Simplyhealth announce Paul Schreier as new Chief Executive to lead strategy to improve access to healthcare for all in the UK
Simplyhealth, a leading provider of health and dental plans, is delighted to announce the appointment of Paul Schreier as its new Chief Executive Officer to lead the organisation as it improves access to healthcare for all in the UK.
Paul will join the business in mid-May as CEO, subject to regulatory approval, taking over from Acting CEO Nicholas Potter, who will continue in his previous role of Chief Financial Officer at the company.
Paul brings with him a wealth of experience, having been the Interim CEO at the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation where the purpose is to support science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone.
Paul led the Wellcome Trust’s efforts on Covid-19 treatments which resulted in him becoming the global therapeutics co-lead of the World Health Organisation’s accelerating Covid tools partnership, involving several other multilateral agencies. He is also a member of the investment committee that oversees Wellcome’s substantial investments’ activities.
Paul was born in Australia and came to the UK to study a BA, Masters and PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Cambridge before joining the Royal Navy, serving as a navigator and fighter controller. After commanding a ship, he left to join McKinsey & Company where he became a partner before being appointed to the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, becoming deputy secretary with responsibility for economic policy and strategy. Later, he served as deputy vice-chancellor and Chief Operating Officer at Macquarie University in Sydney, before returning to the UK to join Hakluyt, a professional services firm, in 2016 as Chief Executive.
I am absolutely delighted to be joining Simplyhealth. I believe that we have an amazing opportunity to make a difference to the health of people across the UK, which is something I feel passionately about. I am very much looking forward to leading the company at this pivotal time in our country’s history, when improving access to healthcare has never been more important.
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Nick for stepping up and taking on the role of Acting CEO over the past twelve months, and with the help of all of our colleagues continuing to transform the business to be better delivering low-cost, accessible, quality healthcare for our customers.
Paul has a truly impressive professional background and through the recruitment process all parties agreed there was a strong strategic and cultural alignment which we believe makes him exceptionally well placed to lead Simplyhealth in delivering on our ambitious future plans.