FinancialNewsOCFJohn Taylor

OCF is delighted to welcome retired local businessman John Taylor as its new Chair of Trustees. John is working with our current Chair Anna Moon during a handover period, before officially taking the reins on 1st January 2016.

Oxfordshire Community Foundation was lucky to have an excellent pool of candidates to choose from for the role, and particularly appreciated the support of the Oxfordshire Lieutenancy’s Trustee Scheme. A sub-committee of trustees was responsible for the recruitment process, led by Vice-Chair Lady Stephanie North, and their selection of John Taylor was ratified at the meeting of the Board this week.

John comes to OCF from a corporate background, and was CEO of the Austrian based international plastics and petrochemical company Borealis AG until his retirement in 2007. During this time he successfully led a major company transformation, including establishing it as a leader in safety performance. This involved championing fundamental changes to company and asset strategy, and driving operational excellence across the full range of business functions.

Previously, John was CEO of British Nuclear Fuels PLC, and worked at Exxon Chemical for 26 years in the UK, Belgium and the USA. Today he is Vice Chairman of The Friends of Dorchester Abbey, a trustee of mental health charity Response, a mentor at pro-bono service Charity Mentors and a Chemical Industry Advisor for CVC Capital Partners.

John is now involved in meeting and consulting with all of OCF’s staff and trustees, and will take over from current Chair Anna Moon in January. Anna is retiring from her responsibilities as Chair, having volunteered for OCF since it was established in 1995, and has been Chair since 2010. During this appointment she has overseen the successful transformation of the community foundation into a thriving organisation, an achievement for which she was recognised earlier this year with a High Sheriff’s Award for Contributions to Community Life.

Find out about OCF’s Board of trustees