Decision

Advice letter: Steven Boyd, Non Executive Advisor, Cambridge Management Consulting

Published 27 August 2025

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: Mr Steven Boyd MBE, former Chief Executive at the Government Property Agency. Paid appointment with Cambridge Management Consulting.

Mr Boyd sought advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the government’s Business Appointments Rules for Former Crown Servants (the Rules) on taking up a role as a Non-Executive Advisor with Cambridge Management Consulting (CMC)

The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government. The Committee has considered the risks associated with the actions and decisions made during Mr Boyd’s time in office, alongside the information and influence he may offer CMC. The material information taken into consideration by the Committee is set out in the annex.

The Committee’s advice is not an endorsement of the appointment - it imposes a number of conditions to mitigate the potential risks to the government associated with the appointment under the Rules.

The Rules^{[footnote 1]} set out that Crown servants must abide by the Committee’s advice. It is an applicant’s personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any appointment. Former Crown servants are expected to uphold the highest standards of propriety and act in accordance with the 7 Principles of Public Life.

2. The Committee’s consideration of the risks presented

There is no known relationship between Mr Boyd’s former department and CMC, nor did he meet with the company whilst he was in office. He did not make any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to CMC. Therefore, the Committee^{[footnote 2]} considered the risk this role could reasonably be perceived as a reward for decisions or actions in office, is low.

There is some overlap between Mr Boyd’s role as Chief Executive of the Government Property Agency and the role he wishes to take up with CMC. In particular, CMC operates in the property sector, amongst others. However, the risks related to his access to information are limited because:

• the overlap is broad, given his work as a property professional, not specific to CMC;
• the Cabinet Office noted that he does not have access to information that would be of any particular advantage to CMC;
• he has been out of office for over 6 months, creating a gap between his role with CMC and his access to information; and
• Mr Boyd has many years of experience in the built environment, infrastructure and property.

The risk regarding Mr Boyd’s access to information is greatest should he look to advise CMC or its clients on the property estate/portfolio he was responsible for in office, or where he had a relationship with a particular client in office. CMC’s clients and the precise pieces of work Mr Boyd will be asked to undertake are unknown. Therefore, there is a risk Mr Boyd could be asked about matters or organisations he was personally involved in as Chief Executive of the Government Property Agency.

CMC confirmed that it will ensure that the conditions imposed by the Committee on Mr Boyd’s appointment will be adhered to.

There is a risk associated with a senior Crown servant leaving office and joining an external organisation. CMC has a potential interest in government given it operates globally in the public sector.

3. The Committee’s advice.

To address the risk associated with CMC’s unknown clients, the Committee has imposed a condition that prevents Mr Boyd advising on the government’s estate/portfolio, or where he had a relationship with the relevant client in his role as Chief Executive at the Government Property Agency. It is important that CMC has confirmed its adherence to the Committee’s advice.

The remaining conditions below prevent him from making improper use of privileged access to information, contacts and his influence to the company’s unfair advantage.

The Committee advises, under the government’s Business Appointment Rules, that Mr Boyd’s role with the Cambridge Management Consulting should be subject to the following conditions:

• he should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of himself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to him from his time in Crown service;

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not become personally involved in lobbying the UK government or any of its arm’s length bodies on behalf of Cambridge Management Consulting (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients); nor should he make use, directly or indirectly, of his contacts in the government and/or Crown service contacts to influence policy, secure business/funding or otherwise unfairly advantage Cambridge Management Consulting (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients);

• for two years from his last day in Crown service, he should not provide advice to Cambridge Management Consulting (including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) on the terms of, or with regard to the subject matter of, a bid with, or contract relating directly to the work of the UK government or its arm’s length bodies; and
• for two years from his last day in Crown service he should not advise Cambridge Management Consultancy including parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients) on the property estate/portfolio he was responsible for in office, or in relation to government property decisions he had specific involvement in or responsibility for as Chief Executive, Government Property Agency; nor where he had a relationship with the relevant client in Crown service.

The advice and the conditions under the government’s Business Appointment Rules relate to an applicant’s previous role in government only; they are separate from rules administered by other bodies such as the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and the Registrar of Lords’ Interests^{[footnote 3]}. It is an applicant’s personal responsibility to understand any other rules and regulations they may be subject to in parallel with this Committee’s advice.

By ‘privileged information’ we mean official information to which a minister or Crown servant has had access as a consequence of his or her office or employment and which has not been made publicly available. Applicants are also reminded that they may be subject to other duties of confidentiality, whether under the Official Secrets Act, the Ministerial Code/Civil Service Code or otherwise.

The Business Appointment Rules explain that the restriction on lobbying means that the former Crown servant/Minister “should not engage in communication with Government (Ministers, civil servants, including special advisers, and other relevant officials/public office holders) – wherever it takes place - with a view to influencing a Government decision, policy or contract award/grant in relation to their own interests or the interests of the organisation by which they are employed, or to whom they are contracted or with which they hold office.”

Mr Boyd must inform us as soon as he takes up this work or if it is announced that he will do so. Similarly, he must inform us if he proposes to extend or otherwise change his role with the organisation as depending on the circumstances, it might be necessary for him to seek fresh advice.

Once this appointment has been publicly announced or taken up, we will publish this letter on the Committee’s website.

4. Annex - material information

4.1 The role

CMC is an international management consultancy that states it only employs experts with real-world executive experience in industry or government. CMC operates in 5 key sectors:

• Telecoms
• Technology
• Utilities and Energy
• Government and Public Sector
• Retail, Property and Manufacturing

CMC has no known relationship with government. It is not listed on the register of consultant lobbyists.

Mr Boyd wishes to take up a paid, part-time role with CMC as a Non-Executive Advisor. Mr Boyd said that his role would involve:

• providing challenge, strategic guidance and specialist advice
• scrutinising and holding to account the performance of management
• maintaining an overview of company purpose, values, strategy and culture
• ensuring necessary resources are in place and measuring performance against them
• ensuring a framework of controls is in place, which enables effective risk management
• ensuring that workforce policies and practices are consistent with the company’s values
• engaging with stakeholders

Mr Boyd said that his role would not involve any contact with government

CMC confirmed that it will ensure the rules and conditions applied by ACOBA are adhered to for Mr Boyd’s appointment as a Non-Executive Advisor

Mr Boyd stated that he has worked in built environment, property and infrastructure for his whole career. Prior to his role as Chief Executive at the GPA, he was HMRC’s Estates Director delivering 13 major office buildings, planning the successful drawdown of a nationwide PFI^{[footnote 4]}, and shrinking the size of the estate by two thirds. He also served in the British Army including leading its in-house engineering design and project management consultancy, and as its Director of Infrastructure^{[footnote 5]}.

4.2 Dealings in office

Mr Boyd said that he did not make any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions specific to CMC whilst in office. He said that he did not meet with the company and there is no relationship between CMC and his former department. Mr Boyd noted that he had met with other consultancies that could be seen as competitors of CMC whilst in office. However, he was not involved in managing their work with government which fell to others in his team.

4.3 Departmental assessment

The GPA and Cabinet Office confirmed the details Mr Boyd provided and confirmed that:

• he was not involved in decisions specific to CMC;

• he did not meet with CMC whilst in office, nor is there a known relationship between government and CMC;

• whilst Mr Boyd met with other consultancy firms in office and was therefore aware of their work with GPA, given the size of the market the departments saw no particular risk under the Rules.

• there is no information he had access to that the departments considered would offer CMC/its clients an unfair advantage.

The GPA and Cabinet Office recommended the standard conditions.

1. Which apply by virtue of the Civil Service Management Code, The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, The King’s Regulations and the Diplomatic Service Code ↩

2. This application for advice was considered by Andrew Cumpsty; Sarah de Gay; Dawid Konotey-Ahulu CBE DL; The Baroness Jones of Whitchurch; The Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles; Michael Prescott; and Mike Weir. Isabel Doverty and Hedley Finn OBE were unavailable. ↩

3. All Peers and Members of Parliament are prevented from paid lobbying under the House of Commons Code of Conduct and the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords. Advice on obligations under the Code can be sought from the Parliamentary Commissioners for Standards, in the case of MPs, or the Registrar of Lords’ Interests, in the case of peers. ↩

4. Private Finance Initiatives - which allow governments and the private sector to join forces to finance and implement projects that benefit the public sector. ↩

5. https://www.gov.uk/government/people/steven-boyd ↩