GambleAware appoints NHS exec Peter Holt as new CFO

The governance of GambleAware has confirmed the appointment of Peter Holt as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the UK charity.

An expert in the financial planning of public sector organisations, Holt was recently the finance director of NHS Health Education England (HEE) for London & the South East, responsible for a  £1.2 billion budget.

During his HEE tenure, Holt oversaw the financial planning for a number of strategic UK health directives, developed to increase organisational investment in workforce planning, education and training.

In addition, Holt further led the development of a new national education tariff, both regionally and nationally, sitting on the DH national tariff board.

Confirming the leadership appointment, GambleAware Chief Executive, Marc Etches states that Holt’s knowledge and proficiency will deepen the charity’s expertise and breadth of experience held by trustees and management.

“We are delighted to have Peter join GambleAware. His extensive health-related experience will further enhance the outstanding expertise we have across our growing organisation as we focus on a public health model to commission national prevention and treatment services to keep people safe from gambling harms.” Etches commented.

In its statement, GambleAware confirms that Holt will initially work on developing a long-term business plan underpinning the ongoing commissioning of the ‘National Gambling Treatment Service’, which is triaged by the National Gambling Helpline.

GambleAware governance highlights the importance of Holt’s appointment as financial lead, as the gambling-harm charity seeks to strengthen collaborative frameworks with the NHS and other statutory UK health bodies.

Peter Holt, Chief Financial Officer at GambleAware said : “Having worked in the health sector for many years, I am looking forward working with a talented and committed team to support GambleAware in finalising a multi-year business plan, with a clear financial strategy that is focussed on commissioning high quality, effective prevention and treatment service. This will ensure that gambling is better understood as a health and wellbeing issue, addressed through the lens of a public health model.”