Government Property Agency appoints DWP's Dominic Arthur as non-executive director

The Government Property Agency has appointed Dominic Arthur, a chief operating officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, as a non-executive director to fill the board seat left vacant by Carol Bernard.

The agency said on 8 October that the appointment runs until July 2029 and described it as an update to its governance structure.

Arthur will chair the GPA's Nomination and Remuneration Committee as part of his non-executive role, according to the agency's own announcement.

Helen Gillett, Interim Chair at the GPA, said Arthur's experience and expertise in strategy, management and operations "will further strengthen the governance structure at the GPA."

The appointee

Arthur is a serving civil servant. At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) he leads the Synergy Programme, the GPA said.

Before joining DWP he worked at director level in the Cabinet Office's recruitment and pensions teams, and later served as a chief operating officer at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Dominic Arthur, Non-Executive Director at the GPA, said: "It is an exciting time to join the agency with its clear vision to transform the government office estate," adding that it was providing workspaces to boost civil servants' productivity across the UK.

The Synergy Programme

According to a DWP accounting officer assessment published in April 2026, Synergy is the largest of the government's shared services cluster programmes. It is intended to transform how HR, payroll, finance and procurement are carried out across its cluster departments, covering almost half the Civil Service and 98 in-scope arm's length bodies.

DWP said the procurement outcome was announced in December 2025. The department put Synergy's investment costs at £746.4m, with recurrent costs of £1,315.4m, and projected savings of £2,411.6m, with the programme paying back by January 2034.

The board

Arthur takes the position vacated when Carol Bernard's tenure ended. Bernard joined the GPA board in June 2022 as a non-executive director and was previously Head of HR Strategy at the Ministry of Defence, according to the agency.

Gillett has held the role of Interim Chair since September 2025, the GPA's 2025/26 annual report and accounts show.

The agency

The GPA is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office, set up in 2018 to bring the government's office assets into a single portfolio. The agency says it holds more than £2.1bn in property assets, manages over 53% of the government office estate and supports over 125,000 civil servants in its buildings. It employs nearly 500 people.

Arthur's term on the board is due to end in July 2029.