Noël Harwerth
Biography
Elizabeth Noël Harwerth is Chairman of the UK Export Finance agency and serves on the Board of the UK Department of Business and Trade. She also serves on the boards of One Savings Bank (SID) and Scotia Bank Europe (SID). Prior roles include the Boards of Standard Life (Chair, Risk Committee), 2012-2018, London Metals Exchange, 2012-2018, and Bank of England RTGS/CHAPS Board 2015-2021.
She has served on the Boards of three mining companies – Dominion Diamond (Audit Chair), Avocet and Sirius Minerals (SID). She was Chairman of GE Capital Bank Europe until April 2017, and served as Chairman of Sumitomo Mitsui Bank (Europe, Middle East and Africa) from 2004 to June 2015. She has served on the Boards of Alent (Chair Compensation Committee), Corus (British Steel), Logica (Chair Compensation Committee), Impellam Group (SID), and RSA Insurance Group (Chair Risk Committee).
Mrs Harwerth was appointed by the UK government as Partnership Director of the London Underground and served in that role from 2003-2008, having previously served on the Board of Transport for London, where she chaired the Audit Committee. In 2006 she was appointed by the UK Government to the Board of the Tote and served as its audit chair until its privatisation.
From 1998 to 2004, Mrs Harwerth was Chief Operating Officer of Citibank International PLC in London. She was responsible for infrastructure and governance of Europe’s first truly pan European bank with branches in 18 countries. Prior to joining Citicorp in 1988, Mrs Harwerth held senior positions in Dun and Bradsheet and Kennecott Copper Corporation where she worked on large complex international mining transactions.
Mrs Harwerth was educated at the University of Texas in Austin and holds a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Texas Law School. She has both US and British citizenship. Mrs Harwerth is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers, Chairman of the UK chapter of Woman Corporate Directors, member of the International Women’s Forum, and served on the Board of the British Horseracing Authority from 2013-2019.
Non-executive director
Our non-executives are senior figures from outside the department who bring a diverse mix of expertise and skills from across the public and private sector.
They all:
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give guidance and advice to DBT leaders and ministers
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support and challenge management on the department’s strategic direction
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provide support in monitoring and reviewing progress
Previous roles in government
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Non-executive Chair of the Board