Heather Rabbatts
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Heather Rabbatts
OR:
Heather Rabbatts on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Dame Heather Victoria Rabbatts, DBE (born 6 December 1955) is a Jamaican-born British solicitor, businesswoman, and broadcaster, who rose to prominence as Chief executive of the
London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...
, the youngest council chief in the UK. She served as a
Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...
director from 2011 to 2017 and was the first ethnic minority person to do so. She was also the only woman on its board.


Early life and education

Rabbatts was born in
Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...
in 1955 and moved to England, when she was three years old. She left school with five O-levels and attended evening classes to study for A-levels. She attended the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
and became a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
in 1981.


Career


Local government

From 1987, she worked in local government, becoming Deputy Chief executive of
Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The bor ...
in 1989. She became Chief executive of Merton before being appointed to the post of Chief executive of Lambeth in 1995. There were significant improvements in housing, education, and
council tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge The Community C ...
collection. She made her name as the youngest council chief in the country. On leaving Lambeth, in March 2000, Rabbatts became Chief executive of iMPOWER, a
public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
consultancy, which she both founded and was co-chair.


Directorships and oversight

Rabbatts was a Governor of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
from 1999 to 2001, but resigned upon her appointment to Channel 4 where she was managing director of
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
's education programmes and business, 4Learning. She is a Governor at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
, an Associate of The
King's Fund The King's Fund is an independent think tank, which is involved with work relating to the health system in England. It organises conferences and other events. Since 1997, they have jointly funded a yearly award system with GlaxoSmithKline. Th ...
and on the board of directors at the
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
. In 2010, Rabbatts became a Trustee of Malaria No More UK and later took over as the Chair of Trustees. In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by
Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...
on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
.


Football

On 3 May 2006, Rabbatts was appointed as the new Executive Deputy Chair of
Millwall F.C. Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name ...
, and, on 27 October 2006, she was appointed as Executive Chairwoman of Millwall Holdings plc, taking over from
Peter de Savary Peter John de Savary (11 July 1944 – 30 October 2022) was a British businessman. The bulk of his business career was spent in the shipping, oil and property sectors. He once owned or managed 13 shipyards around the globe and had global oil-tr ...
. On 22 December 2011, Rabbatts became the first woman to be appointed as a director of
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
. In October 2013, she criticised the make-up of the Football Association's commission to improve the national team as being "all-white, all-male";
Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and was ...
was subsequently added to the commission. On 1 June 2015, she resigned from
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
's anti-discrimination taskforce following
Sepp Blatter Joseph "Sepp" Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former football administrator who served as the eighth President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participating in FIFA activities since 2015 as a result of ...
's re-election as president. On 14 June 2017 it was announced that she would step down from the board of the FA


Media

On 24 July 2011, she was the guest on ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
'' on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
. In April 2014, she was a judge in the BBC Woman's Hour power list 2014.


Honours

Rabbatts was appointed
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 2000 New Year Honours and
Dame 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 ...
(DBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to football and equality. In November 2016, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.


References


External links


Heather Rabbatts speaker profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabbatts, Heather BBC Governors Alumni of the London School of Economics British television executives Women television executives Living people 1955 births Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Business speakers People from Kingston, Jamaica Emigrants from British Jamaica to the United Kingdom BBC 100 Women Women association football executives