Stephen Bubb

Sir Stephen John Limrick Bubb JP FRSA (5 November 1952 - ) is Director of Charity Futures. He was Chief Executive of the UK charity leaders representative body Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) from 2000 to 2016. He received a knighthood in 2011 for his services to the voluntary sector. From March 2011 to June 2011 Bubb was seconded to the Department of Health, as part of the team leading Andrew Lansley's National Health Service (NHS) "listening exercise".

Bubb is regarded as influential within the Labour and Conservative Parties, with his longstanding advocacy of charities replacing public services chiming with both parties' policy of promoting competition and choice in areas such as healthcare. He has described criticisms of competition as belonging in the "last century".

Bubb was born in Gillingham, Kent. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Christ Church, Oxford.

After briefly being a civil servant, Bubb became a Research Officer for the TGWU's Jack Jones in 1976. In 1980 he became Negotiations Officer for the National Union of Teachers, before, in 1987, becoming lead adviser to the Association of Metropolitan Authorities in its pay negotiations. In 1995 he became the first Director of Personnel of the The National Lottery Charities Board. He became the CEO of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (acevo) in 2000.

Bubb was Chairman of the Adventure Capital Fund since 2006, a social enterprise which now administers Communitybuilders; and Chairman of Futurebuilders England in 2008.

After stepping down from ACEVO, Bubb founded Charity Futures to investigate challenges to, and provide support for, the third sector for the next generation.

Bubb was a Labour Party member of Lambeth Borough Council for Clapham Town ward from 1982, serving as chief whip for the Labour group. When the Labour group protested against rate-capping by refusing to set a rate, Bubb was among 32 Lambeth councillors who were surcharged for causing the council a financial loss by willful misconduct. This action disqualified him from being a councillor for five years from the end of March 1986.

He spent nearly 20 years as a Youth Court Magistrate in inner London (1980-2000). He also acted on local health boards in South London (Guy's Hospital and St Thomas' Hospital), and set up an HIV centre there.

Stephen Bubb came under scrutiny in August 2013 after it was reported that his 60th birthday bash in the House of Commons had been partly financed by his own charity, ACEVO. Despite the charity paying him a salary in excess of £100,000, he still felt it was fine for the charity to cover some of the costs and stated “seemed just right to celebrate my 60th with a tea party in the House of Lords on Monday!”