Hendon Town Hall
Interim Chief Executive Cath Shaw is to become Barnet Council’s permanent new Chief Executive, subject to ratification by Council on 4 March.
Cath’s appointment as Chief Executive was recommended by the cross-party Employment Sub-Committee (26 February) and followed an extensive recruitment process. She is the first woman to have held the post in the council’s 60-year history.
Cath has served as Interim Chief Executive since June 2024, steering Barnet through the unprecedented financial pressures being experienced by the council and other London boroughs.
Prior to her interim appointment, Cath held the position of Deputy Chief Executive with Barnet Council for seven years.
The Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Barry Rawlings, said: “Cath is an inspiring chief executive with an impressive track record of delivering for Barnet’s residents. She has navigated us through some tough financial challenges, identifying £23m of savings this year alone, while remaining committed to making Barnet a better place for people to live, work and study.”
As Deputy Chief Executive, Cath was responsible for leading the council’s extensive housing and growth programme, including the development of Brent Cross Town in partnership with Related Argent. This will deliver 6,700 homes, 3m sq ft of office and commercial space, a new university campus and 50 acres of green space by 2030. Brent Cross West train station, the first new mainline train station to be built by a council in over a decade, opened in December 2023.
Coming from a background in local government and at senior levels of the civil service, Cath joined Barnet in 2013, becoming Deputy Chief Executive in 2017. She has been a non executive board member of Peabody housing and was one of the architects of the London economic recovery framework following the pandemic.
Cath said: “It is a huge privilege to be appointed chief executive and I look forward to working with Members, residents, staff and partners to deliver our ambitious vision, Our Plan for Barnet.”
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Note to editors: The recommendation from the Employment Sub-Committee is subject to no objections being received by Cabinet and the appointment will be made by Council on 4 March.