Putting aside an early career in graphic design Simon has developed extensive experience over the past 16 years working in health and social care both in the UK and Europe.

Early work involved developing mental health supported housing services for a large Birmingham-based housing association and a successful graphic design social enterprise before he joined mental health charity Rethink’s national development team in the late ‘90s to develop a diverse range of community mental health services primarily in the Midlands and North of England.

Simon joined Warwickshire County Council as Mental Health Joint Commissioner in 2003 where he developed an interest in autism before moving over to a Locality Commissioning role in Learning Disability services three years ago.

Leading for Warwickshire on both child to adult transitions and autism Simon is committed to developing personalised services that are fully inclusive and was instrumental in launching Warwickshire’s proactive support service for people with Autistic Spectrum Conditions in 2009.

Simon continues to be actively involved in community and social enterprise development and in addition to his day job is a Director for ISE an innovative Birmingham-based social enterprise providing support to develop the social economy in the West Midlands and the UK as a whole.