Bradford based Sovereign Health Care has appointed Mike Bower as the organisation’s new chairman of the board. Mike takes over from outgoing chairman Mark Hudson.

In his new role, Mike will be a conduit between the board’s executive and non-executive directors helping to drive change in the business as it aims to achieve ambitious growth targets. The three year post is part time and during this period Mike will continue as a partner at Turner and Wall solicitors in Keighley. 
Mike said: “I am delighted to take up the chairman position at Sovereign Health Care as the company embarks on a period of significant change. I first joined the board at Sovereign in 2001. Back then I was impressed by Sovereign’s charitable trust and this is something that continues to inspire me today and which we want to preserve going forward.”

Mike’s new position coincides with the appointment of a digital marketing manager, a new post for the 137 year-old company. Tom Pratt joins Sovereign in the new role from Provident Financial. He will be working with head of marketing Caroline Cundey to develop the company’s digital strategy. Tom said: “I’m looking forward to the exciting challenges ahead and developing the digital channel to support the company’s growth. I was attracted to the role at Sovereign because it’s a mutual organisation and the ethos of the company is something to be admired.”

Russ Piper, chief executive said “These are exciting times for Sovereign Health Care. In 2010 we are aiming to achieve sales growth of up to 30% with a view to growing our customer numbers by 30,000 over the next five to seven years. Mike and Tom’s appointments will assist the Sovereign team in driving this growth.”