Sir John Parker
Major Career Roles:
- Chair, Bank of England
- Group Chair, Laing O’Rourke Corp.
- Chair, Pennon Group plc
- Lead Non-Executive Director, UK Cabinet Office
- Chair, Anglo American plc
- Independent Co-Chair, Mondi plc
- Chair, P&O plc
- Chair, RMC Group plc
- Chair, National Grid plc
- Chair and CEO, Babcock International Group plc
- Chair and CEO, Harland and Wolff Group plc
Other Career Highlights:
- Chair, Advisory Board of Spencer Stuart
- Independent Board member, Airbus SE
- Vice Chair, DP World plc
- President, Royal Academy of Engineering
- Advisory Board member, CitiGroup Ltd
- Chancellor, University of Southampton
- Member, Prime Minister’s Business Council for Britain
- Non-Executive Director, Brambles Industries plc
- Non-Executive Director, GKN plc
- Non-Executive Director, British Coal Corp.
- Non-Executive Director, Carnival Corp plc
Sir John Parker is a seasoned Chair with vast international experience across multiple sectors including marine technology, energy, utilities, defence, mining, engineering, construction, transport (aviation and shipping) and government sectors.
Sir John is Chair of Laing O’Rourke Corp. Ltd and a Visiting Fellow of the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.
Sir John stepped down in 2020 as the Chair of Pennon Group plc, his 6th FTSE 100 Chairmanship. He was on the Board of Airbus Group, a Senior Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Court of the Bank of England, Non-Executive Director of Carnival Corp plc, Deputy Chair of DP World and President of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Sir John started his career as a student apprentice in naval architecture at Harland and Wolff Group plc in 1958 and was appointed its Chair and CEO in 1983.
Sir John is widely recognised for his policy work on the value of diversity in the Boardroom, having chaired the Government’s review on Ethnic Diversity on UK Boards 2017 to 2022, and for his strategic review for the MOD on naval shipbuilding. He was knighted for services to defence and shipbuilding in 2001 and was appointed GBE in 2012. He received the Sunday Times Life Time Achievement Award in 2015.
