Gov Facilities Services Chair, 3 NEDs Extended to Oct 2027

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Extension of Chair and 3 non-executive directors for Gov Facilities Services Limited

The Secretary of State for Justice has approved extensions to the tenures of: Colin Allars, Chair and: Ian Deninson; James Hayward and; Maura Sullivan as Non-Executive Directors of Gov Facilities Services Limited.

From: Ministry of Justice Published 23 April 2026

The Secretary of State for Justice has approved extensions to the tenures of: Colin Allars, Chair and: Ian Deninson; James Hayward, and; Maura Sullivan as Non-Executive Directors (NED) of Gov Facilities Services Limited (GFSL).

Those extended are:

• Colin Allars (Chair) - from 1 April 2026 to 31 October 2027
• Ian Deninson (NED) - from 24 May 2027 to 31 October 2027
• James Hayward (NED) - from 1 April 2026 to 31 October 2027
• Maura Sullivan (NED) – from 1 April 2026 to 31 October 2027 GFSL is a non-statutory, not for profit, limited company. The role of GFSL is to provide facilities management to prisons in the south of England.

The appointments of GFSL directors, including the Chair, is governed by the GFSL Articles of Association, together with the MoJ/GFSL Framework Document. GFSL appointments are not regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Biographies

• Colin Allars joined GFSL, as a NED, shortly after the GFSL was launched; subsequently becoming Chair in May 2018. He was reappointed for further terms, the latest in April 2022. An engineering graduate, Colin has worked in both private and public sectors in a wide range of delivery focused roles. He retired, from full time employment, in May 2021 having served as Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Justice Board. In addition to his GFSL work, Colin was reappointed - on 1 January 2026 - as Chair of the Independent Restraint Review Panel.
• Ian Deninson was appointed to GFSL in May 2021 and reappointed in May 2024. He is an experienced NED and chief people officer; he is currently a NED and Chairman of Investors in People. Ian has worked as a senior executive across a range of industries and sectors both internationally and in the UK and has held additional executive responsibilities for communications, health and safety, corporate social responsibility and shared services. A previous chairman of the Carlsberg UK Pension Fund, Ian also served as a NED on public sector projects at GEOamey and MTCnovo.
• James Hayward was appointed to the GFSL in April 2020 and reappointed in April 2023. A Chartered Building Services Engineer, he has over 40 years’ experience, having worked at Trust Board level in medium and large acute NHS organisations with responsibility for estates, facilities, and capital projects. He also served for eight years as Chair of a large, high performing housing association in North Yorkshire and Cleveland, retiring in September 2024, and is currently a RNLI volunteer and elected governor of York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
• Maura Sullivan was appointed to the GFSL in April 2019 and reappointed in April 2022. She has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services, having held C-suite leadership roles responsible for financial strategy, business planning, risk management, regulatory reporting, and enterprise-wide transformation. Maura’s non-executive roles include positions with the Cabinet Office and more broadly within financial services where she is on the Board of a Wealth Manager and a Building Society.

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Updates to this page

Published 23 April 2026