Press Releases

John Oughton appointed as OGC Deputy Chief Executive

JOHN OUGHTON APPOINTED AS OGC DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Peter Gershon, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), today announced that John Oughton will take over as his deputy on 7 April 2003.

The appointment of John Oughton as OGC's new Deputy Chief Executive is in succession to Brian Rigby who leaves at the end of next month.

John Oughton joins OGC from the Ministry of Defence following a Civil Service wide competition. He will, as an Executive Director of OGC, have particular responsibility for the Successful Delivery Directorate in the organisation and in driving forward this programme of work.

Speaking of his appointment Peter Gershon said:

"I am delighted that John has agreed to join us. I look forward to working closely with him to help OGC build on the success of its first three years of operation.

"John brings with him a wealth of experience that has been gained across a variety of delivery and policy roles within government. This will be of immense value as we deliver our target of £3 billion value for money improvements by March 2006."

Since 1998 John Oughton has been working as Deputy Chief of Defence Logistics and prior to that he worked as Head of the Prime Minister's Efficiency Unit in the Cabinet Office. During this time he was responsible for producing quality programmes and efficiency scrutinies.

1.Brian Rigby, the outgoing Deputy Chief Executive, has been Peter Gershon's deputy since OGC's inception and joined from HM Treasury with a wealth of private sector management and procurement expertise. Currently head of the Government Procurement Service, Brian Rigby has made a significant contribution in raising the profile of procurement across civil central government. Brian leaves OGC on 31 March 03.

2. OGC was established in April 2000 to act as a catalyst in procurement issues and to work with civil departments to achieve best for money in their commercial activities.

3.Responsible for civil central government procurement policy and best practice as well as driving forward the Government's Successful delivery skills programme. OGC also has responsibility for efficiency improvements construction, property management, IT, supplier relations including opening government contracts to SMEs, e-commerce including the Government Procurement card, the Gateway Review Process, OGCbuying.solutions including the Government's buying catalogues, G-Cat and S-Cat as well as developing strategic procurement partnerships with the private sector.

4.Press Enquiries to Malcolm Graves at OGC on 020 7271 1366 or Malcolm.graves@ogc.gsi.gov.uk