The estates director who led the first phase of the Government Hubs Programme has been been appointed the first permanent chief executive of the Government Property Agency.
Steven Boyd, who oversaw the transformation of HM Revenue and Customs' estate, will take over from interim GPA head Mike Parsons, who will continue in the role of director general, government property at the Cabinet Office.
The GPA, which employs around 80 staff, was set up in April last year as an executive agency of the Cabinet Office to provide professional property asset management services for all departments and their arms-length bodies.
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The agency has already supported the education and business, energy and industrial strategy departments to negotiate new leases.
It is spearheading the Smart Working and Hubs programmes, part of the Government Estates Strategy, to rationalise the government estate through greater use of flexible working and sharing of accommodation by departments.
It is also helping to delivery the strategy's goal of slimming down the civil service central London estate to around 20 buildings by 2030.
Boyd's experience at HMRC, where he was "instrumental" in delivering the first phase of the Government Hubs programme, means he is "strongly placed" to lead efforts to make the government's estate more efficient.
Before joining HMRC, Boyd served in the Royal Engineers, retiring as the Army’s director of infrastructure.
Liz Peace, chair of the GPA, said that the competition to become chief executive of the body had been “hard fought”.
She said: “Steven’s understanding of the government estate and his impressive track record in delivering HMRC’s ambitious locations programme will stand GPA in good stead as we on-board more departments and drive forward our delivery agenda.
Boyd, who will start his role on 10 June, said: “Whilst it is still in its early days, the GPA is an organisation with lots of potential to make a real difference by transforming the government’s estate, providing a first class service to government departments, and delivering great places to work for civil servants.”