Sport England strengthens its senior team

Sport England has begun the new year with the appointment of Rona Chester as Chief Operations Officer (COO).

Rona will start on 1 March and joins us from the Law Society where she is currently Group Finance Director in charge of all financial and governance matters.

The new role of COO is key to our aim of creating a world-leading community sport system, as well as ensuring the continued effective financial and operational management of the organisation.

Rona will lead several important functional areas including finance, business planning, information technology and grants management, in addition to working closely with our Chair and Chief Executive on broader operational matters.

“We are delighted to have appointed someone of Rona’s calibre to this new and important post”, said Jennie Price. “It is one which sits at the heart of our organisation, and with her considerable experience in both the public and private sectors, I am confident that we will build upon the standards and momentum we have established over the past two years.”

Rona’s professional qualifications include:

• FCA - Fellow Institute of Chartered Accountants ( ICAEW)
• ACT - Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Her previous roles have included Finance Director at the communications industry regulator, OFCOM, and European Finance Director for Sotheby’s.