Cats Protection appoints interim chief for next 12 months

Cats Protection has appointed Charles Darley as interim chief executive for the next year.

Darley, who took up the role on 6 October, succeeds James Yeates, who left the animal welfare charity in September to take up the top job at the World Federation for Animals, an international membership body for animal protection organisations.

Cats Protection said Darley had worked in a range of senior interim roles and held top posts at organisations including the Church of England, the National Centre for Social Research, the Open University, Virgin Media and Royal Mail.

Asked why Darley had been appointed for 12 months, a spokesperson for the charity said: “Our current strategy is at a vital stage and we wanted to maintain momentum with implementation of various aspects of the 10-year strategy, and this will allow time for us to consider the search for a permanent chief executive.”

Linda Upson, chair of Cats Protection, said Darley had a “track record of leading growth and transformation across more than a dozen charities, after a career leading business transformation as a marketing and strategy director in a number of FTSE-listed companies”.

She said: “As an experienced interim, he has committed to leading the organisation for the next 12 months and defining the details of the delivery plan for the first stage in our 10-year strategy.”

Darley, whom the charity described as an “enthusiastic cat owner”, said the animals had become increasingly important to the nation’s mental health during lockdown.