Allan Cook appointed Lead Non-Executive Board Member at BIS

Business Secretary Vince Cable today (6th March 2014) announced the appointment of Allan Cook as the Lead Non-Executive Board member at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Non-executive board members are experts from outside government who assist in the delivery of policy using relevant experience from business. Allan is a chartered engineer with more than 30 years’ international experience in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries, and took up the post of chairman of Atkins in February 2010. He is also Chairman of Selex ES, Finmeccanica UK and Deputy Chairman of Marshall Group. Allan will attend his first departmental board meeting on 6 March 2014.

Professor Dame Ann Dowling has been appointed as a non-executive board member and will also attend her first departmental board meeting on 6 March 2014. Ann is Head of the Department of Engineering and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge, where she is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and chair of the University Gas Turbine Partnership with Rolls-Royce. Ann is a Non-Executive Director of BP. She will become the first female president of the Royal Academy of Engineering in September 2014.

About Alan Cook

Allan Cook was Chief Executive of Cobham PLC until the end of December 2009 and has previously held senior executive roles at GEC-Marconi, BAE Systems and Hughes Aircraft. Allan is also chairman of the Skills & Jobs Retention Group and Chairman of the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (SEMTA).

About Professor Dame Ann Dowling

Professor Dame Ann Dowling was appointed CBE by the Queen for services to Mechanical Engineering in 2002, and DBE for services to Science in 2007. She has served on a number of industry and government advisory committees and chaired the Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering study on nanotechnology.

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

• give advice on the operational/delivery implications of policy proposals
• provide independent support, guidance and challenge on the progress and implementation of the business plan
• provide management advice to the Permanent Secretary
  be available to advise ministers on operational issues and performance
• form a Remuneration Committee to advise on the bonus structure for the department
• form a Risk and Audit Committee
• attend occasional government-wide non-execs meetings
  be involved in the recruitment and appraisal of senior executives, and succession planning
• determine, together with the Finance Director, a limited number of Key Performance Indicators for the department as a basis for monitoring progress

In addition to the above, the Lead Non-Executive Board Member will:

• meet regularly with other non-execs
• ensure that the Secretary of State is aware of any concerns
  support the Secretary of State in his or her role as chairman of the board
• ensure that the non-execs meet alone with the Secretary of State from time to time
• liaise with the government-wide lead non-exec (Lord Browne)