Ron Simpson BEM C Mgr FCMI CFCIPD M Ed
Accredited Community Advocate (BTEC)
Founding President - Rotary Club of Uppingham
Paul Harris Fellow
Managing Director - RMJS Associates
Coordinator - Uppingham Neighbourhood Forum
Coordinator - Uppingham Vanguard Board
Columnist - Rutland Times
Neighbourhood Planning Business Champion www.uppinghamneighbourhoodplan.info
National Patron – Women in Management UK
Director, Company Secretary & Webmaster Uppingham First www.uppinghamfirst.co.uk
Proprietor and Webmaster Uppingham On Line Ltd www.uppinghamonline.co.uk
Community Lead - Uppingham Defibrillator Network
Trustee and Chair - Community Heartbeat Trust
Proprietor - Uppingham Town Partnership Ltd; Women in Management Ltd
Director – Rutland Money Ltd; BRA Uppingham Ltd
Principal Author - Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan (version 1)
Lead Officer - Uppingham Town Centre & Business Zones Plan
Lead Volunteer - The Uppingham Hopper Project
Lead Organiser - Stilton Cheese and Round Rutland Classic Vehicle Runs www.stiltoncheeserun.uk
Founder - UppWatch
Lead Author - Uppingham Community Emergency Plan
Project Manager – The Uppingham Webcam
Board Member - Leics & Rutland Assoc. of Local Councils (LRALC)
Chair, Trustee and Executive Member - CPRE Rutland
Former CEO of the Leics and Rutland Parish Councils Association
Former Regional Director of the Local Government Management Board
A member of Uppingham Town Council and Chair of its Neighbourhod Planning Advisory Group and of its Staffing Committee
A Member of the Association of Chairs
Ron Simpson has over 50 years public, private and social enterprise management and leadership experience as a community leader, senior manager and volunteer. In Leicestershire he is noted for being the very first in the county to achieve Investor in People status. In Rutland he is known in business circles for being one of the first to achieve the national standard of ‘chartered manager’. His consultancy now specialises in business/community partnership and neighbourhood governance issues.
Ron was principal author and lead officer for the original Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan which had ‘Front Runner’ status. He was also the Community Champion for the Digital Uppingham Broadband Project (1 GB Fibre to the Premise), which has placed parts of Uppingham in Rutland in the top 1% of the world for broadband speed, and secured crowd funding for the Uppingham Webcam project (See www.uppinghamfirst.co.uk ). In his fortnightly column for the Rutland Times he writes on the local impact of national policy and governance issues. On social media he can be followed at 'Uppingham Rutland' (Facebook).
During his period of service as East Midlands Regional Director of the Local Government Management Board (LGMB), Ron was the regional accountable local government lead on employer/employee relations, best management practice and leadership development matters. He also acted as UK lead on public sector re-entry into the European Social Dialogue in Brussels. Ron has extensive experience of vocational qualifications and competence based assessment and, prior to his relocation to the East Midlands, was a Director of the North East Regional Management Centre, the organisation which developed the UK’s first ever competence based distance learning MBA. His own Masters degree is in the field of Equality in Education.
Ron has contributed to the capability and economic performance of a wide range of community and business organisations, including his local Town Council, and is the acknowledged source of energy behind the award winning community partnership Uppingham First. With its Rural Broadband and High Speed Wifi project, this partnership won the East Midlands 2010 Action for Market Towns Award and was regional runner up in the 2010 Enterprising Britain Award. In 2013 the partnership won a further AMT award for the ‘best idea to promote local businesses’ with the Uppingham Webcam Project. In 2014 the partnership achieved one win and three judges’ commendations in the regional Towns Alive Awards and reached the Earls Court final of the 2014 Revive and Thrive competition where judges said Uppingham should have been a member of the judging panel rather than an entrant. In 2015 British High Street Awards Ron’s entry secured a top five market town placing for Uppingham High Street. In January 2020 Ron launched 'UppShop a Cashless Society supported by Rotary, the Co-op Commmunity Fund, Barclays Bank and IT company ClockedIn. In February 2023 Ron drafted and submitted the shortlisted Uppingham First entry into the Let's Celebrate Towns national awards.
Following a successful public referendum and the 'making' of the first Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan (Its External Examiner Report stated that “The UNP contains ground breaking policy, is the successful result of a major and sustained local business and community effort, and contains some exemplary approaches to neighbourhood planning”). Uppingham First and its partners completed work on an Uppingham Town Centre & Business Zones Plan and are now engaged on Future High Street projects. Since 2014, Uppingham First has hosted the start of the Stilton Cheese Classic Vehicle Run and, from 2021, the Round Rutland Run. See www.stiltoncheeserun.uk. The partnership has also sponsored a wide range of community and education initiatives and is a co-founder of the innovative Women in the High Street Network and a founding sponsor of the East Midlands Women's Awards.
Ron retired in 2013 as Regional Chair of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) where he was given an Outstanding Contribution Award for his Institute work. In the same year he retired as Treasurer of the (now) GMB Credit Union where he helped, over a five year period, to turn a loss making social enterprise into a profitable organisation paying a market leading dividend. Ron is a Chartered Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Chartered Management Institute. Until 2010 he was also a voluntary sector representative on the East Midlands Regional Assembly. In 2007 Ron was elected Founding President of the newly created Rotary Club of Uppingham, the first in Rutland to admit women members. In 2011 he, together with his wife, Margaret Simpson BEM, was appointed as the Club’s very first Paul Harris Fellow. In April 2015 Ron’s work with the Uppingham community was recognised with an award from the High Sheriff of Rutland following a nomination from the Leader of Rutland County Council. In June 2015 Ron was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Birthday Honours List. In October 2015 Ron was announced as the 2015 winner of the prestigious Rutland BIZ Club Award. At the inaugural East Midlands Women's Awards in October 2017, Ron was awarded a lifetime achievement award for his work supporting women's development. In May 2018 Ron was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for his exceptional 20 year service to human resources and people development. In October 2019 Ron was appointed Vice Chair of CPRE Rutland. In January 2020 Ron was appointed by CPRE Rutland to lead 'Rutland 2036' a major planning campign to protect the countryside supported by contracted consultants and funded with regional and national grants from CPRE, the countryside charity. In July 2021 Ron was elected as Chair of CPRE Rutland, where he now leads with his fellow Trustees an exciting range of projects to support the countryside. Following a number of years working with the Community Heartbeat Trust (CHT) to develop an extensive network of defibrillators in the market town of Uppingham in Rutland, Ron was appointed as a charity Trustee in 2021. At the March 2023 AGM of CHT Ron was appointed its national Chair.
In his early career Ron was a teacher, community centre leader, university lecturer and trainer. He was first elected as a local councillor at the age of 21.
Date of Birth: 27.10.1946 Place of Birth: South Shields
Nationality: English DBS Cert No: 1504282625 Data Controller Reg: ZA471706
Retired as Regional Director of the LGMB in 1998 at the age of 52
Founding Director and Company Secretary of Uppingham First since January 2009
Postal Address: 7 Hawthorn Drive, Uppingham, Rutland LE15 9TA
Tel: 01572 823465 Mobile: 07710 328469 E-mail and Data Enquiries to: rons@clara.net
Recent publications include:
Uppingham 2025 – www.uppinghamneighbourhoodplan.info
Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan - (Lead Author and Design) - January 2014
A Winning Plan – Councillor Magazine - October 2014
Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan – Local Council Review - November 2014
Engaging Young People in Neighbourhood Planning - April 2015
How to start a Business Forum - August 2015
A guide to Neighbourhood Planning for Parish Councillors (A contributor) June 2017
(A Locality/NALC publication)
Uppingham Town Centre & Business Zones Plan (Lead Author) - August 2017
Uppingham Antiques, Arts, Books and Creative Crafts Trail (ABC Trail) August 2018
Uppingham Community Emergency Plan 2018 - September 2018
Uppingham Household Emergency Card - September 2018
Uppingham Neighbourhood Forum 2018 Review
Neighbourhood Planning Guide to Better Design 2019 - MHCLG/Locality (A Contributor)
Website updated 16.7.2023