Jon Ritchie, Director of Resources at North Tyneside Council talks about joining local government from PwC, a ‘big four’ firm.
Jon Ritchie, Director of Resources, North Tyneside Council
Jon was born into a Tyneside family with a history of public service. However, after graduating from the University of Cambridge in the late 1990s with a degree in geography, he set aside his plans to enter the teaching profession and instead took up a traineeship with Price Waterhouse, which shortly thereafter became part of the PwC professional services network.
Jon rose quickly through the firm’s ranks, achieving his ACA qualification and developing a strong portfolio of experience across PwC’s audit, technical accounting and consulting activities from its Newcastle office. He stayed close to his roots figuratively as well as geographically, though, with his work focusing on the firm’s public sector clients, particularly local authorities.
However, after ten years at PwC – having been promoted to senior manager level and with the prospects of a partnership role on the horizon – Jon decided that his future lay not in the professional services, but in local government. He took up a position as corporate finance manager at North Tyneside Council and subsequently worked his way up through the financial ranks in local authorities across the North East.
Now back at North Tyneside as Director of Resources, Jon has responsibility for a broad portfolio of activities, from finance, information technology and human resources to legal, property and governance services. He is also a core member of the council’s senior leadership team, working closely with the chief executive, the council’s directly-elected mayor and partner organisations across the public sector and beyond.
Jon attributes his move into local government partly to his family’s history of working in the public sector, but also to his own values-driven ethos and to his desire to serve his local community. And while his current role is not without its challenges, Jon feels privileged to have the opportunity to work at the heart of local government and to make a positive and sustained difference to the lives of those who live and work in the North East.
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