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Simon Hardiman has been promoted to Chief Fire Officer for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service and will take up the role in January. He succeeds Rod Hammerton who is retiring after seven years as Chief Fire Officer and a 30 year career in the fire and rescue service.
Joining Shropshire five years ago, Simon is currently Assistant Chief Fire Officer. He had previously worked for West Midlands Fire Service since 2001.
Commenting on confirmation of his appointment, Simon said, “I feel very privileged to have been chosen to take on this role and to take the service forward in the coming years. I have been proud to be part of SFRS for the last five years and I am very excited to continue this next chapter.
“SFRS is already a high performing service and I plan to ensure this continues. My vision is to maintain delivery of excellent services to the communities of Shropshire, and to meet new challenges and demands placed upon us over the coming months and years.”
Retiring at the end of December, Rod Hammerton considered his last years working in the fire and rescue service. He said, “In my time as Chief I have overseen significant improvements to make us a more inclusive organisation that really tries to work with and develop its staff. This will help Simon as he faces the challenges of the next few years, but he has the confidence of the organisation, and I am confident he will do a great job as Chief.”