Colin Irwin John Hamilton Drummond (born 22 February 1951) is a British businessman, and the former CEO of

Viridor Viridor Ltd (from the Latin 'to become green') is a recycling, renewable energy and waste management company in the United Kingdom, owned by KKR (previously owned by Pennon Group). History The company was formed in 1956 as Harrison Western Ltd ...

, and joint CEO of

Pennon Group Pennon Group plc is a British water utility company based in Exeter, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. 83% of the company's profits come from its subsidiary, South West Water. ...

Early life

Drummond was born and brought up in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, where his father worked in the shipyard before becoming a priest. He won a scholarship to read classics 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 ...

and after working for a short time at the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, completed an MBA at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Career

From 1992 to 2013, Drummond was chief executive of Viridor, one of the UK's leading recycling, renewable energy and waste management companies, and an executive director of Pennon Group PLC. He was then chairman of Viridor until the end of 2014. Prior to joining Pennon, Drummond was chief executive of Coats Viyella Yarns Division, an executive director of Renold PLC, a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and an official with the Bank of England. Drummond was chairman of the Government's 'Living with Environmental Change' business advisory board from 2009 to 2015, of UKTI's Water and Environmental Sector Advisory Group from 2005 to 2012, and of the Environmental Sustainability Knowledge Transfer Network from 2007/08 and chair of the 'WET 10' City Livery Companies from 2008 to 2013. From 1997 to 2015 he was a trustee, and is now honorary vice president of the Calvert Trust Exmoor. In 2010, he appeared in the Channel 4 television series, Undercover Boss

Undercover Boss ''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...

. He was appointed an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2012 for services to technology and innovation, and a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Somerset in 2016. In August 2013 Viridor announced the appointment of Ian McAulay as chief executive of Viridor and executive director of Pennon Group taking effect from September 2013, with Drummond retiring as chief executive and taking up the position of non-executive chairman of Viridor.

Personal life

He met his wife Georgina whilst a student at Oxford. They have two sons. He lists among his hobbies as growing vegetables in the manner of 'peasant farmer.'

References

1956 births Living people British chief executives British corporate directors Harvard Business School alumni Boston Consulting Group people Deputy Lieutenants of Somerset Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-business-bio-stub