Sir Martin Eugene Donnelly, (born 4 June 1958) is a British former civil servant. He was Permanent Secretary of the

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government responsible for striking and extending trade agreements between the U ...

, until leaving the Civil Service on 24 March 2017.

Career

Donnelly joined 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 i ...

in 1980. In 1988 he was Private Secretary to the

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

, and from 1989 in Brussels working in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Leon Brittan Leon Brittan, Baron Brittan of Spennithorne, (25 September 193921 January 2015) was a British Conservative politician and barrister who served as a European Commissioner from 1989 to 1999. As a member of Parliament from 1974 to 1988, he serv ...

before returning to London in 1993. In 1995 he went on secondment to the

French Ministry of Finance The Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty (french: Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de la Souveraineté industrielle et numérique, pronounced ), informally referred to as Bercy, is one of the most impor ...

, returning to the Treasury in 1996. From 1998 to 2003 he worked in 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 ...

as Deputy Head of the European Secretariat and then moved to the

Immigration and Nationality Directorate The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) was part of the Home Office, a department of the United Kingdom government. The department had its headquarters in Croydon, South London, where it occupied thirteen buildings. The IND was responsib ...

of the Home Office for a year. In 2004, Donnelly was promoted to be Director-General for Economics (later, for Europe and Globalisation) in the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...

. In 2008–09 he went on secondment to UK telecoms regulator

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

, returning to the Cabinet Office to lead the '' Smarter Government'' whitepaper. In 2010 he was briefly made acting head of the FCO after

Sir Peter Ricketts Peter Forbes Ricketts, Baron Ricketts, (born 30 September 1952) is a retired British senior diplomat and a life peer. He has sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords since 2016. Ricketts served as chair of the Joint Intelligence Commit ...

became the UK's first

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

. After a few months, he was appointed as permanent secretary at BIS, succeeding Sir Simon Fraser, who replaced at the FCO. As of September 2015, Donnelly was paid a salary of between £180,000 and £184,999, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. Martin Donnelly led work to improve inclusion and gender balance across the senior civil service leadership in a range of departments. When Permanent Secretary of BIS he achieved gender balance across the senior team of 160 people, encouraging part-time working and job shares, by developing a new culture to encourage supportive team working. BIS was the first major department to achieve gender parity in its senior leadership. In November 2017 he became a Senior Adviser with

Teneo Teneo is a public relations and advisory company. The company was founded in June 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band, and currently has more than 1,450 employees located in 40 offices. In 2019, Teneo sold a majority stake to ...

, which describes itself as "the global CEO advisory firm", providing advice to senior executives of large companies. In June 2019, he was appointed president of

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

Europe and managing director of Boeing UK and Ireland.

Public persona after leaving the Civil Service

In February 2018, speaking on Radio 4's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' programme, he warned that

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

would be "giving up a three-course meal… for the promise of a packet of crisps in the future."

Personal life

Donnelly studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, international economics at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (french: Collège d'Europe) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with its main campus in Bruges, Belgium and a second campus in Warsaw, Poland. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 by leading ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, and at the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President of France, President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the Constitu ...

in Paris.

Honours

Donnelly was appointed

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG) in the 2002 Birthday Honours and

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) in the 2016 Birthday Honours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Martin 1958 births Living people Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation and Skills College of Europe alumni Alumni of Campion Hall, Oxford Civil servants in HM Treasury Civil servants in the Northern Ireland Office Civil servants in the Cabinet Office Civil servants in the Home Office Civil servants in the Foreign Office Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath