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  People

Our Advisory Council of top-level business people provides strategic direction to BNE. Our Executive is responsible for the day-to-day running of BNE. Our Entrepreneurs Network mobilises support amongst small and medium-sized enterprises

Executive

Advisory Council

The members of the Advisory Council are supporting BNE in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of any business(es) they work for

Entrepreneurs Network

If you are an Entrepreneur and agree with our principles, please contact info@bnegroup.org for further details and information on how you can be involved.

 

Information about Executive

Roland Rudd (Chairman, Business for New Europe)
Roland Rudd is the Senior Partner of Finsbury, which was acquired by WPP in June 2001. Before founding Finsbury in 1994, he worked as a financial journalist at the Financial Times. He was previously Managing Editor (Business) of The Sunday Correspondent, which he joined from The Times where he was Industrial Correspondent. He is a former policy coordinator for Lord Owen, and President of the Union at Oxford University, where he read philosophy and theology. He is a patron and board member of NSPCC's Stop Organised Abuse, an ambassador for Seeability, a member of the Tate's Corporate advisory body and serves on the board of the Royal Opera House Development Committee. A former board member of Britain in Europe, he is the founding Chairman of Business for New Europe.
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Nick Butler (Vice-Chair)
Nick Butler is Director of the Centre for Energy Security and Sustainable Development in Cambridge. He worked in a series of economics and policy posts at BP from 1977 to 2006, and most recently served as Group Vice President of Strategy and Policy Development working for the Group Chief Executive, Lord Browne. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of Yale and of the Executive Committee of the Centre for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He serves as Chairman of the Centre for European Reform and as honorary secretary of the Franco British Colloque.
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Lord Michael Jay (Vice-Chair)
Lord Jay of Ewelme, served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service from 2002 until July 2006. He was the Prime Minister's personal representative (Sherpa) for the G8 Summit at Gleneagles (in 2005) and St Petersburg (in 2006). In the course of his career, he held a number of positions in the civil service and diplomatic services, including Deputy Under-Secretary of State, (Dir. For EC and Economic Affairs) in the FCO from 1994 to 1996 and Ambassador to France from 1996 to 2001.
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Isabella Moore (Vice-Chair)
Isabella Moore has been Director of CILT, the National Centre for Languages, since September 2004. She also chairs the DTI/Treasury sponsored Women’s Enterprise Panel, and amongst other roles, is a Board member of Advantage West Midlands. In 1988 she founded her own company COMTEC offering technical translation and interpreting services to companies involved in exporting. During the development of COMTEC she received the Business Woman of the Year award. She sold her company to Dictation and Transcription (Voicepath) Ltd two years ago, remaining as Director of Operations until June 2004. From September 2002 until June 2004, she was first woman President of the British Chambers of Commerce and Vice-President of Eurochambres, the association of European Chambers of Commerce. She was awarded a CBE in 2004.
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Will Tanner (Vice-Chair)
Will is a Vice-Chair of Business for New Europe, having formerly been involved with Britain in Europe. He is head of Finsbury's UK Public Affairs work, having joined in June 2001 from British Airways. Whilst at BA he had a number of roles including Political Affairs Manager and International Relations Manager. In 2000-2001 he served a 12-month secondment to the Private Office of Lord Falconer, then Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and now the Lord Chancellor. Will has a public policy degree from Northumbria University and a Masters degree in European Community Studies from Newcastle University.
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Sir Stephen Wall (Vice-Chair)
Sir Stephen Wall is a a non executive board member of Airwave Solutions Limited. He is member of the Council of University College, London. He is the Chairman of the Wyndham Place Charlemagne Trust and Honorary President of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES). Sir Stephen was British Ambassador to Portugal from 1993-95; Permanent Representative to the European Union from 1995-2000; Head of the European Secretariat in the Cabinet Office and EU adviser to the Prime Minister from 2000-04; and Principal Adviser to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster from June 2004-June 2005. His book on Britain’s relationship with her EU partners, A Stranger in Europe, will be published in April 2008.
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Zaki Cooper (Director)
Zaki Cooper became Director for Business for New Europe in February 2006. Prior to that, he worked as the Head of External Relations for the Chief Rabbi of the UK and Commonwealth, Sir Jonathan Sacks. Between 2000 and 2003, he worked for One to One/T-Mobile in public affairs and government relations, and has also worked for a British MP and a U.S. Congressman. He has a BA in Politics and Parliamentary Studies from Leeds University and an M Phil from Cambridge University in Social and Political Sciences.
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Leah Charpentier (Public Affairs Executive)
Leah Charpentier joined Business for a New Europe in July 2007, after working for the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU and the European Commission in Brussels. She has studied in both the USA and in France, where she earned a BA in International Relations from George Washington University and an MA in EU studies from Paris’ Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po).
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Information about Advisory Council

The members of the Advisory Council are supporting BNE in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of any business(es) they work for

Lord Leon Brittan (Vice Chairman, UBS Investment Bank)
Leon Brittan is currently Vice Chairman of UBS Investment Bank. He is also a consultant to Herbert Smith, and a Non-Executive Director of Unilever. Lord Brittan was a Member of the European Commission from 1989 to 1999 and for much of the time served as Vice President. He was an MP from 1974-1988, holding various posts in the government, including spells as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1981-83, Home Secretary (1983-85) and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1985-1986). He was awarded a Life Peerage in the Millennium New Year Honours List, and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for North Yorkshire in 2001.

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Roger Carr (Chairman, Centrica)
Roger Carr is Chairman of Centrica plc, Chairman of Mitchells & Butlers plc and Deputy Chairman of Cadbury Schweppes plc. He is also a non executive Director to the Court of the Bank of England and a senior adviser to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Co. Ltd, the world’s largest private equity firm. He has previously held a number of senior appointments including Chief Executive of Williams plc, Chairman of Chubb plc and Chairman of Thames Water plc. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturers & Commerce and is a Companion of the Institute of Management. Throughout his career he has served on a number of external committees including the Manufacturing Council of the CBI, Higgs Committee on Corporate Governance and the Advisory Council of Business for New Europe.
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Richard Cousins (CEO, Compass)
Richard Cousins studied at Sheffield and Lancaster Universities prior to joining Cadbury Schweppes in 1981. Following a period with BTR he joined BPB in 1990 in a Business Development role. There then followed spells as Group Financial Controller and then Managing Director of some of the Group's paper packaging activities before moving to Canada in 1998 as President of BPB's North American operations. He was appointed CEO of BPB in 2000. The Group grew to £2.5bn in turnover by investing in the US, Latin America, Eastern Europe and several parts of Asia to augment its Western European core. BPB re-entered the FTSE 100 in June 2005 but was acquired by St. Gobain 6 months later.
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Guy Dawson (Founding Partner, Tricorn Partners)
Guy Dawson was appointed Non-Executive Director of BOC Group in March 2004 and was Chairman of European investment banking at Merrill Lynch until 2003. Before joining Merrill Lynch in 1995 he held senior positions in Morgan Grenfell and Deutsche Bank. He is a founding partner of Tricorn, an independent corporate advisory business that he co-founded in 2003, and he is also a Non-Executive Director of Alliance Boots.
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Charles Dunstone (CEO, Carphone Warehouse)
Charles Dunstone founded Carphone Warehouse in 1989, after working for NEC. Since then, the Carphone Warehouse has expanded beyond the UK into nine further countries in Europe and today has over 1500 stores across the Group. In July 2000 the company floated on the London Stock Exchange, and Dunstone subsequently became Chief Executive in 2002. He is also a Non-Executive Director of HBOS plc and The Daily Mail General Trust and Chairman of the Princes Trust Trading Board. In December 2005, he was voted The Daily Telegraph's Business Person of the Year.

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Chris Gibson-Smith (Chairman, London Stock Exchange)
Chris Gibson Smith has been Chairman of the London Stock Exchange since 2003. The Exchange administers the largest equities market in Europe with a market capitalisation of £4 trillion and annual trading turnover of £6 trillion. He became Chairman of The British Land Company PLC in January 2007. British Land is Europe’s second largest property group by market cap and invests in prime commercial and retail property.

Chris Gibson Smith is a Non-Executive Director of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. In addition, he is a governor of the London Business School. Chris was Chairman of National Air Traffic Services (NATS) from 2001 – 2005, Group Managing Director of BP from 1997-2001, a Director of Lloyds TSB from 1999 – 2005, and Director of Powergen from 2001-2002.
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Sir Philip Hampton (Chairman, Sainsbury)
Philip Hampton became the Chairman of J Sainsbury plc in July 2004. He joined the auditors Coopers & Lybrand, London, in 1975 before moving to Lazard Brothers in 1981, working on mergers and acquisitions, business restructuring and capital markets. In 1986, he was seconded to Lazard Freres, New York, and also worked extensively with Lazard Freres in Paris. From 1990, he worked for British Steel plc as Group Finance Director. He became Group Finance Director of British Gas in July 1996 and BT's Group Finance Director in October 2000. From June 2002 until March 2004 he worked as Finance Director for Lloyds TSB. He was a Non-Executive Director of RMC Group from 2002-2005 and joined Belgacom as a Non-Executive Director in 2004. He led the "Hampton Review" into regulatory inspection and enforcement published by the Treasury in 2005.
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Lord John Kerr (Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc)
Lord Kerr of Kinlochar is Deputy Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell plc and a Director of Rio Tinto plc and the Scottish American Investment Company. A UK diplomat from 1966 to 2002, he served as Permanent Representative to the EU (1990/5), Ambassador to the USA (1995-97), and FCO Permanent Secretary (1997-2002). He is Chairman of Imperial College, Deputy Chairman of the National Gallery, and a Rhodes, Fulbright and Carnegie Trustee. He served as Secretary-General of the European Convention in Brussels in 2002-3, he became a member of the House of Lords in 2004.
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Paul Marshall (Chairman, Marshall Wace Asset)
He is Chairman and co founder of Marshall Wace Asset Management, Europe’s leading Hedge Fund group, and was formerly a Director of Mercury Asset Management Plc where he was Chief Investment Officer in charge of European equities. He is Chairman of CentreForum, the think-tank dedicated to liberal-based policy research and recently co-edited “The Orange Book”, a collection of essays calling on the Liberal Democrat party to reclaim its liberal heritage. He was formerly Research Assistant to Charles Kennedy MP. He is also a trustee of ARK, the charity dedicated to helping deprived children around the world and is co-Chairman of ARK Education, which focuses on education in deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. Mr Marshall holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School and a BA (Hons) from St. John's College, Oxford University.
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Sir John Parker (Chairman, National Grid plc)
Sir John Parker is Chairman of National Grid plc (since 2002) and Chairman of the P&O Group plc (2005). He is Senior Non Executive Director of the Bank of England (since 2005) and a Non Executive Director of Carnival plc and Carnival Inc (since 2003). Prior to these appointments, he held a number of senior appointments in industry including Chairman and Chief Executive of Harland & Wolff plc (1983 – 93), Chairman/ CEO of Babcock International plc (1993- 2000), Chairman of RMC Group plc (2003-2005) and became Chairman of the Lattice Group on its demerger from BG Group in 2000. Sir John is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a recipient of honorary doctorates from a number of universities in the UK and Ireland. He was knighted in 2001 for Services to the Defence and Shipbuilding Industries.
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Vijay Patel (CEO, Waymade Healthcare)
From his first pharmacy in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, Vijay Patel built a chain of retail outlets before establishing Waymade Healthcare plc and moving into distribution and then the more active sales and marketing of prescription medicines. Rapid and sustained growth led to many awards including "Entrepreneur of the Year." With its new Amdipharm Division, Waymade is rapidly expanding internationally and looks to be on track to achieving Vijay’s dream of becoming a mini Glaxo. Alongside the Pharmaceutical Company, he and his brother Bhikhu have extensive property interests. While his work is his main hobby, his businesses are complemented by extensive philanthropic interests, he also enjoys walking and travelling.
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Stuart Popham (Senior Partner, Clifford Chance)
Stuart Popham is the Senior Partner of Clifford Chance LLP, worldwide. He chairs the Partnership Council, the supervisory board of the worldwide firm. He is a member of the International Advisory Board for the CBI and Vice Chairman of the CBI London Council. He sits on the EU Advisory Board for the Corporation of the City of London and is an International Envoy for London. He is a trustee of the Tower Hamlets Business Education Partnership and a director of PlaNet Finance, a charity which promotes micro finance to assist the alleviation of poverty. Stuart is also a member of the business Advisory Forum of the Saïd Business School, Oxford University; he is a member of the DTI Asia Task Force and also sits on the Council of The Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and the Advisory Council of Business for New Europe.
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Sir Mike Rake (Chairman, BT Group)
Mike Rake is the Chairman of BT Group plc. He was formerly UK Senior Partner and Chairman of KPMG International. He joined Peat Marwick Mitchell in 1974 in Continental Europe and was appointed partner in 1979. He returned to London after three years in the Middle East in 1989. In 1994 he became Chief Executive for KPMG London and South East Region and Chief Operating Officer of KPMG UK in 1996. He became the UK Senior Partner for KPMG in 1998 and Chairman of KPMG International in 2002. Mike Rake is also the Chairman of Chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
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Sir Nigel Rudd (Chairman, BAA)
Nigel Rudd has been Chairman of BAA since September 2007, and is also the Deputy Chairman of Barclays. He was formerly Chairman of Boots, which merged with Alliance to create the biggest pharmaceutical group in Europe. He became chairman of Pilkington, the glassmaker, in 1995. He took the chairmanship of Pendragon, the vehicle distribution company, in 1992 when it was demerged from Williams. He made his name building Williams Holdings from a small foundry business in South Wales into a FTSE 100 listed industrial conglomerate. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Business for New Europe.
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Bryan Sanderson (Chairman, Northern Rock)
Bryan Sanderson is the Chairman of Northern Rock. He is also the Co-Chairman with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry of the Asia Task Force, set up by the government in 2004 to look at ways of lowering barriers to trade between the UK and Asia. He was Chairman of Standard Chartered from 2003 to 2006 and Chairman of BUPA from 2001 to 2006 and Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council from 2000 to 2004. He spent most of his career with British Petroleum, rising to become a main board Director and Chief Executive of BP Chemicals. Earlier in his career he spent three years as BP's Chief Representative for South-East Asia and China. He became Managing Director and Chief Executive of BP Nutrition Ltd in 1987 and was then Chief Executive Officer of BP Chemicals from 1990. In 1992 he was appointed a Managing Director of British Petroleum Co PLC, with Group responsibility for Asia Pacific. He continued as Chief Executive of BP Chemicals until 2000. Amongst other activities, he is a Trustee of The Economist.
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Peter Smitham (Partner, Permira)
Peter Smitham has been a partner in Permira (formerly Schroder Ventures) a leading private equity firm since its formation in 1985. He was the European chairman from 1995 until 2001 and the UK Managing Partner from 1994 until 1997. In addition, he is Chairman of Actis (formerly CDC) a manager of $3.5 bn private equity funds for emerging markets (which is 60% owned by the partners and employees and 40% by HMG). Peter is on the board of Freescale, a global semiconductor company based in Austin Texas, and is also a Director of Atlantic Philanthropies, a charitable foundation committed to changing the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged people.
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Sir Martin Sorrell (CEO, WPP)
Sir Martin Sorrell has been CEO of WPP, since he founded the Company in 1986. Over this period, WPP has become one of the world's leading communications services companies. Before founding WPP, Martin Sorrell held a number of positions. From 1977 to 1984, he was Group Finance Director of the advertising agency group Saatchi & Saatchi Company plc. Sir Martin is an economics graduate of Cambridge University with an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He is Deputy Chairman and Governor of London Business School and a member of the Advisory Boards of both the Judge Institute for Management Studies in Cambridge, UK and IESE in Spain. In 1997 he was appointed an Ambassador for British Business by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and in 1999 he was appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment to serve on the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership. He was Knighted in the Millennium New Year Honours list.
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Peter Sutherland (Chairman, BP)
Peter Sutherland is Chairman of BP plc (1997 - current), Chairman of Goldman Sachs International (1995 - current) and serves on the Board of Directors of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc. Prior to his current positions, he served as: Attorney General of Ireland (1981-1984), EC Commissioner responsible for Competition Policy (1985-1989), Chairman of Allied Irish Banks (1989-1993) and Director General of The World Trade Organisation, formerly GATT (1993-1995). He has received fourteen honorary doctorates from universities in Europe and America and holds a number of other positions such as Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (since March 2005). His awards include an honorary Knighthood (2004) and the Robert Schuman Medal for his work for European Integration and has been decorated by 7 other states. He is Chairman Elect of the London School of Economics (from January 2008).
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Bill Thomas (President, EDS Europe, Middle East & Africa)
Bill Thomas is executive vice president, EDS’ Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Previous to his current role, Thomas was regional vice president of EDS UK and Ireland, a $3 billion business serving most Whitehall departments as well as a wide range of commercial clients. Thomas is chairman of EDS UK, a member of the supervisory board of EDS GmBH and a member of the Presidents Committee of the CBI.
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Rosemary Thorne (Non Executive Director, Abbey National)
Rosemary Thorne is currently a Non-Executive Director of Abbey National and the Senior Non-Executive Director of Virgin Radio Holdings. She previously held several senior financial positions including the Group Finance Director role at Ladbrokes from January 2006 until April 2007, at Bradford & Bingley from November 1999 until December 2005, at J Sainsbury from March 1992 until November 1999 and was Group Financial Controller of Grand Metropolitan from 1990 to 1992 (subsequently Diageo). Rosemary Thorne was also a Non-Executive Director of Cadbury Schweppes for three years commencing in September 2004, and prior to this, a Non-Executive Director of Royal Mail. She was a member of both The Financial Reporting Panel and The Financial Reporting Review Panel for nine years. She now sits on the Council of the Royal College of Arts and University of Warwick.
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Lord Christopher Tugendhat
Christopher Tugendhat is Chairman of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He was previously Chairman of Lehman’s European Advisory Board, and Chairman, Europe since February 2002. He has held a number of other business positions, including Chairman of Abbey National plc from 1991 to 2002, Chairman of Blue Circle Industries plc from 1996 to 2001, and Board member of Rio Tinto plc from 1976 to 2004. He also holds several other non-business positions, such as Chancellor of the University of Bath (1998), Chairman of the Advisory Council of The European Policy Forum, and Chairman of the Gonville & Caius College Development Campaign. He was a Member of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981, and a Vice-President from 1981 to 1985, and was a Conservative MP for the City of London and Westminster South from 1970 to 1976. He was knighted in 1990 and awarded a peerage in 1993.
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Philippe Varin (CEO, Corus)
He became Chief Executive of Corus, one of the world's largest steel producers, in 2003. It operates in 40 countries, including the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway and Belgium, and has been a subsidiary of Tata Steel since April 2007. Prior to this he worked for Pechiney, holding various senior technical, financial and managerial positions, from 1978-2003. In January 2006, he was appointed President of Eurofer, representing the European Union's steel producers and is part of the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI). He is also a Non-executive Director of BG Group plc, an appointment he has held since 2 May 2006.
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Bob Wigley (Chairman - Europe, Middle East & Africa, Merrill Lynch)
Bob Wigley joined Merrill Lynch in 1996 to help spearhead the development of Merrill Lynch's European investment banking business. He chairs Merrill Lynch’s Europe Middle East and Africa Region Management Committee and sits on Merrill Lynch’s Global Operating Committee and Client Coverage Council. He is a Deputy Chairman of Business in the Community (“BitC”, the UK corporate social responsibility organization), Chairman of BitC’s Education Leadership Team, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a business degree from Bath University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Non-Executive Director of LCH.Clearnet and a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the board of Royal Mail Group plc. He is a member of the Senior Practitioner Committee of the Financial Services Authority.
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