CST Chief Executive David Delew to step down

CST's Chief Executive, David Delew has decided to step down after successfully leading the organisation for the past 7 years. At the same time, CST is pleased to announce that Mark Gardner, currently CST’s Director of Communications and Deputy Chief Executive, has been appointed his successor.

Following a handover period, Mark will assume responsibility at CST’s Head office on 1 September, 2020.

David Delew stated:

After working for nearly 30 years at CST, I have taken the incredibly difficult decision to step down as Chief Executive. 

When I first accepted the opportunity to be Chief Executive, it was always my intention to stay in post for around 7 years or so and I have now held the position for 7 years.  

The process to step down as CEO started earlier in the year and despite currently facing unprecedented times, I still feel the time is right to move on to new opportunities. Having commuted for the past 7 years, it is now my intention to move permanently back to Manchester to be with my wife Amanda, my children and grandson and embark on the next stage of my life.

These past 30 years have been an incredible journey for me personally and it has been my absolute honour and privilege to lead the organisation as its CEO.

In recent years we have witnessed a large increase in reported antisemitic incidents across the UK, and attacks on both the Jewish Community and other faith communities around the world.

Under my leadership, working with a fantastic team and supported by our trustees, we have responded by increasing the organisations’ capabilities in all areas of our operations.

Our volunteers went through a vigorous upskilling process to meet the current threats we face, with new higher standards being met. We built a state of the art 24/7 Security Control Centre to further support our community and its buildings.

We developed and continue to build our exciting SAFE programme to help other communities by increasing their knowledge of security to better protect their own communities. 

The work of CST remains very close to my heart and sadly I fear our work will be needed more now than ever before.

I would like to thank all my hard-working colleagues, trustees, dedicated volunteers and supporters for all they have done and will continue to do making CST the highly respected and professional organisation that it is today.

I am delighted to announce that Mark will be taking over from me as CEO. Mark needs no introduction and as a highly respected colleague, leading expert in our community and friend, I know that Mark will do an excellent job in his new role.

Mark Gardner stated: 

“I have fought against antisemitism, racism and extremism since I was a teenager and am deeply honoured to now lead CST on behalf of our entire Jewish community. I look forward to furthering CST’s work, from our incredible network of security personnel and teams that protect our communities across the country, through to our advocacy and deep research, much of which goes largely unseen. I also sincerely thank David, both for his excellent leadership of CST and for the nearly 30 years of friendship we have enjoyed together in service of our community.” 

Gerald Ronson CBE, CST Chairman stated: 

“David has given his all for CST and our Jewish community, bringing focus, commitment and professional excellence across the charity. I thank David, not only from CST and its trustees, but also on behalf of the whole Jewish community and our many allies in the continuing struggle against antisemitism. I wish David every happiness and success for the future. Looking ahead, I fear that Britain, Jews and CST will be facing difficult times, but in appointing Mark to lead CST, we have one of our community’s most experienced and highly respected professionals at the helm.”