CITB has announced that chief executive Sarah Beale will leave the training body in September next year.
She has given notice of her resignation, having served as CEO since January 2017.
The CITB’s first female CEO, Beale has led the organisation through its transformation programme, Vision 2020, which has resulted in CITB moving away from direct provision of a range of commercial services towards delivering ‘strategic outcomes’ for the construction industry.
CITB said she played a ‘pivotal role’ in protecting hundreds of apprentices who lost their jobs due to the collapse of Carillion in January 2018, while this year she led the training body’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, making a series of decisions including prioritising direct funding for employers and helping businesses’ cash flow situations by agreeing a ‘Levy holiday’.
Peter Lauener, chair of CITB, said, “Sarah has been a superb chief executive for CITB, serving industry’s skills needs with dedication, and making us a stronger and more effective organisation in the process. Thanks to Sarah’s work, and that of her senior team, the board and I can remain confident in CITB’s commitment and ability to deliver the new strategic plan and to achieve industry endorsement of our approach in the consensus process we expect to run next year.
“We wish Sarah well for the future – whatever she does, we know she will bring the unique mix of energy, enthusiasm and expertise to bear which makes her such an effective leader.”
Sarah Beale added, “It’s been an honour to lead CITB. A part of me will always stay in this great organisation, which is full of brilliant people making a real difference to people’s lives and careers, as well as supporting construction employers across Great Britain. I’m proud of the work we have done together, and our record of delivery. It will be tough to leave after 16 fantastic years, but right now I’m focused on delivering our Skills Stability Plan, including seeing through internal changes and setting up CITB to deliver beyond that, before taking a breather and identifying a new career challenge.”
