Cowes Harbour Commission appoints Gary Hall as CEO

Cowes Harbour Commission (CHC) has appointed Gary Hall as new CEO, starting Feb 2021.

He replaces Capt. Stuart Mcintosh who held the role of Harbour Master and CEO for over 20 years. The board of commissioners had previously decided to split his combined role into two separate roles, that of harbour master, with responsibility for safety and security of the trust port and the new separate CEO role to manage the commercial side of the port. Ed Walker will be promoted to the new harbour master role in February.

“We are extremely pleased that Gary will be joining us as our new CEO,” says David Riley, chairman of Cowes Harbour Commission. “This is a new role, separating the statutory obligations of harbour master and the commercial responsibilities of CEO. We received a very large number of candidates for the position from a diverse range of industries and levels of experience. After a very robust and rigorous selection and interview process, five very strong candidates were shortlisted with Gary finally being selected based on the experience he can bring to the role. The commissioners are therefore looking forward to Gary joining the team and supporting him in the future development of CHC.”

Hall has more than 20 years of experience in the aircraft and airports industry with over 10 years managing the commercial operations of a number of airports and a further 10 years as chief executive of Culture Coventry, among other roles.

“Stuart Mcintosh’s dedication, passion and resilience during many changing and sometimes challenging times and the skill he has brought to the role over the last 20 years means he leaves the harbour commission and the harbour in a much better place than he took on and we will find time over the next few months to publicly thank him for his dedication,” says Riley. “His, and our focus for the next few months is to fully support Ed and Gary in their new roles.”

Cowes Harbour is a trust port, which means it has no shareholders or other owners, but is managed for the benefit of its users, or ‘stakeholders’. The port is run by an independent board of commissioners, appointed through a public selection process, who give their time on a voluntary basis.

Cowes Harbour Commission’s main function is to undertake commercial marine activities so that it can be self-financing. As the commission has no shareholders, any surplus funds raised through its activities are reinvested back into the harbour and its facilities, to the benefit of its harbour users.