Decision

Advice Letter: Greg Hands, Chair of the Advisory Board, GRID Limited

Updated 6 October 2025

1. BUSINESS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION: The Rt Hon Greg Hands, former Minister of State for Trade Policy, Department for Business and Trade. Paid appointment with GRID Limited.

You approached the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (the Committee) under the government’s Business Appointment Rules for Former Ministers (the Rules) seeking advice on taking up a paid role as Chair of the Advisory Board at GRID Limited (GRID).

The purpose of the Rules is to protect the integrity of the government. The Committee^{[footnote 1]} has considered the risks associated with the actions and decisions taken during your time in office, alongside the information and influence you may offer GRID, as a former minister. 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 Ministerial Code sets out that ministers must abide by the Committee’s advice. It is an applicant’s personal responsibility to manage the propriety of any appointment. Former ministers of the Crown, and Members of Parliament, 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 direct overlap between your ministerial responsibilities in your roles at the Cabinet Office or as Minister for Trade Policy. In these roles you did not meet with, nor did you make any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions relevant to GRID while in office. Therefore, the Committee considered the risk that this role could reasonably be seen as a reward for decisions or actions taken in office is low. 

As a minister, it is likely that you had access to a range of information in office that could benefit any organisation. The risks are limited here because there is limited subject matter overlap with your ministerial portfolio; the Cabinet Office and Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said that you did not have access to any information that could grant an unfair advantage.

As a former minister, there is a risk associated with your network of contacts and the potential influence you could offer GRID. You have confirmed that your role will not involve contact with government. 

3. The Committee’s advice

The Committee considered that the risks under the government’s Business Appointment Rules are mitigated by the conditions below. These seek to prevent you from drawing on privileged information, contacts and influence to the unfair advantage of GRID.

In accordance with the government’s Business Appointment Rules, the Committee advises this appointment with GRID Limited be subject to the following conditions:

• you should not draw on (disclose or use for the benefit of yourself or the persons or organisations to which this advice refers) any privileged information available to you from your time in ministerial office;

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

• for two years from your last day in ministerial office, you should not provide advice to or on behalf of GRID Limited (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 any of its arm’s length bodies.

The advice and the conditions under the government’s Business Appointment Rules relate to your 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 2]}. 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 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.’

You must inform us as soon as you take up employment with this organisation, or if it is announced that you will do so. Please also inform us if you propose to extend or otherwise change the nature of your role as, depending on the circumstances, it may be necessary for you to make a fresh application.

Once the appointment has been publicly announced or taken up, we will publish this letter on the Committee’s website, and where appropriate, refer to it in the relevant annual report.

4. Annex – material information 

4.1 The role 

You said GRID is a new networking platform and annual event focused on the energy sector in the UK, with the first event scheduled for 1 October 2026 in London. 

According to GRID’s website, it is a business-to-business digital platform for the UK energy sector. It is aimed at infrastructure operators, public and private stakeholders, investors and upper tier suppliers. The platform will share a variety of digital content, including webinars and podcasts.

In your paid role as Chair of the Advisory Board, you stated your responsibilities will include: 

• Providing strategic advice and guidance on the content and positioning of GRID 

• Attending and actively participating in advisory board meetings. 

• Offering insights based on your experience to help the Company navigate challenges and seize opportunities. 

• Assisting in the development and review of strategic plans and initiatives 

• Acting as an ambassador for the Company within their network and industry 

• Speaking at events on 1 and 2 October 2026. 

You said there will be no contact with government.

4.2 Dealings in office

You informed the Committee that in your ministerial roles you did not meet with, nor were involved in any policy, regulatory or commercial decisions, nor had access to sensitive information specific to GRID.

4.3 Departmental assessment 

The Cabinet Office and DBT confirmed the details you provided, including that you made no decisions specific to GRID and you had no access to information that is likely to offer the company an unfair advantage. 

The Cabinet Office and DBT recommended standard conditions.

1. This application for advice was considered by Sarah de Gay; Isabel Doverty; Hedley Finn OBE; and Michael Prescott. The Baroness Thornton and Dawid Konotey-Ahulu DL were unavailable. ↩

2. 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 your 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. ↩