CEO and founder of East Anglian Air Ambulance announces retirement
Patrick Peal will be stepping down in the summer.
East Anglian Air Ambulance has confirmed that its CEO Patrick Peal will be retiring this summer after a number of years in charge at the charity.
Patrick played an integral role in setting up the life-saving charity over 20 years ago, leading the charity as a former Trustee for some 11 years before taking over as CEO in 2014.
In that time he has seen the charity grow and his last act at the EAAA this summer will be extending the flying service 24/7.
A key part of the expansion and improvement of the charity's performance has been the creation of new operational bases at Cambridge Airport and Norwich Airport - the latter of which was completed earlier this year.
The EAAA service has also been extended to include an aftercare service for patients, first aid training for the public, and operational research.
The charity being a cause very close to his heart, Patrick said: "Being CEO of East Anglian Air Ambulance is the best job I've ever had, but all good things must come to an end eventually.
"The charity is approaching an exciting new era of 24/7 helicopter operations and now is the right time for me personally to step back and let someone else lead EAAA into what I'm sure will be a very exciting future.
"I have achieved everything that I set out to as CEO seven years ago and couldn't be prouder of the organisation as it stands today.
"It has an amazing culture of fun and high-performance, and everything is always geared towards providing the very best patient outcomes and value for money.
"Despite significant impacts of the pandemic on operations and fundraising over the last year, EAAA has weathered the storm brilliantly and continues to push ahead with key projects, such as starting to fly 24/7 this summer and moving into our new Norwich base.
"I'm really proud to have seen all the years of planning come together over the last few months into a truly spectacular, world-class facility in Norwich.
"The teamwork and progress at EAAA, despite recent challenges, has been beyond fantastic. I am delighted that Matthew Jones will be succeeding me as CEO and have every confidence that the charity will continue to go from strength to strength in his very capable hands."
Patrick continued: "I'm extremely lucky that I've been involved with the charity from the very beginning and the transformation I've seen in what this charity can do for our patients really is outstanding.
"EAAA simply wouldn't exist without the fantastic support of the local community and that is something that I've always been keen to remember and advocate to the rest of the team.
"When I took on the role of CEO seven years ago EAAA was attending about 1,700 missions a year and raising £8 million annually.
"I'm proud to say both of these areas have significantly increased, by about 60%, with 2,700 missions attended in 2019 and over £14 million raised in the same year.
"That's a huge testament to the community that keeps this charity flying and I'm really excited to see how EAAA continues to progress in order to help the East Anglian community even more."
Matthew Jones, Director of Operations who will replace Patrick as CEO, added: "It's a huge honour to be offered the opportunity to lead this fantastic organisation into the future and I will do my very best to carry on the remarkable work that Patrick has started.
"Patrick has been an enormous part of getting this charity to where it is today and it is extremely humbling to be entrusted with this role.
"My first focus will be on implementing 24/7 operations from our new base in Norwich, a long-term goal of the charity's which will make a huge difference to the type of service we're able to provide at night."
The Chairman, Sir William Cubitt, says: "It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Patrick Peal this year. He has lived and breathed EAAA for much of the last 20 years and is rightly credited with its great success over that time.
"The charity has benefited hugely from his ambitious vision, dynamism and charisma which has brought such a professional lifesaving operation to East Anglia.
"He has set the charity up well for the future and we very much look forward to the next stage of its story under the capable leadership of Matthew Jones who is already well known to the charity, and the charity to him."