Northampton Saints have announced that Ella Bevan is to become the Premiership club’s new chair of the board.
Bevan has been a director since 2012 and will replace John White, who is standing down at the end of the season.
Bevan’s father Keith Barwell and brother Leon Barwell have also held the post in the past and her appointment means Saints will have a female chair and chief executive after Julia Chapman took on the latter role in November.
“Saints need to evolve as rugby evolves, and we need to make sure that we are key drivers and innovators in that process,” Bevan told the club website, external.
“I’ve always felt that the club has led from the front on a lot of rugby initiatives, and we need to keep moving forward and finding new methods to progress, as without doing so, we’ll get left behind.”
She continued: “There are challenges ahead of us, but I’ve seen everything from Premiership and European Cup triumphs to relegations and promotions over the years of my involvement at Saints, and I am completely confident that our best days are still ahead of us.”
Northampton reached the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup by beating Castres 51-16 on Saturday and next face a re-match of their 2024 last-four tie against Leinster.
The winners will meet Bordeaux or Toulouse in the final in Cardiff on 24 May.
Saints won their first Premiership title for a decade in 2024, but still reported a £1.7m loss and Bevan said work was ongoing to make sure their business model meets their needs.
“Our years and years of profitability came when the salary cap and central distributions were all pretty balanced, and we’re in a situation now where that is not the case,” she added.
“We’ve always tried to be as supportive to the coaches as possible to give them the resources that they need to succeed, as above all else we need to ensure we are competitive on and off the pitch.
“We will be pushing for a model where the club and the league as a whole can remain sustainable and competitive.”
