East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA), the UK HEMS charity, has announced that its CEO Patrick Peal will be retiring in June after seven years in the role. EAAA's director of operations Matthew Jones has been appointed as Peal's successor and will take the reins at the end of June.

Peal played an integral part in setting up the life-saving charity just over 20 years ago, led the charity as a former trustee for some 11 years and has been the charity's CEO since 2014. In that time, the charity has undergone a huge transformation and growth period in terms of fundraising income, operational achievements and becoming a top-rated local employer.

During Peal's tenure, the service has expanded to cover 24 hours a day every day of the year. To date, this has involved flying by day and by night, with the middle of the night covered by rapid response vehicles. His final act at EAAA in the summer will be extending the flying service 24/7.

A major focus for his work has been the creation and nurturing of a fantastic team. From the frontline teams to the ground staff, everyone plays an important part in the charity's mission and future. EAAA was named Best Employer in the Norfolk Business Awards in November and has been ranked in the top ten not-for-profit companies to work for by the Sunday Times.

A key enabler for the medical operation and for the performance of the charity has been the creation of new operational bases for its fleet of two H145 helicopters at Cambridge airport and Norwich airport; the latter, which includes the EAAA headquarters, being completed this year. The EAAA service has also been extended to include an aftercare service for patients, first aid training for the public and operational research.

Peal says: “Being CEO of East Anglian Air Ambulance is the best job I've ever had, but all good things must come to an end eventually. The charity is approaching an exciting new era of 24/7 helicopter operations, and now is the right time for me personally to step back and let someone else lead EAAA into what I'm sure will be a very exciting future.

“I have achieved everything that I set out to as CEO seven years ago and couldn't be prouder of the organisation as it stands today. It has an amazing culture of fun and high-performance, and everything is always geared towards providing the very best patient outcomes and value for money.

“Despite significant impacts of the pandemic on operations and fundraising over the last year, EAAA has weathered the storm brilliantly and continues to push ahead with key projects, such as starting to fly 24/7 this summer and moving into our new Norwich base. I'm really proud to have seen all the years of planning come together over the last few months into a truly spectacular, world-class facility in Norwich. The teamwork and progress at EAAA, despite recent challenges, has been beyond fantastic. I am delighted that Matthew Jones will be succeeding me as CEO and have every confidence that the charity will continue to go from strength to strength in his very capable hands.”

When Peal took on the role of CEO seven years ago, EAAA was attending about 1,700 missions a year and raising eight million pounds annually. Both of these areas have significantly increased, by about 60 per cent, with 2,700 missions attended in 2019 and over 14 million pounds raised in the same year.

Matthew Jones comments: “It's a huge honour to be offered the opportunity to lead this fantastic organisation into the future, and I will do my very best to carry on the remarkable work that Patrick has started. Patrick has been an enormous part of getting this charity to where it is today, and it is extremely humbling to be entrusted with this role. My first focus will be on implementing 24/7 operations from our new base in Norwich, a long-term goal of the charity's which will make a huge difference to the type of service we're able to provide at night.”