Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Darren O’Callaghan brings 31 years of policing experience to the position.

He joined Thames Valley Police from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary in April.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “I am delighted to be taking up my new role leading crime and criminal justice for Thames Valley Police, and to have the opportunity to build on the great work here in the force.

“In the past few weeks, the force has been highlighted by HMICFRS as making significant improvements, but also highlights areas to work on.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of doing all I can to help Thames Valley Police become an excellent force trusted by all of our communities.”

He began his career as a police constable in Petersfield in 1994 and became a detective three years later.

His experience covers professional standards, child protection, major crime, and intelligence.

He was also district commander for Fareham and Gosport.

He became director of intelligence in 2015 and head of intelligence, tasking, and development as a chief superintendent in 2017.

More recently, he worked with the Joint Operations Unit in 2022 before becoming T/Assistant Chief Constable.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “It will be a privilege to be working with our brilliant officers and staff, building on the drive to improve our investigative capability, support victims of crime, preventing harm and ensuring we achieve the best possible outcomes for them, and protect the public across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.”

The scholarship, run by Hong Kong-based company Jardine Matheson is ending its programme for Oxford and Cambridge universities after 44 years to focus on redirecting funds to institutions in Asia.

According to the Jardine Foundation’s website, students starting their studies later this year will be the final cohort of undergraduate “Oxbridge” scholars to be covered by the programme.

“The Jardine Foundation remains committed to providing access to higher education by talented students across the Asian communities in which Jardines operates,” it said.

The foundation has said it will continue to support the current Jardine scholars at the universities and the students starting this year, as well as its existing Oxford and Cambridge postgraduate scholarship programme.

The foundation was established in 1982 by Jardine Matheson to commemorate its 150th anniversary and was intended to expand higher education to students across Asia.

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The scholarship runs from Exeter College (Image: Google Street View)

The foundation initially centred on full scholarships for specific colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, before expanding its partnerships to Asian institutions such as the University of Hong Kong and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia.

The company is one of the original Hong Kong trading houses that dates back to Imperial China.

The undergraduate scholarship was in partnership with Oxford university, and applicants could only study at Exeter College, Oriel College, The Queen’s College, and Trinity College.

Applicants can apply from Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

Former chairman of the scholarship includes famous art historian Duncan Robinson, British diplomat Sir Ivor Roberts, and English mathematician Geoffrey Grimmett.

Jason Tarry, dhairman of the John Lewis Partnership, which also owns Waitrose, told staff the retailer had been forced to “trade into lower sales and higher costs” in recent months.

John Lewis opened as the anchor store at Westgate Oxford in 2017 following a £440m revamp at the shopping centre.

READ MORE: John Lewis makes major change to UK stores

In an interview for the company’s magazine, Mr Tarry said John Lewis needed to “adjust for an immediate future that we weren’t expecting even six months ago, let alone a couple of years ago”.

He said the retailer was “heavily focused at the moment on what that means for us in terms of adjusting our plan going forward”. His remarks were first reported by the Financial Times.

Mr Tarry joined John Lewis as chairman two years ago after more than three decades at Tesco, replacing Dame Sharon White, the former boss.

Retailers have been dealing with cost increases as the conflict in Iran hit supply chains, while higher fuel prices and inflationary pressures have forced consumers to tighten their belts.

In financial results published earlier this year, John Lewis fell to a £21m pre-tax loss in 2025 compared with a pre-tax profit of £97m the year before. The retailer also cut about 3,300 jobs last year, according to its annual report.

Since then, it has launched a further redundancy consultation across dozens of stores as it cuts foreign exchange services and gift-wrapping desks.

It has also told staff they must be in the office more often as it works to keep up with rivals who have increasingly ditched remote working.

As part of his turnaround plan, Mr Tarry has focused the group’s strategy on its core retail businesses, abandoning his predecessor’s plan to build thousands of rental homes.

Instead, he has laid out plans to reinvest in its stores, including by opening new Waitrose shops and refurbishing existing ones.

Waitrose (Image: Contributed)

Mr Tarry said staff should not expect the pace of change to slow down during his tenure.

A John Lewis spokesman said: “It’s no secret that trading conditions are challenging right now as people think carefully about their spending.

“Our priority is to do the right thing for our customers so we’re continuing to invest significantly in our brands with new and refurbished Waitrose shops and fresh propositions in John Lewis like our new beauty and sports halls and Platter hospitality offer.”