Henry Dennistoun "Dennis" Stevenson, Baron Stevenson of Coddenham, (born 19 July 1945) is a British businessman and former chairman of

HBOS HBOS plc was a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland plc, which operated the Bank ...

. He sits on the

crossbenches A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Early life and education

Stevenson was born on 19 July 1945 to Sylvia Florence (née Ingleby) and Alexander James Stevenson. He was educated at two Scottish

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

and

Trinity College, Glenalmond Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...

(since renamed Glenalmond College). He then attended

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

Career

Stevenson's business career started when he set up the SRU Consultancy Group upon leaving Cambridge. He was Chairman of the Newton Aycliffe and Peterlee New Town Development Corporation from 1971 to 1980. Stevenson was a non-executive Director of British Technology Group (1979–89),

Tyne Tees Television ITV Tyne Tees, previously known as Tyne Tees, Channel 3 North East and Tyne Tees Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959 from stud ...

(1982–87), Manpower Inc. (1988-2006),

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

(1991-93), J. Rothschild Assurance plc (1991–97),

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agencies on a regional level. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to a successor ...

(1993-2004),

BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

(1994-2001), Lazard Bros (1997-2002), St James's Place Capital (1997-2002), and

Waterstones Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...

(2011-2016). He was Chairman of the National Association of Youth Clubs (1973-1981), Intermediate Technology Development Group (1983-1990), the Trustees of the Tate Gallery (1988-1998), Aerfi (formerly GPA, 1993-1999), Pearson (1997-2005), HBOS (formerly Halifax Plc, 1999-2008), the House of Lords Appointments Commission (2001-2008), and Aldeburgh Music (2002-2012). He was formerly Chancellor of

University of the Arts London University of the Arts London is a collegiate university in London, England, specialising in arts, design, fashion and the performing arts. It is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea Coll ...

. Stevenson is a long time campaigner for greater understanding and treatment of mental illness informed by his own experiences of depression. He was the Founding Chair of MQ: Transforming Mental Health, a charity which supports research into mental health; and he promoted a Private Members' Bill – the "Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill" – the first key step in the UK to removing a number of the key discriminations against people who suffer from mental illness. He is currently a trustee of Inter Mediate which facilitates negotiation to help bring a sustainable peace in the most difficult, complex and dangerous conflicts where other organisations are unable to operate.

Personal life

Stevenson married Charlotte Susan Vanneck, daughter of Sir Peter Vanneck, a former Lord Mayor of London, in 1972 and has four sons. He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 1981 New Year Honours,

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the 1998 New Year Honours, and created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

on 13 July 1999 taking the title Baron Stevenson of Coddenham, of

Coddenham Coddenham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located to the north of the A14 road (England), A14 road, 8 miles north of Ipswich, the parish also includes the hamlet of Coddenham Green. In 2005 ...

in the

County of Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowestof ...

Credit crunch

Stevenson became chairman of Halifax plc in 1999 and when they merged with

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

in May 2001 he became chairman of the merged group,

HBOS plc HBOS plc was a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland plc, which operated the Bank ...

. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and the subsequent forced rescue-merger between HBOS and Lloyds TSB, Stevenson and

Andy Hornby Andy Hornby (born 21 January 1967) is an English businessman, currently chief executive of The Restaurant Group, a British chain of restaurants and public houses. Biography Hornby was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, but brought up in ...

resigned, waiving their rights to any "pay-offs". At a meeting of the

Treasury Select Committee The House of Commons Treasury Committee (often referred to as the Treasury Select Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administr ...

of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

on 10 February 2009, Stevenson apologised for the near-collapse of HBOS. In April 2013, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards assigned the primary responsibility for the collapse of

to Stevenson along with former chief executives Sir James Crosby and

. The commission urged the regulator to ban all three men from the industry. Their report said: "Lord Stevenson has shown himself incapable of facing the realities of what placed the bank in jeopardy from that time until now". And: "The corporate governance of HBOS at board level serves as a model for the future, but not in the way in which Lord Stevenson and other board members appear to see it. It represents a model of self-delusion, of the triumph of process over purpose". (Parliament's Banking Standards Commission report, issued in April 2013)

Arms

References

External links

Member Profile
at the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

website
Lord Dennis Stevenson's contact page at OneLeap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Dennis, Baron Stevenson of Coddenham 1945 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Suffolk Stevenson of Coddenham Governors of the Bank of Scotland People educated at Edinburgh Academy People educated at Glenalmond College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People from Coddenham Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Life peers created by Elizabeth II