Board of Directors

Ken was appointed Executive Chairman of Cygnet Health Care in 1991. In collaboration with Cygnet Health's founder,  John Hughes, Ken has worked hard to build a market leading independent provider of mental health care,  primarily to the NHS. Ken has over 20 years of experience at board  level in various organisations and since 2004 he has also been a Non-Executive Director of Barchester Healthcare. Ken was appointed  Chief Executive Officer of Cygnet Health Care in 2008. 

After developing twelve new psychiatric hospitals in the United States John acquired the loss making Priory  Hospital in London in 1980. John was subsequently responsible for developing a further seven Priory hospitals. John founded Cygnet Health Care in 1988 and has seen the organisation flourish and grow to become Britain's  second largest provider of psychiatric services to both the NHS and to privately funded patients. In 2008 John won the Outstanding Contribution Award at the Laing & Buisson Independent Healthcare Awards. 

Nicky comes from a clinical background having initially completed training as a RGN in 1980. After developing  her management career with a pharmaceutical company Nicky joined Cygnet Health Care in 1998 as Hospital Director of  Bowden House Clinic. After two years Nicky was promoted to Regional Director with responsibility for three Cygnet hospitals. From 2007-2009 she  was Managing Director of five Cygnet hospitals before being appointed Chief Operating Officer with responsibility  for operations at all Cygnet units.

Mark is an FCA and comes from a strong professional background, having spent eight years with Arthur Andersen, the last four as a management consultant, before moving on to work for Whitehead Mann Group for six years, where he held the position of Group Finance Director and Company Secretary. Mark joined Cygnet Health Care in 2008 and is responsible for all matters financial including leading the finance function, management and statutory reporting, treasury and cash management, commercial analysis etc.

Adrian joined Cygnet Health Care in 1999 as Group Financial Manager having previously developed a diverse  skill set through a number of management, marketing and entrepreneurial roles in South Africa. Adrian has had extensive teaching and lecturing experience in a variety of management subjects, including the last 8 years as an associate lecturer for the Open University Business School. As Commercial Director  Adrian manages the team responsible for clinical governance, health & safety, IT systems, group procurement and management training.

John joined Cygnet Health Care in 1993 as Director of Marketing having previously gained  sales experience in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1994 John started the NHS business within Cygnet Health Care that now represents 85% of the  company's turnover. From 1998 to 2007, as regional director, John was responsible  for the commissioning of Cygnet Hospital Ealing and Cygnet Hospital Stevenage. John was appointed Director of Business Development in Jan 2011 to devise new and innovative ways of working with existing customers as well as working with the fast changing NHS under the new administration.

Lee joined Cygnet Health Care on the graduate management training programme after leaving Cambridge University in 2000.  His first substantive role was in 2001 where he was the General Manager, based in Northampton, for the St Andrew's/Cygnet Health Care joint venture. Since then, he has moved on to be a Hospital Manager and Regional Director prior to his appointment as Managing Director in November 2008. He is currently the company's NHS Partnership Director responsible for overseeing the variety of NHS contracts that Cygnet has in place, as well as keeping an overview of the national NHS market and utilising opportunities for joint working.