Alice Perkins, CB, is the Chairman of the Post Office Ltd

Alice Elizabeth Perkins, CB (born 24 May 1949) is a former British civil servant. She was appointed in July 2011 as the Chairman of

Post Office Ltd gd, Oifis a' Phuist kw, Sodhva an Post ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Post Office Logo.svg , type = State-owned private company limited by shares , genre = , predecessor = General Post Office , foundation = 1987 , founder = , location_cit ...

., a UK state-owned limited company, to lead the Board following the separation of the Post Office from the Royal Mail under the

Postal Services Act 2011 The Postal Services Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act enabled the British Government to sell shares in Royal Mail to private investors and includes the possible mutualisation of the Post Office. The Act allows ...

. She is an Executive Coach and a partner in the coaching practice of the JCA Group, and has been an external member of the Council of the University of Oxford since 2006. She is a member of the Business Advisory Council of the

Saïd Business School Saïd Business School (Oxford Saïd or SBS) is the business school of the University of Oxford. The School is a provider of management education and is consistently ranked as one of the world's top business schools. Oxford School of Management ...

of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Education

Born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, Perkins was educated at North London Collegiate School for Girls, an independent school in northeast London, followed by St Anne's College at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, from which she graduated in Modern History in 1971.

Life and career

Perkins joined the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in 1971. The early years of her career were spent in the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. His ...

. In 1993, she moved to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

as Director of Public Spending, where her priorities were Defence, the Intelligence Agencies, Aid, Foreign Office and Agriculture spending. In 1998, she returned to the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

as Director General for Corporate Management responsible for administration of the Department. In 2001, Perkins moved to the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

to work as Director General, Corporate Development Group, responsible for human resources across government, top appointments and civil service reform, reporting direct to the Cabinet Secretary. She left the civil service in 2005. In early 2006, Perkins joined the board of the airports operator

BAA plc BAA or Baa may refer to: Letters and sounds * Baa, onomatopoeic representation of the noise made by sheep *Bāʾ, the Arabic letter ب * Baa, the fifth consonant of the Thaana script used in the Dhivehi language Places * Baa Atoll, an administrat ...

, until its take-over by the Spanish firm

Ferrovial Ferrovial, S.A. (), previously Grupo Ferrovial, is a Spanish multinational company involved in the design, construction, financing, operation (DBFO) and maintenance of transport infrastructure and urban services. It is a publicly traded company ...

later the same year. She has also served as a non-executive Director on the Board of Littlewoods (1997–2001) and TNS (the global market information company) where she was also Chair of the Renumeration Committee from 2005 until its takeover by WPP in 2008. Perkins has been married to

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

since 1978. They have two adult children,

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

and Charlotte. In 2002, she was made a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

(CB).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Alice 1949 births Living people Civil servants in the Department of Health and Social Security Civil servants in HM Treasury Civil servants in the Ministry of Health (United Kingdom) Civil servants in the Cabinet Office People educated at North London Collegiate School Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Companions of the Order of the Bath Chairmen of Post Office Limited