Harry Rich, former deputy chief executive of the Design Council, takes on executive leadership of Institute

The RIBA has appointed Harry Rich, a former director of the Design Council, as its new chief executive.

Rich will replace outgoing chief executive Richard Hastilow, who will take on an ambassadorial role at the institute until his retirement in May next year.

Rich had been chief executive at Enterprise Insight, a government-backed body supporting entrepreneurship in the UK since 2007. Before that, he held the position of deputy chief executive at the Design Council.

He is also on the charter compliance panel of the Press Complaints Commission, a governor of the University of Creative Arts and an advisory council member for the Design Management Institute in the USA.

Like incoming RIBA president-elect Ruth Reed, Rich hails from Birmingham. A qualified solicitor, he is a member of the Law Society and a Fellow of the Society of Arts.

Welcoming the appointment, RIBA president Sunand Prasad said: “In Harry Rich we have found a chief executive who will build on the achievements of Richard Hastilow’s time at the RIBA, while responding with imagination and determination to the changed circumstances in which architecture as much as any profession finds itself. He is an accomplished communicator as well as organiser. He impressed the panel with his understanding of the worlds of design and enterprise as well as his appreciation of the needs of a member-led organisation.”

Rich said: “Architecture and architects are central to shaping the world we live in. While our economy and society are under pressure and changing fast the RIBA has an urgent and crucial role to play in explaining the benefits of intelligent investment in the built environment and in supporting its members through challenging times.”

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