Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale is a highly accomplished Board Executive with over 25 years of senior leadership experience across British sport. She is currently a partner in an elite sports consultancy business, and her career includes 13 years in Premier League football. From 2010 to 2023, she held executive roles at Everton Football Club, culminating in her appointment as Chief Executive Officer (2018–2023). During this time, Denise led a complex organisation with a £190m annual turnover and oversaw £800m of capital investment, including the successful delivery of Everton’s new 53,000-seat stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Her career demonstrates deep expertise in governance, commercial growth, infrastructure delivery, and organisational leadership within elite sporting environments. Denise has served on more than 20 boards across sport, education, charity, and civic sectors, including Sport England and British Canoeing, and was appointed to the Government’s Fan-Led Review of Football Governance.
Denise holds an MBA, BA (Hons) and Doctorate (EdD), alongside multiple honorary academic appointments, and has been associated with Liverpool Hope University business school since 2016 as a visiting Professor in Sport at the Service of Humanity. She was awarded an MBE for services to the Merseyside community in 2014 and was commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant in April 2019.
