Ruby McGregor-Smith, Baroness McGregor-Smith, (''née'' Ahmad; born 22 February 1963) is a British business executive and politician. McGregor-Smith was the former CEO of Mitie Group PLC, a UK facilities management business, from 2007 to 2016. She was nominated as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

life peer in August 2015. McGregor-Smith joined Mitie as group financial director in 2002 and was promoted to CEO in 2007. She was the only Asian female chief executive of a

FTSE 250 The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...

company at this time. She was awarded a

CBE 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 ...

in 2012 for services to business and promoting diversity.Cisco CIO Summit 2013 Website
/ref> During the decade she spent at Mitie, the firm increased its turnover by £1.5bn billion, which passed the £2bn mark for the first time in 2012. Upon her appointment to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in 2015, after eight years as Chief Executive, McGregor-Smith asked the

Mitie Mitie Group PLC (pronounced "mighty") is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The ...

board to begin the process of looking for a replacement as Chief Executive. In October 2016 a handover period with new CEO

Phil Bentley Phillip Keague Bentley (born 14 January 1959) is a British businessman. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Mitie, and formerly the CEO of Cable & Wireless Communications. and the managing director of British Gas, the British retail arm o ...

began, ending in December 2016.

Early life

McGregor-Smith was born in 1963 in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, in northern India. She moved to England aged two with her mother, joining her father who was training as an accountant in London. She grew up in Bayswater, White City and Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow, attending

Bentley Wood High School Bentley Wood High School is an all-girls secondary academy school in Stanmore, Harrow, England. History BWHS was originally called Heriots Wood Grammar School. About the school Bentley Wood High School is a multi-cultural girls' comprehensiv ...

and Lowland Sixth Form College before graduating from

Kingston Polytechnic , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

in 1985 with a

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

in economics.

Political career

In January 2014, she was made a member of the Prime Minister's Holocaust Commission. In February 2014 she was appointed a UK Business Ambassador for UKTI. She was nominated as a

life peer in August 2015 for services to British Business and took her seat in the

on 16 October 2015. In July 2017 she was appointed to the House of Lords EU Market Committee which looks at the impact of EU Regulation on business. In December 2015, she was appointed non-executive board member of the Department for Education, a position she currently holds. She was appointed by the then

Business Secretary The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a mem ...

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

, to voluntarily lead a review looking at the issues faced by businesses in developing black and minority ethnic (BME) talent from when they start work through to the executive level. Her report 'Race in the Workplace: The McGregor-Smith Review' was published in February 2017 and found that UK growth was being curtailed by £24bn due to poor practices. It has led to a step-change in action by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in this area. She described herself as a 'reluctant remainer' and voted against the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

whip at

Report Stage In the United Kingdom an act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ...

of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill in support amendments on the EEA and

Customs Union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

. However, after the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

had considered these Lords Amendments and rejected them, she joined all but 21

peers and supported the Government and the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill at

ping-pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

. On 18 July 2018 it was announced that McGregor-Smith was putting her name forward as the Conservative Party's candidate for

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

. She came 4th out of ten candidates who were long-listed, narrowly missing out on being one of the three to be selected by the Conservative membership as the final candidate.

Business career

Following university, McGregor-Smith trained for six years as an accountant at BDO Stoy Hayward. After qualifying, she joined Serco Group PLC in 1991, where she worked for nine years in a range of operational and financial roles.

Mitie Group

In 2002, after a brief spell at the

facilities management Facility management or facilities management (FM) is a professional management discipline focused on the efficient and effective delivery of logistics and other support services related to real property and buildings. It encompasses multiple dis ...

firm Service Group International (SGI), McGregor-Smith joined Mitie Group PLC as group financial director. In 2005 she was promoted to group

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

, and became CEO two years later when her predecessor Ian Stewart retired to take over the role of

deputy chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

. As the first Asian female chief executive of a

company, the appointment received extensive press coverage. Upon her appointment to the

in 2015, after eight years as Chief Executive, McGregor-Smith asked the

board to begin the process of looking for a replacement as Chief Executive. In October 2016 a handover period with new CEO

began, ending in December 2016. She ceased to have any financial interest in Mitie on 17 August 2017. McGregor-Smith's tenure as CEO saw Mitie's top and bottom lines grow, boosted by strong demand for integrated services. In 2016 shares in Mitie fell to a four-year low after the company warned that profits would be "very significantly lower" due to "lower UK growth rates and public sector budget constraints". In common with much of the sector,

faced pressures in 2016/17 and issued profits warnings. But while other firms in the sector, like Carillion collapsed,

survived. Mitie continues to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Following the demise of Carillion, the Financial Conduct Authority looked into the practices of several firms in the sector but found nothing to investigate at

and dropped inquiries. Internal initiatives at Mitie in which McGregor-Smith has personal involvement include 'Mitie's Got Talent', a company-wide talent contest; and 'Mitie Millions', at which she and Finance Director Suzanne Baxter judge budding entrepreneurs with up to £5m to invest in the winners.

Post-Mitie career

She held a non-executive position on the board of recruitment firm Michael Page and currently holds a position as Senior Adviser to Mace Group Ltd and Chairperson of the facilities management outsourcing firm Q3 Services Group. In July 2019, PM Theresa May appointed McGregor-Smith as Chair to the

Office for Tackling Injustices The Office for Tackling Injustices (OfTI) is a proposed UK government body announced on 12 July 2019. It was said by Prime Minister Theresa May that it would work independently to encourage future governments to focus on addressing inequalities ...

(OfTI). As of September 2019, McGregor-Smith was appointed as the Chair of the

Airport Operators Association The Airport Operators Association (AOA) is the trade association representing the interests of UK airports and the principal body engaged with the UK Government and regulatory authorities on airport issues, focused on sustainable growth. The ...

. In 2021, McGregor-Smith was appointed as the new chair of the

Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) is an employer led organisation that supports technical education and apprenticeships in the United Kingdom, through qualifications such as T Levels. It is funded by the Department ...

Charitable and community interests

McGregor-Smith is a member of and past chairman of the Women's Business Council, a working group that seeks to maximize women's contribution to economic growth. Her views on

gender diversity Gender diversity is equitable or fair representation of people of different genders. It most commonly refers to an equitable ratio of men and women, but may also include people of non-binary genders. Gender diversity on corporate boards has be ...

in management have been widely reported in the mainstream media, specifically her opposition to positive discrimination in the form of quotas. McGregor-Smith is a member of the WorldSkills UK Skills taskforce for global Britain.

Awards and recognition

In 2007 McGregor-Smith was named First Woman of Business Services at the Real Business/CBI First Women Awards. In 2008 she received the Business Women of the Year at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. In 2009, 2010 and 2011 she was ranked 32nd, 35th and 33rd in

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

Top 50 Women in World Business. In the same year she was named Business Woman of the Year at the Women in Public Life Awards. In 2011 she was named Woman of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards. Also in 2011 she was named Orange Leader of the Year at the UK National Business Awards and Woman of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards, and was awarded

honorary doctorates 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 ...

from Kingston University and the University of the

West of England West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan ...

. In the

2012 New Year Honours 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

McGregor-Smith 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 ...

(CBE) for services to business and diversity in business. In February 2013, she was included in the

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' ...

Woman's Hour 2013 Power List of the 100 most powerful women in the UK. As well, in April 2013 she was made non-executive director to the board of the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

(DCMS). In November 2013, McGregor-Smith was made Chair of the Public Services Strategy Board for the CBI. In August 2015, she was nominated to be a life peer in the UK

, and was created Baroness McGregor-Smith, of Sunninghill in the

Royal County of Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

on 16 October 2015. She was dubbed the "prickly peer" because of her combative style during interactions with City Commentators. In the same year she won the ICAEW Outstanding Achievement award. In June 2016 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the First Women Awards 2016, and in July 2016 she received an Honorary Doctorate from Cranfield University for her outstanding contribution to the energy industry. She is a member of the Women's Business Council, and its chairman from 2012 to 2016. In the House of Lords she is a member of the EU internal market subcommittee.

Personal life

McGregor-Smith has been married to Graham McGregor-Smith, an accountant, since 1990. They have two children, a daughter and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor-Smith, Ruby 1963 births Living people English chief executives British politicians of Indian descent Businesspeople from Lucknow Chief operating officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) life peers Indian emigrants to England People educated at Bentley Wood High School Women chief executives Businesspeople from London People from Stanmore People from Shepherd's Bush Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Alumni of Kingston University Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II