THURROCK Council's newly-appointed Assistant CEO is a borough-born man who was educated at William Edwards School and Palmer's College before embarking on a successful career that has been him take on some of the most responsible roles in local government.

Now that career brings him full circle and Alex Powell will have a direct hand on reshaping the future of his home borough, where many family members and friends still live.

And another man with strong family connections to Thurrock is also taking on a senior role in the council's latest raft of appointments.  

Daniel Fenwick will become Executive Director of Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer).

He will be in charge of legal governance of the council, no doubt drawing on his experience in Liverpool which, like Thurrock, saw government intervention in the wake of allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption.

Mr Fenwick has guided the city council as it emerged from what has been described as a difficult, toxic period following a "serious breakdown of governance" and multiple failures to provide best value to taxpayers in the city.

The third new appointment is Juliemma McLoughlin, Executive Director of Place who joins Thurrock from her role as Executive Director at City of London Corporation where, since 2021 she has spearheaded many successful transitions of public property into community ownership and management.

The council had hoped to make a fourth appointment to take on the daunting role of Chief Financial Officer – but despite a trawl of available personnel no one has yet been found capable of joining the team on a permanent basis to tackle the challenge of dealing with debt of more than £1 billion.

A statement from the council says further options are being looked at.

Leader of the council, Councillor Andrew Jefferies, said: "I am delighted that we have found three excellent candidates for these senior positions.

"As we continue to rebuild the council, with Commissioners oversight, this is an important step forward and will help us bring about the necessary changes throughout the whole organisation. Working together councillors and officers will ensure we make the improvements and deliver a council our residents deserve."

The new members of the leadership team are:

Alex Powell, Assistant Chief Executive

Alex has been Director of Strategy with the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham since August 2022. Previous roles within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities include CEO & Director with the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, Deputy Director with Local Government Stewardship, Housing & Communities and Principal Private Secretary and Deputy Director, Ministerial Group.

Daniel Fenwick.

Daniel Fenwick, Executive Director of Corporate Services (Monitoring Officer)

Daniel is currently Director City Law and Governance at Liverpool City Council. He has been in his current role since December 2021.

Previous roles include Director of Legal and Governance and Interim Executive Director at OneSource, as well as Director of Governance at London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Daniel has also held earlier Principal Lawyer roles in two London Brough Councils.

Juliemma McLoughlin

Juliemma McLoughlin, Executive Director of Place

Juliemma has been Executive Director at City of London Corporation since 2021. Her previous positions include Executive Director Regeneration, Commercial, & Economy at Northumberland County Council, Development Director at Greater London Authority,

Lead Director for Planning, Highways and Growth at London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and Head of Planning, Regeneration and Building Environment for Sydney Ports Corporation.

Juliemma has a degree from Dundee University in BSc Urban and Regional Planning.