London Fire Brigade (LFB) has today announced the appointment of two new Deputy Commissioners. The recruitment process followed the appointment of LFB’s new Commissioner Jonathan Smith, and the announcement of Deputy Commissioner Charlie Pugsley’s move to join the Building Safety Regulator*. The new post holders are LFB’s Assistant Commissioner Spencer Sutcliff and Deputy Chief Fire Officer Mat Walker, who is currently serving at North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
London Fire Commissioner, Jonathan Smith, said: “I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Spencer and Mat as the new Deputy Commissioners at London Fire Brigade.
“Spencer has been with LFB for 27 years and, as well as the knowledge and experience he brings, has demonstrated exceptional leadership during that time, most recently as Assistant Commissioner responsible for LFB’s 103 fire stations. During that time he has overseen significant improvements to the Brigade’s performance and the service delivered to communities.
“Mat brings invaluable senior leadership experience from his time serving in North Yorkshire where he has been Deputy Commissioner for the last three years. Through that time he has helped to drive improvements across the service, and he brings a wealth of operational expertise across fire, flooding and national resilience.”
“I have no doubt that both Spencer and Mat will help the Brigade to continue building on the progress that we have made across the organisation in recent years and I look forward to welcoming them both into their new roles.”
Spencer Sutcliff has been the AC for Fire Stations and Central Operations function since October 2022. He has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner and Operational Director for Prevention, Protection & Policy. He will take on Deputy Commissioner responsibilities from 5 August.
Mat Walker has been appointed as Deputy Commissioner and Operational Director for Preparedness & Response and will join the Brigade on 1 October.
Mat has been in his current role since September 2022, previously, he was responsible for Service Assurance and Improvement at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service as an Area Manager. He joined the Fire and Rescue Service in 2003 and has also served in South Yorkshire and National Resilience as a Command-and-Control advisor, involved in the response to a number of high-profile incidents, including flooding on the east coast.
*Charlie Pugsley has been appointed as the interim Chief Executive Officer for the Building Safety Regulator (BSR)