Council says farewell to two success stories

COUNCILLOR Howard Sykes (far left) presents leaving gifts to Mr Kilburn (left) and Mr Bland, watched by Neil Swanson (back) and Nick Brown (far right)

CHIEF executive Andrew Kilburn and finance boss John Bland left Oldham Council yesterday after years spent helping to shape the borough.

And staff and guests joined them for a farewell drink at Gallery Oldham.

Mr Kilburn is taking the post of chief executive at the London borough of Waltham Forest after nine years in the Oldham post.

His local government career began in Birmingham in 1975, working with difficult and deprived young people, before moving on to Leicestershire and then Manchester in 1979.

He spent 11 years with Manchester City Council before moving to Oldham Council in 1990 as head of the policy unit and then being appointed assistant chief executive.

Mr Kilburn left in 1995 to become chief executive of Redcar and Cleveland but returned four years later as chief executive.

He led Oldham through the riots of 2001 and has been praised for playing a lead role nationally in developments related to preventing violent extremism.

Mr Kilburn was presented with an honorary doctorate of laws by University Centre Oldham in the summer.

Director of finance and information and communication technology, Mr Bland has risen up the ranks from a teenage trainee.

He is leaving to take the post of treasurer and deputy clerk at the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.

At Oldham Council, Mr Bland helped to set up the strategic service delivery partnership, PFI schemes involving council services and the Building Schools for the Future initiative, and was local government finance director of the year.

The leader of Oldham Council, Howard Sykes, said: “Andrew will be remembered with much affection as a truly genuine and caring man.

“John joined the organisation as a trainee and is one of the council’s many success stories.

“He is everything you would want from a director of finance. He is a great loss and I know that all councillors will miss working with him.”