Outgoing Spicerhaart chair handed special achievement award

Spicerhaart’s non-executive chairman John Spence has received a special achievement award after announcing his retirement from the board after more than 12 years in the role.

Spence, 72, was presented with the Chairman’s Award for Special Service – the very award that he usually presents – at the annual Spicerhaart Elevate Awards.

He said it had been an honour to work with such an innovative organisation and was looking forward to staying closely connected to the Spicerhaart family.

He said: “It has been a privilege to chair the board of this most enterprising and determined of businesses.

“I started as mentor to the chief executive Paul Smith and look forward to returning to that role and maintaining my relationship with the company. 

“Paul has always sought to combine the values of high performance and family and I hope I can continue helping him on this journey.

“I am a firm believer that people should serve limited terms on boards of companies and charities. I’m standing down with sadness but it’s the right thing to do and I will keep adding value to Spicerhaart in different ways.”

Educated at Trinity College Dublin and Harvard Business School, Spence spent more than 30 years in banking culminating in managing director roles at Lloyds TSB. He also held a number of non-executive director roles with HMRC, Capital for Enterprise, CallCredit and Skipton Building Society.
 
He has chaired the British Banking Retail and Small Business Committees and HMRC’s Audit Committee and was a non-executive Director for Skipton Group Holdings and the Money Advice Service. He was also the deputy chairman for many years of Business in the Community.

Having gone blind in his 40s, he championed disability rights and has been involved with numerous disability charities including Action for Blind People, Blind in Business and Revitalise.

He has achieved the rare accolade of having an MBE, OBE and CBE for his services to the Community, Charity and Business respectively. As president of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, he even helped bring the pandas to Edinburgh Zoo.

Paying tribute to Spence, Spicerhaart chief executive Paul Smith said: “John has contributed so much to our organisation over the years, not just holding our Board to account but also as my mentor, and I’m grateful he will continue in that role. He has always been there for everybody and has attended all our Elevate Summits. His speeches are legendary, as is his kindness towards his colleagues. Many a person has received an unexpected note or call from John, praising them for their achievements.”

Spence said he is now looking forward to spending more time with his wife Yvonne, three children and his six grandchildren. Spicerhaart said it will announce his successor in due course.