Warwickshire County Council braced to lose 'one of our finest officers' to neighbouring authority

Warwickshire County Council is braced to lose “one of our finest officers” to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.

Director of finance Andy Felton will switch across to a new role with the neighbouring authority in January after around four years at Shire Hall – and he heads there with glowing references from two senior councillors.

Councillor Adrian Warwick (Con, Fosse), chair of the resources and fire and rescue overview and scrutiny committee, the panel of councillors that runs the rule over financial aspects of the council’s work, described him as “one of our finest officers”.

“You have been a fantastic officer to this council, you have been so supportive to me as chair of this committee and I am sure to other members as well," he said.

“We wish you all the very best, Andy, and thank you for your service to Warwickshire. We hope you have every success, and we are sure you will, over at Solihull.”

Mr Felton, who confirmed he departs on January 19, 2024, said: “It doesn’t quite feel like it is real yet but I have thoroughly enjoyed the past four years at Warwickshire.

“I am sad to be going. As I said to a lot of people I was not actively looking but it was too good an opportunity to pass up in terms of next steps and the authority that I am moving to.

"Ultimately, it was the right choice for me moving forward.

“I will miss what we have done here but I leave an excellent team, they are really good at what they do with some really good people. I am sure things will continue to flow for Warwickshire.

“I have had a great boss in Rob (Powell, strategic director for resources) and great support from the leadership team in the organisation. It has been a pleasure working with you all as well, thank you very much for your kind words.”

Councillor Peter Butlin (Con, Admirals & Cawston), deputy leader of the council and portfolio holder for finance and property, added: “I am sorry to see Andy go.

“He has been a great servant and has made my job a lot easier than it could have been. Thank you very much, Andy, for your efforts.”