Wednesday 6 January 2021

Welcoming New Bursar Steve Cooke

The College is delighted to welcome Stephen (Steve) Cooke, who has succeeded Roger Boden as Bursar.

Steve studied Natural Sciences (Part II Chemistry) at Jesus College, Cambridge, in the 1980s before qualifying as a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand and then working as a strategy consultant with OC&C. Between 1993 and 2003 he gained extensive retail experience in senior financial and general management positions at J Sainsbury plc, B&Q, and Homebase where he was responsible for the launch and roll out of a new large store format.

In 2004 Steve was appointed chief financial officer on the team that turned around and sold Energis, the distressed telecommunications group. He subsequently served in chief financial officer and chief executive positions in public and private companies in the consumer, service and property sectors including the delivery of another successful business turnaround at Hornby plc. At Mapeley Estates Limited Steve secured two rounds of new equity and debt funding to underpin rapid expansion of their commercial property portfolio and he led the delivery and financing of an acquisitive estate agency growth strategy at LSL Property Services plc.

Steve is excited by his forthcoming change in career direction to be able to contribute to the education sector as Bursar at Keble. Commenting on his appointment, he said: ‘I am delighted to be joining Keble as Bursar and I am keen to start to meet and get to know all members of the College. I am greatly looking forward to working with Jonathan and the Governing Body to provide support for the whole academic community to flourish beyond these immediately challenging times, and to continue to build on the proud and distinctive history of Keble.’