Julie Finch

Julie Finch has been Chief Executive of the Hay Festival since 2022, the sixth cultural organisation that she has led during her career. Prior to her appointment to the Hay Festival she was Chief Executive of the Compton Verney House Trust (2018-22) where she oversaw a major grounds project to develop the 90-acre Capability Brown landscape, doubling the visitor numbers. As the inaugural Chief Executive of The Cheltenham Trust (2014-18) she had to reposition the charity, having brought the wide-ranging cultural assets out of local authority control. Prior to that Julie spent two years as the Project Director for the new museum for Western Australia, drawing on her previous experience on major capital projects gained whilst Director of Bristol’s Museums, Galleries and Archives. She has also been a member of the Arts Council of England’s National Council and a member of the Southwest Board of the National Heritage Lottery Fund.