Wayne Bowcock, Chief Fire Officer of Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) has announced he will be retiring from his role in March 2026, after 33 years serving in five different fire and rescue services.
Wayne became RBFRS Chief Fire Officer in June 2021 and during this time he has worked alongside RBFRS staff and members of Royal Berkshire Fire Authority to further improve the services we offer to local residents. In leading the organisation Wayne has advocated the importance of a One Team approach within the Service, emphasising that staff in all roles had a crucial role in keeping our communities safe.
In announcing his retirement, Wayne said: “It has been an incredible privilege to have led the staff of this fantastic organisation over the past four years. Together, we have made a great deal of progress and overcome many challenges that we have been faced with.
“In all parts of the organisation, we have exceptionally dedicated public servants who always put our communities first and I have no doubt that you will continue that in the years ahead.
Councillor Jeff Brooks, Chair of Royal Berkshire Fire Authority said: “On behalf of the Fire Authority and the people of Berkshire, I would like to thank Wayne for his dedicated service.
“Wayne has overseen a hugely successful period for RBFRS, driving forward many key areas of focus for the benefit of our communities. It is a pleasure working with Wayne and his knowledge and experience has been extremely valuable to all Members of the Fire Authority.
“With Wayne’s announcement, a process to recruit our next Chief Fire Officer will begin in due course and we will provide further information in due course.”
Under Wayne’s leadership, a number of key milestones and achievements have been made by the Service.
This includes the recent inspection of RBFRS by His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services 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, which should provide excellent training facilities for years to come.
Wayne has also been working at the national level to promote good leadership and governance, particularly through his role as the Leadership Development Strategic Lead with the National Fire Chiefs Council. As a trustee of the NFCC Wayne has contributed to good governance of the fire sector at a national level and also supported efforts coordinated by the NFCC in 2022 to provide equipment to firefighters in Ukraine. To date, RBFRS has provided four vehicles and various items of equipment, including breathing apparatus sets, water rescue equipment, hose reels, defibrillators, PPE and generators.
Further information about the process to recruit Wayne’s successor will be published in due course.