Andrew Sells preferred for Natural England Chair

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Owen Paterson, has announced Andrew Sells as preferred candidate for the post of Chairman of Natural England.

Following a ‘rigorous selection process’, which was chaired by an independent assessor from the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Sells was identified to be the preferred candidate for the role at the executive non-departmental public body responsible for ‘protecting and improving England’s natural environment and encouraging people to enjoy and get involved in their surroundings’.

If appointed, Sells will replace outgoing chairman, Poul Christensen CBE, whose three-year tenure ends on 31 December.

It is expected that a new chairperson will be in post in ‘early 2014’.

Next steps

The Secretary of State has now invited the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee to hold a public pre-appointment hearing and to report on Sells’s suitability for the post.

Although pre-appointment hearings are non-binding, ministers will consider the committee’s views before deciding whether to proceed with an appointment.

As part of the appointment process, Sells has publically declared that he has made donations to the Conservative Party. However, Defra has said that ‘all appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process’.

About Sells

Sells is a chartered accountant and has previously held the position of Chairman at the Garden Centre Group (formerly Wyevale), been a trustee with the Royal Horticultural Society and the Policy Exchange (since 2007), and is currently Chairing a Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) task force on a one-year pro bono contract looking at ways of improving the efficiency of the DWP’s Work Programme.

His father was a conservationist who built the original lakes for the RSPB at Sandy, and later restored the water gardens at Balmoral and Capability Brown’s lakes at Stowe.

Read more about Natural England.