice Citizens AdviceCitizens Advice is the operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, which is the umbrella charity for a wider network of local advice centres. The abbreviation CitA is sometimes used to refer to this natio ...

, a network of charitable organisations employing 7,000. She joined in 2010 from the charity

Victim Support Victim Support is an independent charity in England and Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime. Activities ;Support for victims of crime: Trained volunteers and employees offer free, inde ...

. She is also a non-practitioner member of the Banking Standards Board.

Career

Guy has been Chief Executive Officer of three organisations, as well as a board member of four.

London Borough of Ealing

In 1994, she became CEO of

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London boroughs, London borough in London, England. It comprises the districts of Acton, London, Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northolt, Perivale and Southall. With a population of 367,100 inhabitants, i ...

, where she spent her early life. She continued working there for 12 years before moving to

, her first executive role in a charity.

Victim Support

Victim Support, a charity that supports victims of various crimes, hired Guy in 2006, where she worked for four years. In an interview, Guy characterized the move from public sector to charitable organization sector: "In the public sector, there was never enough money to do what you wanted; in the charity sector it's the same. It's always about getting more for less." Significantly, She consolidated Victim Support into one charity from a network of seventy-seven, according to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Citizens Advice

Guy was hired as the Chief Executive Officer of Citizens Advice in 2010. The charity, a network of independent charities across multiple countries, employs over 21,000 volunteers. In an interview with ''The Guardian'', she noted that her experience at Victim Support prepared her for working cooperatively with the government. Already

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE), Guy was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to the public and voluntary sectors. In August 2019, Guy admitted that Citizens Advice had been too slow to make progress on inclusivity and diversity under her leadership. This followed the publication of Citizens Advice training materials which the charity's own Black, Asian and ethnic minority staff group said "propagated racist stereotypes". In August 2020, Citizen Advice announced that Gillian Guy would step down from the organization in October, after ten years of service. She would be followed by the Chief Operating Officer Alistair Cromwell until a permanent successor is elected.

Independent Assessor of the Financial Ombudsman Service

Guy is currently the Independent Assessor of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

References

Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Citizens Advice Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Ealing Local government officers in England Spouses of life peers Bichard {{UK-business-bio-stub