Katherine Lyndsay Mavor, (born 30 March 1962) is a British charity executive and businesswoman. Since May 2015, she has been chief executive officer (CEO) of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. Previously, she was CEO of Project Scotland from 2005 to 2009, and CEO of

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland ( gd, Urras Nàiseanta na h-Alba), is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organ ...

from 2009 to 2015.

Early life and education

Mavor was born on 30 March 1962 in London, England, and was brought up in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. She was educated at Westbourne School for Girls, an all-girls

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 ...

in Glasgow. In 1980, she

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

into

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

to study modern languages; this was only the second year that the previously all-male college admitted female students. She graduated from 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 ...

with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1984; as per tradition, this was later promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA (Oxon)) degree. She later completed a

postgraduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...

in marketing at the

Polytechnic of Central London , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

Career

Business career

Mavor's early career was spent in business and publishing. Having graduated from university, she spent a year as a graduate trainee at Thomson Books between 1984 and 1985. Then, she was a

product manager A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), ...

Macmillan Press Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

from 1985 to 1986, and a publicity manager at

Unwin Hyman George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

from 1987 to 1988. In 1988, Mavor moved into marketing, and was a

marketing manager Marketing management is the organizational discipline which focuses on the practical application of marketing orientation, techniques and methods inside enterprises and organizations and on the management of a firm's marketing resources and ac ...

Kogan Page Kogan Page is an independent publishing company founded in 1967 and headquartered in London, with branches in New York and New Delhi. Kogan Page specialises in business books and digital content, with over 1,000 titles published in key subject a ...

for the next two years. From 1990 to 1994, she was

Marketing Director A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...

for the Regent Schools of English. She was managing director of the Anglo-Polish Interchange between 1994 and 1997. The Anglo-Polish Interchange was set up by Mavor and is a

market research company Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitors, competit ...

. In 1998, Mavor became Marketing Director of Language Line, a company offering telephone interpreting services. She was promoted to chief executive officer and led a venture-capital backed management buyout of the company.

Charity executive

From 2005 to 2009, she was CEO of Project Scotland, a Scottish volunteering organisation for young adults aged between 16 and 30. From 2009 to 2015, she was CEO of the

. On 3 February 2015, she was announced as the CEO of

. English Heritage became a charity in April 2015 having previously been a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...

of the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

; when she officially became CEO in May 2015, she also became the first head of the new charity.

Personal life

In 1989, Mavor married Andrew Williams. Together, they have two sons.

Honours

In November 2014, Mavor was awarded a

Doctor of the University An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

(DUniv) degree by

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

"in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the promotion and preservation of Scotland's environmental heritage and to developments in the community volunteer movement". In 2015, she was made an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

, her ''alma mater''. She 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

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to heritage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavor, Kate 1962 births Living people British women in business British charity and campaign group workers Businesspeople from London People educated at Westbourne School for Girls Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Westminster Commanders of the Order of the British Empire