Bury Council to appoint Lynne Ridsdale as new chief executive

The new chief executive of Bury Council is set to be Lynne Ridsdale, who will also be the Bury lead for local NHS services.

Her appointment has been agreed by the council’s employment panel and is due to be approved at tomorrow’s (Wed 7 Dec) meeting of the full council.

Mrs Ridsdale is currently deputy chief executive of the council and will take over from Geoff Little OBE, who is retiring after four years in the top job following four decades of public service.

She will also take on his responsibilities as place-based lead for Bury’s Health and Care Partnership (formerly Bury NHS CCG).

Lynne joined Bury in 2018 from Manchester City Council where she was director of human resources and organisational development. Before that she held the same role with the National Crime Agency, and previously worked as an assistant director at Bolton Council.

In Bury she has headed the corporate core department, which covers a wide range of services: from HR and legal to IT, communications, customer contact and culture.

Lynne has led the development of Bury’s shared vision for 2030, LET’S Do It, and will continue to work with partners to meet the ambitions set out in it. Key to this is creating and building strong community teams in each area of the borough, such as the community hubs which were set up to help people during the Covid lockdowns.

From 2017, Lynne has been a peer reviewer with the Local Government Association, supporting other councils on their improvement plans.

Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, leader of Bury Council, said: “I am delighted that Lynne is set to become our new chief executive. Her work as deputy chief has shown she has the drive, talent and experience lead improvements in council and NHS services, and ensure our borough is in the best place to flourish. And now the first substantive female chief executive for Bury.

“I look forward to working with her to deliver the council’s priorities and fulfil our ambitions for Bury in the years ahead: from regenerating our town centres, growing our economy, tackling deprivation and health inequalities and improving people’s skills.”

Cllr O’Brien added: “I’d like to thank Geoff for doing a tremendous job as chief executive, bringing together the council and local NHS commissioning, and leading our response to the Covid pandemic and unprecedented financial challenges we have faced. I wish him the very best in his retirement after 45 years of public service.”

Lynne said: “I’m looking forward to taking up my new post and continuing the journey we’re on to make Bury the best place in which to live, work, study and do business. Key to this will be working with our many partners and with the borough’s residents to create and sustain a thriving Bury we can all be rightly proud of.”