News story

Non-executive directors to Bank of England’s Court appointed by Chancellor

Chancellor announces three new non-executive directors to serve on the Court of the Bank of England.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Dido Harding, Don Robert and Dorothy Thompson will join the Bank’s governing body from August this year. Tim Frost, who has been a member of the Court since June 2012, has been reappointed for a further term.

The three new non executives will replace Lady Susan Rice and Sir Roger Carr who stepped down in June, and Lord Adair Turner who stepped down last year.

The Court of the Bank of England is the Bank’s governing body and is responsible for managing the affairs of the Bank, other than the formulation of monetary policy. Its members are appointed by the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The Rt. Hon George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer said:

I am delighted to be able to announce the appointment of Dido Harding, Don Robert and Dorothy Thompson to the Bank of England’s Court. All three are highly qualified and experienced people who will strengthen and diversify the Bank’s board.

Tim Frost has been a valuable addition to the Court since he joined in 2012 and I am pleased to confirm that he has been reappointed for a further term.

Anthony Habgood, Chairman of the Bank of England’s Court of Directors said:

I am delighted that Dido Harding, Don Robert and Dorothy Thompson are joining the Court of Directors. Each brings valuable experience and business expertise that complement the skills of the existing Directors, and I very much look forward to working with them.

Further information on the appointees

Diana ‘Dido’ Harding

Diana ‘Dido’ Harding is the Chief Executive of TalkTalk Telecom Group plc. Dido’s previous roles have included Divisional Director at Sainsbury’s, Commercial Director at Tesco, Commercial Director Woolworths and Marketing Director at Thomas Cook. She began her career at Mckinsey & Co in 1992 after graduating in PPE from Magdalen College, Oxford. Dido also has an MBA from Harvard University.

Don Robert

Don Robert is the Chairman of Experian plc. He served as CEO of Experian plc from April 2005 to July 2014. He was previously CEO of Experian –North America between 2002 and 2005. Earlier in his career, Don held senior positions at The First American Corporation, Credco Inc. and US Bank Corp. He has also been a Non-Executive Director of Compass Group since May 2009, and is a past Chairman of the Consumer Data Industry Association.

Dorothy Thompson

Dorothy Thompson is CEO of Drax Group plc. She was previously Head of European business at InterGen, the power generation subsidiary of Shell. Prior to that, Dorothy worked in finance, including positions at CDC, the National Development Bank of Botswana, and American Express. She has a BSc and MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Tim Frost

Tim Frost spent the majority of his career with JP Morgan before founding Cairn Capital, of which he is now a non-executive director. He was formerly a non-executive director at Credittrade and Creditex, and currently holds positions as a Governor at the London School of Economics and Director and Chair of the Board at Markit.

Tim was appointed as a non-executive director on Court in June 2012. He replaced Harrison Young who stepped down mid way through his term and, as set out in legislation, was required to first serve out the remainder of that term before being re-appointed.

Published 21 July 2014