Nicholas Beverley Joicey (born 11 May 1970) is Second Permanent Secretary and Group Chief Operating Officer at the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental quality, environmenta ...

. He was briefly Director General of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

's Economic and Domestic Secretariat, having previously been Director General for Finance at the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

, and before that, Director General for Strategy, International and Finance at the

. He previously worked as private secretary and speech writer to United Kingdom Chancellor

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

, as a journalist at ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' newspaper and as director of the International Department at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

Early life

Joicey was born in

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, to Harold Beverley and Wendy Joicey. He was educated at

Wintringham School Oasis Academy Wintringham is a secondary school (academy) on Weelsby Avenue in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. It is just off the A16 road (England), A16 Peaks Parkway just south-west of the A46 road, A46 crossroads next to the Lisle ...

, Grimsby. He studied for an undergraduate degree in history at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

and then completed a PhD, also in history, at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, in 1995.Who's Who
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Career

From 1995 to 1996, Joicey worked at ''

'' newspaper. He then moved to the Treasury, working as Private Secretary and Speech writer to Chancellor of the Exchequer,

between 1999 and 2001. Joicey was part of a United Kingdom delegation to the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

in Washington from 2001 to 2003, heading the EU policy team from 2004 to 2006. He was Director for International Finance at

, before joining the

in January 2014 as Director General for Strategy, International and Biosecurity. Joicey was appointed

Finance Director General in July 2018. He then served as Director General of the

's Economic and Domestic Secretariat, before being appointed to his current position of Chief Operating Officer and Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2023. In 2024, his salary was between £170,000–£174,999. Between July and December 2024 he was on a leave of absence. In January 2025 he was placed on a one-year secondment from the civil service, as interim chief operating officer at the

Blavatnik School of Government The Blavatnik School of Government is the school of public policy of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The School was founded in 2010 following a £75 million donation from business magnate Len Blavatnik, supported by £26 million fro ...

, University of Oxford. Joicey was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to the environment.

Personal life

Joicey is married to the Labour Party MP Rachel Reeves, the

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

. His interests include modern history and film and he is a trustee of the Cambridge Film Trust.Cambridge Film Trust » The Trustees- Welcome

References

1970 births Living people Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Bristol People from Guisborough The Observer people Companions of the Order of the Bath Spouses of British politicians Cryer–Reeves family {{UK-gov-bio-stub