Four new Non-Executive Board Members appointed to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Secretary of State has appointed Simon Ball, Dame Patricia Hodgson, Larissa Joy and Ralph Rimmer as Non-Executive Board Members for terms of three years.
Simon Ball
Appointed from 17 July 2023 until 16 July 2026.
As well as sitting on the Departmental Board, Simon has been appointed to chair the Department’s Audit and Risk Committee.
Simon served most recently as a non-executive director and Chair of Audit and Risk on the Organising Committee for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and as Senior Independent Director for Commonwealth Games England. His previous non-executive roles include Deputy Chair and SID at Cable and Wireless Communications plc, Chair of Anchura Group and on the boards of Morgan Stanley International, AIB Group plc, AIB Mortgage Bank, Leica Geosystems AG and Tribal Group.
Simon is a chartered accountant, whose executive career spanned both the Private and Public sectors, including positions on the boards of 3i Group plc (CFO), Robert Fleming Group (CFO) and Kleinwort Benson Ltd (CFO & COO), in addition to serving with HMG Department of Constitutional Affairs (as Director General Finance).
Dame Patricia Hodgson
Appointed from 06 July 2023 until 05 July 2026.
Dame Patricia Hodgson is a member of the Science & Technical Facilities Research Council, the Programme Board at the National Centre for Digital Innovation and Deputy Chair of Policy Exchange. She was previously Chair of Ofcom, a member of the UK’s AI Council, Chair of the School Teachers’ Pay Review Body, Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge and Senior Independent Non-Executive Member of the Competition Commission.
She recently chaired Policy Exchange’s Commission on the Reform of Government and has served on the Commission for Standards in Public Life. In her executive career, Patricia was a producer at the BBC, a main board Director, leading on strategy, policy and the BBC’s switch to digital, before becoming Chief Executive of the Independent Television Commission.
Larissa Joy
Appointed from 06 July 2023 until 05 July 2026.
Larissa is a Non-executive Director of international law firm Charles Russell Speechlys; a Non-Executive Director of search firm Saxton Bampfylde; Chairman of the Trust Board of international architecture practice Hawkins\Brown and a Non-executive Director of the Law Society of England and Wales. In her pro bono portfolio, she is Chair of The Foundling Museum; Chair of Social Business Trust (a consortium of Clifford Chance, Permira, Bain, EY, FT Group, Schroders and others); and Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Thrive at Five.
Her previous roles include Vice Chairman of WPP’s Ogilvy Group UK; European COO of Weber Shandwick; Partner of emerging markets private equity firm Actis LLP; Non-executive Director of London & Quadrant (L&Q);Non-executive Director of Helpforce; and Chair of Sir Quentin Blake’s House of Illustration.
Larissa read law at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, completed her solicitor’s finals at the College of Law, London and studied at London Business School, where she completed her MBA. She holds a Licentiate from the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) and a Fellowship of Trinity College London (FTCL). She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Years Honours list in 2021.
Ralph Rimmer
Appointed from 06 July 2023 until 05 July 2026.
Ralph was first appointed as CEO of the Sheffield Eagles Super League club in 1997, a club which went on to produce the biggest cup upset in the history of the competition in winning the Challenge Cup in 1998. He then went on to be CEO at Huddersfield Giants and between 1997 and 2002 he managed the Irish International team.
In 2004 he was invited onto the Board of Huddersfield Town, during which time the club was rescued from Administration and went on to achieve promotion to League 1. He was also made Managing Director of the Kirklees Stadium Development Limited in 2004.
Following 7 years as Chief Operating Officer of the Rugby Football League, he was appointed CEO on 01 January 2018 and led the sport through the Covid pandemic. In addition he drove the RFLs ground-breaking strategic realignment whilst also leading the organisation in support of the RLWC team in the highly successful Rugby League World Cup 2021, which delivered competitions in Mens, Womens, Wheelchair and Physical Disability Rugby League team competitions. He was a director of the International RL Board for 6 years.
Since stepping down from his CEO position in 2023, he has been utilising his accumulated knowledge and expertise of the sporting world working as a consultant on several projects across the sports industry domestically and internationally. He was recently engaged by DCMS to help advise and support Rugby Union in this country.
The Audit and Risk Chair receives an annual remuneration of £20,000 per annum. The other roles receive an annual remuneration of £15,000 per annum. These appointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Simon, Dame Patricia, Larissa and Ralph have not declared any such activity.