Robin Porter

Chief Executive

Address: Town Hall, Upper George Street, Luton LU1 2BQ
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01582 547399

Robin Porter took over as the Chief Executive for Luton Council on 6 May 2019. Prior to this, he was Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director for Customer and Commercial Services at Luton Council, as well as the Lead Officer at London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL).

Before joining Luton Council Robin worked as a senior manager in the private sector.

Robin is responsible for:

• the circa 730 services that the council delivers to our 225,000 residents
• leading the circa 2,700 officers delivering those services

Additionally the council is leading the town-wide vision to ensure that by 2040 Luton is to be a healthy, fair and sustainable town, where everyone can thrive and no-one has to live in poverty.

This Luton 2040 vision has been created by residents and partners across our town and was first launched in October 2020. The first phase of the vision was focussed on responding to the immediate challenges we faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past few years businesses, public sector, voluntary and community sector organisations, as well as residents, have worked together to overcome these challenges and lay the foundations for us to achieve this shared long term vision.

Mark Fowler

Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director Population Wellbeing

Address: Town Hall, Upper George Street, Luton LU1 2BQ
Email: Mark.Fowler.gov.uk
Phone: 01582 548440

Mark has worked in local government since 1991, operating at director level and above for the last 10 years. Prior to his move to Luton Council in February 2022 he was Director of Community Solutions at Barking and Dagenham Council where he supported communities, families and individuals to become more independent.

As the Corporate Director for Population Wellbeing in Luton, Mark oversees services including Housing, Adult Social Care, Public Health, Commissioning and Business Intelligence which are key to the Luton 2040 vision for the town to be healthy, fair and sustainable, where everyone can thrive and no-one has to live in poverty.

Luton 2040 is a town-wide vision built around a single-unifying mission for everyone in Luton.

Dheeraj Chibber

Corporate Director, Children, Families and Education

Address: Town Hall, Upper George Street, Luton LU1 2BQ
Email: [email protected]

Dheeraj Chibber was appointed Corporate Director for Children, Families and Education on 22 May 2023.

Prior to this, Dheeraj’s roles included:

• Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care in London Borough of Merton, which achieved outstanding status in an Ofsted ILACS inspection
• head of service roles in Hertfordshire – developing bespoke and innovative services through systems leadership
• management roles in Central Bedfordshire where he developed a tailored ‘front door’ amongst other projects

Dheeraj has worked in the caring profession in the UK for almost 20 years. His passion dates back to the late 90s where his first experiences of supporting communities on a voluntary basis in India spearheaded his trajectory into the profession.

Dheeraj oversees Children’s Social Care, Quality & Improvements and Education services all of which play a key role in the Luton 2040 vision to be a healthy, safe, sustainable child-friendly town and one where we provide exceptional services to children, young people and families.

Gerard McCleave

Corporate Director, Inclusive Economy

Address: Town Hall, Upper George Street, Luton LU1 2BQ
Email: [email protected]

Nick Platts

Corporate Director and Managing Director, Luton Rising

Address: Luton Rising, Hart House Business Centre, Kimpton Road Luton, LU2 0LA
Email: [email protected]

Nick Platts was appointed Managing Director of Luton Rising, the Luton Council company that owns London Luton Airport and associated assets, in July 2023.

Prior to this, Nick had most recently lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for three years, initially as Director of Cargo at Riyadh Airport, and then leading development of the country’s first special logistics zone.

Previously Nick worked for Heathrow Airport Ltd, in roles as Head of Ground Handling and Head of Cargo, and for FedEx Express. Before that he migrated to the UK from Australia in 2004 after serving in the Royal Australian Air Force for 10 years as a pilot.

Nick is responsible for Luton Rising’s wide-ranging development and positive social impact programmes, including sustainability, Luton DART, and leading the application for long-term growth at the company’s largest asset, London Luton Airport.