Neil has a distinguished career in both business and the charitable sector. He joined the Charities Aid Foundation as Chief Executive in October 2020 from the international disability charity Leonard Cheshire, where he served as Chief Executive since 2016. Under Neil’s leadership, annual charitable contributions entrusted to CAF topped £1 billion for the first time and continue to grow. As a result, hundreds of thousands of charities in more than 100 countries have been supported to deliver lasting benefits in communities around the world. Neil has led CAF through the growth of the CAF International network of partners, a global collaboration of independent philanthropic organisations dedicated to accelerating social progress across the world.
During 25 years in business Neil held senior leadership roles in the telecoms industry in North America and Europe. These include Head of Strategy and General Manager of Retail and Online at O2, CEO of Cincinnati Bell Wireless and Director of CTIA the Wireless Association. Neil is a law graduate from Newcastle University and holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management. In 2020 he was one of the first charity sector leaders to be invited onto the National Leadership Centre Public Leaders Programme.
Neil lost his sight aged 21 and is registered blind. He is a co-founder of the charity Blind In Business, a Trustee of ACEVO, a Non-Executive Director of Charity Bank and a Foundation Member of Crown Agents. He was previously Co-Chair of the Disability Charities Consortium, a group of nine of the UK’s largest disability charities dedicated to promoting the rights and interests of 14 million disabled people. He acted as an adviser to the UK Government on the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act in the 1990’s, which led to the Equalities Act 2010.
In 2002, Neil was awarded the OBE for services to British Telecommunications and charity.