9 February 2024
Heidi Stewart has been appointed the new CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), and will assume the position at the beginning of summer.
Heidi joins BPAS from BHSF, a 150-year-old Health Insurance business, where she is currently their Group Chief Executive, and has been since July 2021. She has over 20 years’ experience leading teams for some of the UK's largest private and public sector businesses and setting the strategic direction across sectors including mental health, employment, education, housing justice, and learning disability. She was also an adviser on the Government’s Women’s Mental Health Taskforce.
Dr Lucy Moore, Executive Chair of BPAS, said:
“I am delighted to welcome Heidi as incoming CEO of BPAS. Heidi has a wealth of experience across sectors and is well-suited to take on the role and lead the team at BPAS. Her passion, experience, and acumen are demonstrated throughout her career, and we look forward to her bringing all of these qualities and more to BPAS.
Heidi joins BPAS at an exciting time as we enter a period of renewal and investment - working closely across the sector to improve abortion care and wider women's health. As we look to refresh our strategic direction, Heidi is well-placed to foster growth and innovation at this critical time for abortion care in the UK.”
Heidi Stewart, incoming CEO of BPAS, said:
“The opportunity to lead a charity that advocates, campaigns and delivers on behalf of women, enabling them to make their own choices on reproductive health is a huge privilege. The prospect of leading a national organisation that has been instrumental in advancing the pro-choice agenda in this country, working with renowned experts, is one that I cannot wait to fully embrace.
I want to thank the board for placing their trust and support in me as the next CEO of BPAS and look forward to meeting all colleagues when I join.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact Georgina O’Reilly, BPAS Associate Director of Campaigns and Communications (maternity cover), on georgina.oreilly@bpas.org or 07384 891886.
About BPAS
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS, is a charity that sees over 100,000 women a year for reproductive healthcare services including pregnancy counselling, abortion care, miscarriage management and contraception at clinics across Great Britain.
BPAS exists to further women’s reproductive choices. We believe all women should have the right to make their own decisions in and around pregnancy, from the contraception they use to avoid pregnancy right the way through to how they decide to feed their newborn baby, with access to evidence-based information to underpin their choices and high-quality services and support to exercise them.
BPAS also runs the Centre for Reproductive Research and Communication, CRRC. Through rigorous multidisciplinary research and impactful communication, the CRRC aims to inform policy, practice, and public discourse.