CONTACTS
Stephen Brooker
Stephen Brooker has been working in the charity and not for profit sector since 1990 when he was recruited to the British Red Cross Society as Director of Finance. Having previously been a partner in Ernst & Young, leading a unit in the management consultancy division, he was ideally placed to help the Red Cross to put commercial systems and disciplines in place as they embarked on a major programme of strategic change under a new top management team. Stephen trained as a Chartered Accountant in the London office of Arthur Young after reading Economics at Cambridge.
From Red Cross, Stephen went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge as Bursar and Fellow where he was responsible for unifying all the non-academic administration and implementing full budgeting and management accounting systems. He also had responsibility for the overseeing the management of substantial endowment funds – comprising both a securities portfolio and a commercial property portfolio, oversaw a major building programme and helped establish an effective alumni liaison office using methods that have become a reference model for other colleges. Some £10m was fundraised over a 5 year period.
He was active at this time on the executive committee of the Charity Finance Directors’ Group and also on the Cambridge Bursars’ Committee; on both bodies he was responsible for major new initiatives, notably in the areas of competitive tendering and joint purchasing agreements.
Stephen then embarked on a portfolio career which has seen him involved in many charities at home and abroad as an adviser, executive and trustee while he has also been an active business angel in the Cambridge high-tech scene, complementing his work in the charity sector with commercial experience.
For many years Stephen ran finance surgeries for ACEVO; a resource for chief executives covering finance, fundraising and longer-term strategic issues.
Stephen retained his links with the University of Cambridge by serving on their Audit Committee for several terms. He has been a non-executive director of East & North Herts NHS Trust for over 7 years, chairing their Audit Committee throughout that time .
Since 2004 Stephen has served as Chair of The Audit Committee of the Law Society. He is also a Trustee of Remap (a national charity providing technical equipment for disabled people), of the British Council for Prevention of Blindness and a founding Trustee of the Charity Treasurers' Forum as well as being active as a Past Master on the Court of his City Livery Company (the Glovers) and in his local church as a Lay Minister.
You can E-mail Stephen Brooker at Stephen.Brooker@russam-gms.co.uk
