Top Cherwell council officer retires after 26 years

Ian Davies joined the team at Bodicote House in 1992 as Head of Leisure Services under then-Chief Executive Officer Grahame Handley.

He has worked for four CEOs and was an Interim Chief Executive himself on two occasions.

The head of operations retires after a varied career which culminated in leading the Judicial Review into the process of the recent downgrade of the Horton General Hospital.

Mr Davies’s career at Cherwell has embraced a wide range of council services from waste, recycling and street cleansing to environmental health, licensing, housing, car parking and community development.

“One of the biggest developments I was involved in was the sports centres modernisation programme which resulted in the new Spiceball Leisure Centre,” he said.

“I’m interested in most sports having played cricket – which I still do at Sibford CC – as well as squash and rugby and I am a fervent Welsh rugby supporter.

“I’m a keen gardener and allotment holder, walker and cyclist and I’ve always had a strong interest in ornithology, all of which I intend to do more of.

“I intend to stay young at heart and fighting fit despite old rugby injuries,” he said.

Mr Davies, 61, claims to have no work plans other than volunteering but he lives by the maxim ‘never say never’.

Mr Davies lives in Kineton with his wife Peta and daughter Megan.