A ‘LOCAL lad’ has landed his ‘dream job’ to become the top boss of his home borough’s council following a unanimous decision by councillors.

Stephen Evans, who was born and raised in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, will now be the local authority’s chief executive and head of paid service.

Mr Evans is currently the chief executive of Norwich City Council and held various local government roles prior to that, such as assistant chief executive at Barnet Council.

Following a ‘high profile search’, the incoming chief executive was recommended by the Royal Borough’s appointment committee, which was unanimously approved by full council on Tuesday, January 24.

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Mr Evans, who will be paid up to £185,000 a year, will be taking over the reins from interim chief executive Tony Reeves in April. The previous full-time CEO Duncan Sharkey left for a top job at Somerset County Council.

He said: “I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to be the next chief executive of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead – my home borough. I was born and brought up in the Royal Borough and have benefitted from the opportunities it has given me.

“I’m looking forward to working with elected members, colleagues, and partners to ensure that others in the borough benefit from those same opportunities. The opportunity to work for your home borough only comes up once or twice during your career and I felt I had to grasp it.”

Council leader Andrew Johnson said: “We’re delighted to appoint Stephen as our new chief executive and Head of the Paid Service after Full Council approved the recommendation from the Appointment Committee.

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“Stephen was an outstanding candidate and brings a wealth of experience to the role, including strategic and corporate leadership and working effectively with key partners to affect change and improvement.

“His broad and varied experience across areas, including policy, housing and regeneration, commercial ventures, climate change, and social care means he is perfectly placed to take on this new role at the Royal Borough.”

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Simon Werner added: “The lovely thing about him is that he really believes personally in Windsor and Maidenhead.

“He is a local lad brought up in Windsor and Maidenhead and this really was his dream job. So, I think we can look forward to him staying on for a long time.”