John Preston

John is the Chief Executive of the Percy Hedley Foundation and was officially appointed in December 2024 after holding the role for an interim period. His career has been within health and social care for almost 20 years.

John is responsible for over 1000 staff members and oversees the vision, strategy and overall success of the Foundation.

What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in your time at the Foundation?

Despite only being in the Foundation for 20 months, there have been a large number of changes, some positive and others less so. There are two main changes which are Foundation-wide that will have major, positive impacts in the future.; 

1. The financial performance of the Foundation is much stronger today than it was when I joined in June 2023. This is a credit to everyone in terms of what we have achieved so far, but there is still a way to go. For those who don’t know, I am a qualified accountant. My mantra when it comes down to understanding the financial priorities of an organisation is;  

• Turnover is Vanity 

• Profit is Sanity, but 

• Cash is King 

The challenge is to make sure that we continue to generate cash into the future so that we can invest more in our people, our assets and our services. 

2. The Board of Trustees has recently approved a 3-year strategic plan. There are a few supporting plans to finalised and then we will communicate it across the Foundation. The plan is quite simple and focuses on doing what we currently do, modernising our services where required and increasing the financial performance of the Foundation so that we can invest in our future. We will review and update the plan every year so that we can remain focussed on achievable goals, meeting the demands of the commissioners and improving the lives of our beneficiaries.