Baroness Rona Fairhead
Major Career Roles:
- Chair of RS Group plc
- NED of Oracle Inc.
- Minister of State for the UK Department for International Trade
- Chair of BBC Trust
- Chair and CEO of Financial Times Group Ltd
- Division Chair and CEO of Pearson plc
- CFO, Pearson plc
- EVP of Bombardier Shorts
- EVP, Strategy, Financial Control and M&A of ICI plc
Other Career Highlights:
- NED of PepsiCo Inc
- Chair of HSBC North America Holdings Inc
- NED of HSBC Holdings plc
- Ambassador for UK Trade & Investment and NED at the UK Cabinet Office
- NED of the Economist Newspaper Limited
- Chair of Interactive Data Corp
- EVP of Strategy, Financial Control and M&A of Imperial Chemical Industries plc
- General Manager of Aerospace Services
- Senior Consultant at Bain & Co
Baroness Rona Fairhead has an extensive international board experience across public and private companies and within the aerospace and defence, chemicals, education, financial services, government, media, and publishing sectors.
Baroness Fairhead is Chair of RS Group plc (formerly Electrocomponents plc), an Independent Director and member of the Finance and Audit Committees of Oracle Corp, a Director of healthcare start-up SurvivorNet and a member of the UK House of Lords. She is also a member of the External Advisory Group at McKinsey & Co and an Adviser to CVC.
Baroness Fairhead was previously the Chair and CEO of the Financial Times Group and also led Pearson professional education. Prior to Pearson, Baroness Fairhead held Senior Executive roles in ICI plc and Bombardier Inc., both with Shorts and Bombardier Aerospace Services in the UK.
Baroness Fairhead was the first female Chair of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), and after stepping down from the BBC, was invited by the UK Prime Minister to become the UK Government’s Trade and Export Minister, a role she held until 2019.
Baroness Fairhead was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012 for services to UK industry and made a Life Peer in 2017.
