Many thanks to Retired Hack for this update on former Isle of Wight council Chief Executive Steve Beynon. Ed
“Steve Beynon has a lot to answer for”
That view of the late and largely unlamented chief executive of the Isle of Wight Council, articulated by MP Andrew Turner with the ink barely dry on Mr B’s severance package, is one which, OnTheWight can reveal, is definitely not shared by the great man himself.
Excused from working his notice period for reasons never explained by the former IWC administration, Mr B apparently used the time to set about reinventing himself with scarcely a thought for explaining anything except his potential value to the clients of his brand-new one-man consultancy.
“Son of the man of fortitude”
So fulsome is his self-published self-praise that the first reaction of OnTheWight’s seasoned observers was that someone must have hacked into his LinkedIn profile. Not so, apparently.
In choosing a name for his company – apEynon – Mr B has gone back to his Welsh roots. The name means “son of the man of fortitude” (defined).
LinkedIn sales pitch
But it is the unblushing bullet points listed on his LinkedIn page which, coming from a man who arrived on the Island with education as his unique selling point and left it with our schools cascading one after another into special measures, will perhaps excite most interest.
So here, in painfully unexpurgated form, they are:
- Strong strategic leader with proven track record of addressing under-performance
- Confident and well respected in range of different political contexts
- An analytic and creative problem solver with the capacity to deal with a range of complex issues
- Presents clear vision and strategic direction
- Inspiring communicator which gains the confidence of various stakeholders
- Sets out clear objectives and boundaries yet sensitive to the impact of change with the organisation
- Values the contributions of others but decisive when required
- Engenders trust and is an effective delegator
- Resilient in periods of intense challenge
- Honest and consistent behaviour
- Approachable and shows genuine professional interest in staff acting as a coach / mentor with high expectations
- Looking for part time or full time strategic role within broad field of public sector and / or education
In familiar company
Companies House records the date of incorporation of apEynon Ltd as 16th May, which is within the 12-week paid statutory notice period which began shortly after Full Council ratified Mr B’s “redundancy” on 27th February.
His company address in Reigate, Surrey, is, interestingly, identical to that of another company with which OnTheWight readers will be familiar – Dave Burbage Consulting Ltd – as well as the now-dissolved Joe Duckworth Associates Limited (thinking caps, everyone).
Also at this address is Competex Ltd, “an accountancy firm specialising in the administration of Personal Service Companies for consultants and interim managers”.
Oops
If these are the accountants with whom our erstwhile leader and our interim leader are doing business, then, sadly for them, they may be about to lose one half of the double act, because Dave Burbage has had it explained to him that, as of now, the IWC believes that people who work for it should be employed by the council and not by themselves.
Steve Beynon went to great lengths to justify why Mr Burbage should be allowed to contract directly with IWC rather than be paid through the council’s PAYE books, in February 2012. He’d previously written to Elected members a year before (Feb 2011) attempting to explain the “advantage” of Dave Burbage working for IWC this way.
Long, happy and lucrative retirement
The son of the man of fortitude, on the other hand, with all that strong strategic leadership, the respect, the problem solving, the clear vision and all the rest of it under his belt – as well as an apparently recently-added Open University degree in Science and Education – clearly plans to have a long, happy and lucrative retirement ahead of him.
Steve Beynon’s LinkedIn profile
Image: Claus Rebler under CC BY 2.0
