Karen Jefford Is Appointed as The New Chief Executive of Building Heroes
Our Founder and Chief Executive, Brendan Williams is retiring from his position after eight years. From 1st January 2023, the current COO, Karen Jefford, will be taking over as the new Chief Executive.
This is a rather timely announcement for us, as we have just celebrated our 8th anniversary on 16th October 2022. As the UK’s leading tri-service military to construction charity, we have had many achievements since 2014, most notably winning the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity earlier this year.
Karen Jefford, COO, said: “I am honoured to have been appointed as ChiefExecutive. Having had the pleasure of working alongside Brendan for the last 4years I have a shared passion and commitment to not only the charity but to those we serve. I couldn't be more excited about my appointment. I will be proud to lead the team and together work on the strategy and developments planned for the next few years and new era for BuildingHeroes.”
Approached by his brother-in-law, Brendan came out of retirement to create an introductory construction skills course for veterans and service leavers. He has helped grow our charity and established a framework so the team can excel even further. We have seen exponential growth and have just celebrated our 2,000th graduate from the training programmes. From one centre in West Sussex offering 50 places per year, ew have 14 centres to accommodate 850 training places per year.
Brendan Williams, CEO, said: “I am very pleased that the Trustees of Building Heroes have chosen to appoint Karen Jefford as my successor as Chief Executive. Karen has led the development of Building Heroes from the end of the start-up phase through to our current national presence and is now leading our conversion to the industry-ledAcademy model. Having worked closely with Karen for the past 4 years I know I am leaving the Charity in very safe and capable hands.”
In planning for the future at Building Heroes, Karen’s goal is to build a sustainable model that supports growth of the charity and provides solutions to not only industry but to our stakeholders and long-term future.
Peter Bradbury, Chairman, said: “Brendan Williams has been a brilliant and inspirational CEO ofBuilding Heroes since its formation. However, I’m confident that we have been able to appoint the best possible successor in Karen Jefford and all the trustees look forward to working with her to continue the extraordinary journey of this exceptional charity.”
We dedicate our time and efforts to service leavers, veterans, reservists, and military families through re skill training. We provide training and employment services by equipping learners with a broad range of trade skills and connecting them with a network of employers.
