The Charity Commission’s head of large charities, Beryl Hobson, has quit the regulator to start up her own governance consultancy.

Hobson led the large charities division at the Commission for the last four years and when the restructure was first announced in the wake of the strategic review, she was appointed as head of London operations.  But shortly afterward she decided to take advantage of the organisation’s voluntary exit scheme to focus on setting up her own company.

“It was something I’d been thinking about doing for a while,” she told civilsociety.co.uk.  “In my role in the large charities division I normally got involved at the point of providing advice on governance, and it’s clear there are plenty of opportunities out there.”

Hobson will be the only full-time consultant at her new agency, Professional Governance Services, but she will call on ‘associates’ as needed.

Daisy Houghton, formerly a senior manager in the large charities division, has been promoted to be the Commission's head of London operations.

The other members of the Commission’s senior management team, reporting directly to chief executive Sam Younger, will remain the same.  The team is:

• Head of first contact - Neville Brownlee
• Head of operations (London) - Daisy Houghton
• Head of operations (Liverpool) - Lynn Killoran
• Head of operations (Wales) - Harry Iles
• Head of operations (Taunton) - Neil Robertson
• Head of investigations and enforcement - Michelle Russell
• Head of registration - Alison Wells
• Head of information and communications - Sarah Atkinson
• Head of policy - Jane Hobson
• Head of legal - Kenneth Dibble
• Head of business services - Nick Allaway