The BFA has announced the departure of its Chief Operating Officer, Emily Price. Price, who was appointed to her role in 2013, has been described as ‘vital’ to modernising the association and taking it to greater heights. She is scheduled to leave the BFA later this year and will be joining children’s maths franchise Mathnasium UK. Following her departure, BFA CEO Pip Wilkins has since announced the restructuring of its management.
The COO’s departure has created new opportunities for integral members of the existing BFA team, who will now operate under three distinct and autonomous sections, Membership and Standards. This will be headed up by James Sedwick, Central Services and Projects, led by Jo Stannard and the BFA Academy, which remains under the expertise of Donna Hall. This new management team will report directly to Wilkins, who celebrates her 25th anniversary with the BFA later this year.
Commenting on her departure, Pip Wilkins said: “We wish Emily the very best for the future and look forward to working with her in new and exciting ways on some interesting BFA-facing projects, after her official departure later on this year. In the meantime, we have taken this opportunity to announce our new-look core management team who all have been on a strategic career journey with us, to create the next generation of leadership at the BFA.
“It is well known that Emily and I both came up through the ranks of the BFA and as a passionate believer in training and supporting our staff, I am delighted to be continuing that process with James, Jo and Donna who are long-standing members of our team and highly experienced in their individual roles with the BFA. Alongside them, we are fortunate enough to have support from Emma Cook in the role of Executive Support Manager as well as the highly experienced Louise Bruce from Big Red Box PR who provides the association with public relations support.”
She continued: “Having worked with Emily for over 10 years I have seen first-hand the impact her passion and commitment have had. We will miss her terribly, but I am delighted that she is remaining in the franchising sector and believe she will go on to do great things. Although Emily is leaving the BFA, she will continue to support the association’s aims over the coming years.”
Price expressed her appreciation for the BFA’s support and highlighted their collective achievements while expressing enthusiasm in the next steps of her transition. She said: “I will be forever grateful for my time with the BFA, the head office team, our members, and the many relationships I have built over my decade in the job. My role at the BFA has not come without its challenges, and it is those challenges that have helped me develop into the leader I am today. I would like to thank Pip personally for her unwavering support and for providing me with the opportunities to add value and be a part of the BFA’s evolution over the last 10 years. A little piece of the BFA will always be with me, as I move onto new and exciting challenges with the team at Mathnasium UK.”
