4 new Board Members at BEIS

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark has announced the appointment of Carolyn McCall, Kathryn Parsons, Stephen A. Carter and Stuart Quickenden as non-executive board members at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Non-executive board members are experts from outside government who provide oversight and challenge to the department in the development of policy and the management of resources.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said, "These non-executive appointments to the board highlight the department’s commitment to strengthening our relationship with key business sectors. Our new board members are ideally placed to help us build an economy that works for all and ensure that we deliver a successful Industrial Strategy."

The key responsibilities of non-executive board members are to:

• attend meetings of the departmental board, chaired by the Secretary of State
• advise on strategy, performance and transformation, operational issues and the effective management of the department
• provide independent scrutiny for the department upon request
• work with executives and their teams to continue to improve the performance of the department

Dame Carolyn McCall - Chief Executive of easyJet

Carolyn has extensive experience in business with a wealth of understanding of the transportation and media industries. Prior to easyJet she was Chief Executive of the Guardian Media Group. She has been a great champion of diversity, most recently demonstrated through easyJet’s commitment to increase the number of female pilots it trains and employs.

Under Carolyn McCall’s leadership, easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, has achieved record passenger numbers (now more than 73 million per year) and record profits, The airline entered the FTSE 100 in 2013. Prior to joining easyJet, she was Chief Executive of Guardian Media Group plc. In 2013, Carolyn McCall was awarded the Airline Business ‘Airline Strategy Award for Low Cost leadership’, City AM’s Personality of the Year award and the Gold Medal Award from the Chartered Management Institute for her work in management. In 2014 she was the winner of the Business Achievement Award ‎at the British Travel Industry Hall of Fame Awards. Carolyn was awarded a Damehood in the 2016 New Year Honours list.

Kathryn Parsons - Co-Founder and Chief Executive of DeCoded

Kathryn Parsons brings with her valuable expertise from the digital enterprise community sitting on the London Mayor’s Business Advisory Board, the government’s Cyber Security Board and she chairs the Digital Skills and Innovation Fund. She has helped over 500 organisations – from FTSE100 companies to government departments and start-ups – to think and act differently in the digital world.

In 2014 she won Marie Claire magazine’s Women At The Top award for top tech pioneer and was included on The Sunday Times’ Britain’s Top 30 Female Power List and The Telegraph’s Britons of the Year 2014. In March 2014 she was named an ambassador of Tech City by former London mayor Boris Johnson.

Stephen A. Carter - Group Chief Executive of Informa

Stephen brings a unique combination of skills and experience gained through a career in the media and telecommunications industries, in both the private and public sectors. He is the Group CEO of Informa plc.  During his tenure, Informa has re-located to the UK, joined the FTSE 100 index and significantly expanded internationally, particularly in the US and within its business intelligence and global exhibitions businesses.

Prior to working for Informa, he was the President and Managing Director of EMEA at Alcatel Lucent Inc, based in Paris, the founding CEO of Ofcom, the UK’s media and communications regulator. He also served as Chief of Strategy to The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, and as Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, responsible for the Digital Britain Report.

Stuart Quickenden - Managing Partner at Boston Consulting Group

Stuart Quickenden has had a 20 year career at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a leading global management consultancy, culminating in him becoming Managing Partner. He is a leading expert on organisational change, advising large organisations to help drive better performance at lower cost. Before joining BCG, Stuart worked as a brand manager in consumer goods for Procter & Gamble. Stuart’s areas of expertise include organisation redesign, IT strategy and cost reduction programmes.

These four  new appointments are in addition to the department’s 3 existing non-executive board members:

Archie Norman (Lead non-executive board member)

Archie is a leading businessman known for the transformation of Asda and ITV. He is a former MP and is currently Chairman of Lazard UK. Archie is the first and only FTSE 100 Chairman to be elected a Member of Parliament, where he served for 8 years, including as Chief Executive of the Conservative Party and as a leading member of the Shadow Cabinet
Archie was Chairman of ITV from January 2010 until May 2016

Charles Randell

Charles Randell has been an independent director of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority since it assumed responsibility for supervising UK banks, insurance companies and large investment firms in April 2013 in energy, notable public sector assignments include the privatisation of the electricity and gas industries, the strategic review of British Nuclear Fuels, and the restructuring of British Energy. Charles is a Visiting Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.

Professor Ann Dowling

Ann Dowling is the current President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Ann is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and chair of the University Gas Turbine Partnership with Rolls-Royce. Ann is a non-executive director of BP Plc, where she is chair of the Remuneration Committee she was appointed CBE by the Queen for services to Mechanical Engineering in 2002, and DBE for services to Science in 2007