Speaker Details
Byron Davies
Chief Executive, Cardiff Council
Following a BSc Degree from Swansea University Byron qualified as a Chartered Civil Engineer. After practicing as a highway engineer in the private and public sectors within the UK he transferred to professional management roles, following the completion of a Diploma in Management Studies and an MPhil at the University of Glamorgan.
Byron has held various civil engineering, construction, property development, regeneration and senior management posts. He became a Chief Officer and then Director of Property Services for South Glamorgan County Council in 1990, and was appointed as Chief Executive for South Glamorgan County Council in 1992. Following local government reorganisation in Wales in 1995, he was appointed Chief Executive of the City and County of Cardiff, the new unitary authority for Cardiff.
For two decades Byron has been at the heart of the regeneration and transformation of Cardiff, Wales capital city. He has played a major role in the development of Cardiff Airport, the Millennium Stadium, the City centre, Cardiff Bay and the Cardiff Harbour Authority.
He has made a significant contribution to the professional development of public services in Wales and within the UK as a long-serving Chief Executive, Secretary of the Society of Local Authorities and Senior Managers in Wales, Chairman of the Cardiff Local Services Board, Trustee of the Solace UK Foundation, and President of Solace UK.
Byron has also held Non executive director roles for Cardiff Wales International Airport, Cardiff Chamber of Commerce, was an ex-officio member of the Council and Court of the University of Wales and Secretary to the Lord Chancellors Advisory Committee. He is currently a non-executive director of Solace UK, the Wales Millennium Stadium and the Wales North America Chamber and Clerk to the Lieutenancy for South Glamorgan. His contribution to local government was recognised with the award of an OBE in 2008.
He is the International Adviser to the Welsh Local Government Association, a past Chair of the Solace UK International Working Group and current President of UDiTE (European Federation of Local Authority Chief Executives).
