Sir Martin Eugene Donnelly, (born 4 June 1958) is a British former civil servant. He was Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Trade, until leaving the Civil Service on 24 March 2017.

Career

Donnelly joined the Treasury 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 ...

of Leon Brittan before returning to London in 1993. In 1995 he went on secondment to the French Ministry of Finance, 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 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

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, 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 became the UK's first

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. 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, 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 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'' programme, he warned that Brexit 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, international economics at the College of Europe in Bruges, and at the École nationale d'administration 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 Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in supp ...

and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the

2016 Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

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