Kate Guthrie

I joined the GPA in 2018, initially on a two-year loan from the Ministry of Defence where I had worked for around 15 years.  As soon as I started, I knew I had made the right decision and I’m still loving being part of the organisation five years later.

What we do and our ambitions to transform and modernise the Civil Service is really important to me and I feel very lucky that my role enables me to make a real difference for people and places. 

We want our customers to have great places to work – to feel inspired, connected, included, creative and to have a sense of community, as well as to reap the benefits of smarter working.  I collaborate with brilliant people, and with the help of fantastic colleagues across the GPA, we are starting to make this a reality.  Being part of an organisation that recently delivered an office building that has been independently rated within the top 2% of around 8000 offices surveyed globally is just amazing!

The GPA has given me a chance to be the type of leader that I know is right for me and for my colleagues.  I’m trusted and empowered to deliver; I’m supported by great leaders and colleagues; and I feel part of a community, through my day to day interactions with my colleagues, through my local South West and South Wales community group and through the GPA Women’s Network which we launched in 2022. 

I’ve had some really great experiences within the GPA, including a career high visit to Canada to share approaches with the Government there.  As we continue to grow and mature as an organisation, I look forward to many more years of experiences, development and most of all, of great relationships with brilliant people who genuinely care about making a difference.