Royal Berkshire’s next Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive Officer has been named following the retirement announcement of its current boss after 33 years serving fire and rescue services.
Following a rigorous recruitment process, Mark Arkwell, the current Deputy Chief Fire Officer, has been appointed.
Having worked in the fire and rescue service for more than 26 years with Surrey and Royal Berkshire, Mark has extensive experience to bring to the role.
He said: “I am immensely proud to accept the role of Royal Berkshire’s next Chief Fire Officer.
“It will be a great honour to lead a Service that is made up of dedicated public servants delivering their very best for our community.
"I am incredibly excited to lead the Service on the next step of its journey.
“I would like to record my thanks to the Service’s current Chief Fire Officer, Wayne Bowcock, who I have been privileged to work alongside for several years.
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"I know that his time leading the Service will leave a lasting legacy.”
Under Wayne’s leadership, a number of key milestones and achievements have been made by the Service.
This includes an inspection of RBFRS that was published in April 2025.
Across 11 areas inspected, inspectors found the service was ‘good’ in eight areas and ‘adequate’ in three areas.
As Chief Fire Officer, Wayne oversaw the creation of the 2023 – 2027 Community Risk Management Plan and Our Culture Plan, which aims to support the organisation to continue to be one that we all staff feel proud to belong to.
Equipping staff with high-quality equipment and facilities is a key priority for Wayne.
Reprofiling the funding available for investment in estates to introduce dignified facilities, decontamination areas and sustainability features is an area of pride and more latterly, the new Learning and Development Centre opened in July 2025.
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Councillor Jeff Brooks, Chair of Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, stated: “I am pleased to offer the position of Chief Fire Officer to someone of exceptional ability and knowledge.
“The selection process was competitive, and we were fortunate to have such high calibre candidates.
“This role carries a great deal of responsibility to residents, businesses and the staff of Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and it was therefore imperative that we found someone with the right skills and experience to take the organisation forward.
“Congratulations to Mark and I look forward to working with him to continue to deliver the very best service to the people of Royal Berkshire”.
The appointment was ratified at the Fire Authority meeting on 10 February 2026.
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