Fife Council appoints new chief executive

Ken Gourlay will become the council’s chief executive officer in July after current CEO Steve Grimmond retires.

Councillor David Ross, council leader, chaired the appointment committee and confirmed the decision.

He said: “After a rigorous selection process, I’m delighted to announce that Ken Gourlay has accepted the position of chief executive. The calibre of applicants was high. Ken impressed us with his commitment to improving local services and public life, and to achieving that by building strong relationships within the council, within communities and with all our partners. I look forward to working with Ken in his new role as we continue to focus on Fife’s economic recovery, tackling poverty and preventing crisis and addressing the climate emergency.”

Ken started his career at Fife Council as a civil engineer before holding a series of senior management posts at North Tyneside Council. He returned to Fife in 2003 as building services manager before being appointed head of assets and facilities management, then head of assets, transportation and environment and latterly executive director enterprise and environment.

Ken said he feels “extremely privileged to be given this opportunity and the responsibility that comes with it”.

He added: “I’m looking forward to working with elected members, and the whole council team, to build on the great work that Steve’s done over the past decade. There’s lots of exciting work underway in Fife and I aim to deliver changes that will make this an even better place to live, work, visit and invest.”

Current chief executive Steve Grimmond is set to retire at the end of June after a decade in the role. W

He said: “It’s been an honour and a pleasure to work in this position. Despite the challenges we’ve all faced in recent years, the council has been on a successful journey of modernisation and increasing collaboration. Across the public, private and third sectors, Fife is poised for the next phase of local service redesign and it’s the right time to handover to Ken to lead this work.”