• Exeter City Futures (ECF) announces appointment of new Managing Director, Andrew Hardwick

  • Andrew will work to ensure that ECF builds strong collaborations and effectively facilitates the city’s delivery of a carbon neutral Exeter by 2030

  • Read an short interview with Andrew, further below…

 

Exeter City Futures has announced the appointment of their new Managing Director, Andrew Hardwick. Having previously worked as Regional Stores Director for Tesco (Westcountry), Andrew brings 20 years of senior executive management experience across retail, hospitality, leisure, and not-for-profit sectors.

 

Andrew takes up the role from Liz O-Driscoll, and joins following the curation and publication of the Net Zero Exeter 2030 Plan. As the new Managing Director, Andrew’s focus is to ensure Exeter City Futures delivers effective collaborations that facilitate Exeter’s vision to be carbon neutral by 2030. 

Specialising in transformational change, Andrew has a long history of managing and delivering major projects whilst developing collaborative relationships with an eclectic mix of partners and individuals. Andrew said:

 

“I am incredibly excited to join the Exeter City Futures team at what is such a critical moment not just for the organisation, but the city as a whole as we come together to build back better post Covid-19.”

“My key role will be to build upon the already fantastic work that has been carried out by Exeter City Futures to date and work together with everyone in Exeter to turn the Net Zero Exeter 2030 Plan into collaborative, practical action.”

 

 

An Interview with Andrew Hardwick:

Exeter City Futures’ New Managing Director

 

We are excited to welcome Andrew Hardwick to the Exeter City Futures team as our new Managing Director! Together we have a huge task ahead of us as we aim to turn our Net Zero Exeter 2030 Plan into collaborative, practical action and in turn supporting the city’s ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

We caught up with Andrew and asked him a few questions, so you can get to know him too:

 

Q: Welcome to the Exeter City Futures team! Tell us a little bit about your background.

 

A: My working life started in the hospitality sector at a hotel whilst studying business and finance. This was intended to be a short term job but morphed into a career. I achieved a succession of quick promotions and became the General Manager at the age of 21. Having significantly modernised the business, its customer base and operations, I became the Managing Director at the age of 24; a role I held for 5 years until the business was sold to an international entrepreneur. I joined his organisation and spent the next 2 years directing operations for an eclectic portfolio of businesses that included shops, cafes, takeaways, restaurants, cinemas, student accommodation and commercial properties. 

In 2010 I moved sectors and joined Tesco to develop my skill set, knowledge and leadership in a corporate environment. Over the next 10 years I achieved 7 promotions and worked across the South of England in a variety of roles. These included operating some of Tesco’s busiest and most successful stores, working remotely as an Area Manager and culminating in my previous role as Regional Director. This was my last role prior to joining Exeter City Futures, something I am both delighted and very excited about. 

 

Q: Why are you passionate about Exeter?

 

A: I am a West Country local by definition, having been born in Plymouth and then spending my childhood growing up in Devon. My career has seen me work in a variety of locations all across the South of England, with a couple of these years being spent in London. However, I have been very fortunate as predominantly my roles and their locations have been based in Devon, Somerset and Dorset. As such, my home and working base has for many years been centred in and around Exeter. 

During this time I have been so impressed how Exeter has really evolved and developed itself to become a prominent, progressive, innovative and vibrant city. It has done this whilst preserving its connection to the nearby and beautiful countryside, coastline and history. 

 

Q: What do you hope to achieve at Exeter City Futures?

 

A: That is a very big and complex question, which I could probably take several hours and many reams of paper answering. However, I will try to keep my answer simple and succinct. First and foremost, both my aspiration for the city and what I hope to achieve at Exeter City Futures is to successfully mobilise and implement the Net Zero Exeter 2030 Plan. That has to be the main priority and ultimate measure of success. Already so much hard work, endeavour, relationship building and engagement has gone into creating the Net Zero Exeter 2030 Plan by many people and organisations across the city. In doing so we now have a clear vision for the future of the city, supported by a framework of practical actions to ensure Exeter remains a great place to live and work for future generations. 

It is imperative that we achieve this whilst working transparently; forging honest, trusting, cooperative and collaborative relationships – for me this has be at the heart of everything Exeter City Futures does and will be the key enabler to fulfil our shared aspirations.

 

Q: How can people get hold of you?

 

A: You can email me directly at Andrew.Hardwick@globalcityfutures.com, or if your email is regarding Exeter City Futures more generally, you can email info@exetercityfutures.com and someone from the team will get back to you asap. I look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

 

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