Airmic has today announced that its chief executive John Ludlow (pictured) will be stepping down from his role after a tenure of almost four years. Ludlow will remain in his post until his successor is appointed in early 2021, Airmic revealed, and he plans to focus on his charitable non-executive director roles, as well as spending more time with his family in the West Country.
In a press release, Airmic highlighted the work Ludlow has done in steering the association through the first phase of the pandemic and in delivering Airmic Fest, the first ever three-day digital conference for the UK risk profession. The association also noted that under Ludlow’s leadership, Airmic had expanded into the enterprise risk management space as well as transformed its educational offering.
Airmic chair, Tracey Skinner noted that the association had grown enormously under Ludlow’s leadership and thanked him for his “tireless contribution to the development of the risk profession.”
“During his time,” she said, “Airmic membership and partner numbers have increased and diversified, the secretariat team has grown and professionalised, our educational offering transformed and he has begun the important digitisation journey. We wish John all the best.”
The timing of Ludlow stepping down allows for a handover to take place in Q1 2021 and the succession process of appointing a new CEO is currently underway, with a recruiter in place to find his successor. The handover process follows a period of hiring in 2020 which saw Airmic appoint several new senior staff, a move aimed at increasing the bench-strength of the secretariat and its programme, and to allow a smooth transition at the top.
Skinner said: “Our focus now is on ensuring a smooth succession. The future for risk professionals has never been more exciting and we look forward to announcing the new appointment at an appropriate time.”
Commenting on the news, Ludlow said his priority has been to position Airmic for the future through improving the quality of its membership offering and developing the partnership structure. Airmic’s digitisation journey is well underway, he said, as demonstrated by the success of Airmic Fest. Airmic has an expanded, motivated team, he said, and he feels that someone with more time to give must continue this journey.
“I am extremely proud of what Airmic has achieved in the past four years,” he said, “none of which would have been possible without the fantastic support of our team, board, partners and – most importantly – our members.”
