Andrew Rhodes

Andrew Rhodes (born 10 October 1977) is the Registrar and Chief Operating Officer of Swansea University, and was formerly a senior British civil servant, occupying the largest operational director general role in the UK Government.

Early life and education

Rhodes was born on 10 October 1977, in Neath in South Wales. He was educated at Cefn Saeson Comprehensive School, followed by Neath College. Rhodes studied history at the University of Wales Swansea, graduating with a B.A.(Hons) degree in 1996, which was followed by an M.Phil. in 2003.

Career

Andrew Rhodes spoke often at events both inside and outside the Civil Service on the topic of Social Mobility and was open about coming from 300 years of coal miners, being the first person in his family to go to University and having lived in a household often dependent on benefits. His rise through the ranks of the Civil Service was very rapid - reaching the Senior Civil Service at 30, Director by 32 and occupying the largest Director-General position in Whitehall by 38.

Rhodes worked his way through university and attained his first managerial position at NTL in 2000, working as a contact centre team leader. He then joined PricewaterhouseCoopers as a management consultant in 2001, but left the following year as the company ran into difficulty as the IT sector contracted. Rhodes then worked for Bridgend County Borough Council between 2002 and 2005, before joining the Civil Service at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

At the DVLA, Rhodes became responsible for all electronic services, making DVLA one of the largest online presences in the process. Rhodes brokered an innovative partnership with SEAT cars, which saw the car manufacturer supply 69 cars to DVLA, at no cost, over two years. This new promotional approach was unusual in Government and was highly successful, winning both the National Business Awards in 2008 and the European Business Awards in 2009, both for Best Marketing Strategy. By the time he left DVLA, Rhodes had been promoted to director and had held the positions of customer services director, followed by director of products and services.

Rhodes joined the Food Standards Agency as director of operations in 2010, after the merger with the Meat Hygiene Service. This was the first time such a broad operational role had been created, effectively with responsibility for all of the UK's food safety controls. After two and a half years at the Agency, Rhodes was appointed as the lead official and chief investigating officer responsible for responding to the 2013 horse meat scandal, later becoming chief operating officer.

In 2013, Rhodes was appointed as independent member of the Royal Air Force Air Command Audit Committee.

In 2015, Rhodes joined the Department for Work and Pensions as benefits director, soon after being given the expanded remit of benefit services director with 22,000 staff and the management of the largest virtual telephony network in Europe.

In March 2016, Rhodes was appointed to the post of Director-General, Operations, which is the largest director general position in UK Government, in terms of staffing. Rhodes became responsible for some 72,000 civil servants, close to one fifth of the entire UK Civil Service, and the delivery of all benefit, pensions, employment and child maintenance services in the UK, spending c.11% of GDP at the time - over £170Bn. On appointment, Rhodes was one of the youngest Director-Generals in the history of the UK Civil Service. In 2017, John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service, appointed Rhodes as the Head of the Operational Delivery Profession. Almost constant reductions in senior posts and reduced structures meant that when Rhodes took on the role of Head of Profession alongside being Director-General, Operations, what had once been two Second Permanent Secretaries and multiple Chief Executives was now just one Director-General with a remit larger than many Government Departments and the monetary equivalent of the 47th largest economy in the world.

In April 2018, Rhodes resigned from the Civil Service and was appointed as Registrar and Chief Operating Officer at Swansea University.