He moved us forward and now he’s Moving on (Bill Preece)
By Paul Dinsdale - Chair of Buxton Civic Association
Development Director Bill Preece has resigned from the BCA Board, in view of his
forthcoming retirement to his home city of St David’s. The Association is hugely in his debt for all of the hard graft, inspiration and sound advice that he has contributed in twelve years on the Board.
Not only that, but our entire redevelopment programme was largely based on colleagues’ trust in his cool and impartial judgement and his wealth of commercial experience – it would have been difficult to gain approval for the scale of investment required without the confidence which his support inspired in others. Highly regarded on a much broader stage, of course, his Directorship of DDEP and his high level contacts in EMDA certainly didn’t do the Association any harm, either!
Over his years on the Board, Bill became adept at sourcing various substantial grants that have been crucial in underpinning the projects that have resulted in our growth and financial stability today.
Bill was an obvious choice to undertake our recent Management Review - a task that he carried out with typical efficiency, enthusiasm and professionalism.
On a personal level, I too am largely in Bill's debt, for all the years of support and good advice, particularly since I became Chairman. Those exhortations to “keep a cool ‘ead”, to “never let the sun set on your anger”, and, perhaps the most irritating of all, “If you haven’t done it, you haven’t done it”, have, hopefully, made some impression on me – although Bill may sadly regard it as very much a work still in progress!