Former media and charity executive Mark Friend has joined the Provide Group Board as a non-executive director (NED).
Mark, who also has a long career as a NED, Trustee and Chair of a range of charities, started his management consulting career at ITN, setting up new lines of business, including a production house and international news sharing.
From there, he moved to the BBC to lead its ten-year multimedia news strategy. His work at the BBC included the launch of iPlayer, digital Glastonbury, and live immersive events, before he moved to a consultancy role with Cancer Research UK, helping to drive digital innovation and reach.
In his NED role with the Provide Group, Mark will support the Chair and the Board in shaping and delivering the next phase of Group strategy including Provide Community, Provide Digital and Provide Health.
Mark says: “The Board’s role is to support the Chair and act on behalf of service users and members to make Provide the best it can be and deliver an ambitious strategy. We are accountable for everything you would expect to judge Provide on; are we meeting the strategy? Are we delivering great services? Are we safe? Are we caring? Are we good value?
“I want to contribute well – my style is constructive but holds us to account – are we thinking ambitiously, are things were saying plans that can deliver this ambitious strategy?
“We have a huge opportunity to transform how we deliver health and social care and I believe that technology is a significant part of that; helping us to reach and understand our user-base and what they want and need.
“As a CIC, Provide is in an amazing position to innovate. Everyone I have spoken to talks about innovation with purpose and changing what they do for good. We’re investing in finding better ways of doing things with care and compassion – that passion for, and support of innovation is one of the reasons I joined.
“We know we have challenges, not least increased demand, and we need to innovate our way out of the long-term structural system. A great example is when you look at what Provide is doing with NELFT and EPUT with wound care and virtual wards, going at some pace to deliver new solutions to age-old problems.
“The transformation we are seeing through innovation across the organisation is exceptional; children’s services, community nursing and clinical care are all rapidly evolving through innovation and breaking down barriers to access to care. We’re making space for innovation, scaling up, investing in people, and collaborating to achieve great things.
“We have an exceptional leadership team, and a culture that is unique in the healthcare sector. It’s going to be an exciting journey for Provide, and I am very pleased to be a part of it.”
