UK Jewelry Trade Group NAJ Appoints New CEO

RAPAPORT… The National
Association of Jewellers (NAJ), the UK’s jewelry trade body, has appointed
Simon Forrester, a senior trade-association executive, as its new CEO.




Forrester (pictured),
48, who currently runs the British Pest Control Association, won the Trade
Association Chief Executive of the Year award in 2016.




“He
has a track record of delivering increased member benefits, training courses,
governance reviews, best practice and a substantial code of conduct linked to
purchaser confidence,” the NAJ said.




Simon
began his career in the UK’s National Health Service, and has worked for professional institutions and
trade associations in the healthcare, business-tourism and construction sectors.




He
will continue to lead the British Pest Control Association, the trade body for
pest control, until early 2018 and will then take over the NAJ role. Forrester
replaces Michael Rawlinson, who resigned from the NAJ in May.




The NAJ hired Forrester after a rigorous recruitment process that
saw the association receive more than 120 applications.




“We
saw some amazing candidates and CVs for this role, but Simon stood head and
shoulders above the rest,” said NAJ chairman Simon Johnson. “I’m really excited
to start working with him and introducing him to the industry.”