Tony Bourne has been appointed Secretary/Chief Executive of the British Medical Association. He replaces Jeremy Strachan, who is retiring at the end of the year. Mr Bourne will take up his post at the beginning of 2005.
Dr Michael Chamberlain has been appointed part-time Chairman of the British Medical Journal Publishing Group - a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMA. He takes up his appointment at the beginning of August and replaces Sir Anthony Grabham.
Mr Bourne, aged 50, is a founding partner of Hawkpoint in its current form an independent corporate finance advisory firm with a staff of approximately 100. Following its buyout from NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland at the end of 1999, it is now Europe's largest partner-controlled corporate finance firm. Earlier in his career he was Global Head of Equity at Paribas and a member of the Bank's Managing Board. Before that, he worked in both London and New York for investment banking group Merrill Lynch.
Mr Bourne, who is also a director of Scope, one of the UK's largest charities, a director of the Southern Housing Group, one of the UK's largest providers of social housing and a Disability Champion at business organisation London First, said: " I am very pleased to be joining the BMA at an important phase in its continued development as a member organisation and I look forward to working with its staff and elected members to build on the modernising work which Jeremy Strachan has undertaken in the last three years."
Dr Chamberlain, most recently head of IBM's consultancy services for the Media and Entertainment Industry in Europe, said: "I am delighted to be joining the BMJ Publishing Group, which not only boasts the leading medical publications in the world, but has also pioneered web sites such as bmj.com and besttreatments, which are leaders in their field."
Dr Chamberlain, who is 56, was a founder editor/publisher of Marketing Week, and editor of Campaign magazine. He has a 30-year career in newspapers, broadcasting, magazines and consultancy. For over 10 years he has been a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Health Communications. He has a PhD in Communications from Florida State University.
Mr James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association said: "These are highly significant senior appointments for the future of the Association. The BMA is determined to build on its position as the foremost membership association for doctors in the UK and its publishing arm is both a highly influential market-leader and an important source of income for the BMA. I look forward to working with both Tony Bourne and Michael Chamberlain to develop the activities of the BMA and BMJ Publishing Group."