Suzanne Elizabeth Heywood, Baroness Heywood of Whitehall (''née'' Cook; born 25 February 1969) is a British executive and former civil servant. She has been managing director of the
Exor Group since 2016 and chair of
CNH Industrial
CNH Industrial N.V. is an Italian-American multinational corporation with global headquarters in Basildon, United Kingdom, but controlled and mostly owned by the multinational investment company Exor, which in turn is controlled by the Agnelli ...
since 2018. She is Chairperson at Iveco Group.
Having sailed around the world with her family as a child, she studied at
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
and
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
. Her early career was spent as a civil servant in
HM Treasury
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...
. She then joined
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
, where she rose to become a senior partner before leaving for Exor in 2016.
Early life and education
Suzanne Cook was born on 25 February 1969 in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, England to Gordon Cook and Mary Cook (née Brindley).
From 1976 to 1986, she sailed around the world with her family in a
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
called ''Wavewalker''.
In 1977, while recreating
Captain Cook's third voyage, the ship was almost destroyed in a storm between Africa and Australia.
She was below deck and received a serious head injury, but the rest of her family and crew received only minor injuries; her father had been the only one on deck and was thrown overboard but was saved by his lifeline.
She undertook her secondary education through the Queensland Correspondence School, completing both the Junior Certificate and the
Senior Certificate.
Having returned to dry land, she matriculated into
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
in 1987 to study
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
.
Her college tutor was
Marian Dawkins
Marian Stamp Dawkins One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born Marian Ellina Stamp; 13 February 1945) is a British biologist and professor of ethology at the University of Oxford. H ...
.
She graduated from Oxford with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
(BA) degree in 1990.
She then moved to the University of Cambridge, where she was a member of
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
, to undertake postgraduate studies.
She completed her
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...
(PhD) degree in 1993: her thesis was titled "Filial imprinting in chicks: processes and stimulus representations".
Career
In 1993, Heywood joined
Her Majesty's Treasury
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...
as a fast stream trainee.
In 1995, after two years of training, she was appointed
private secretary
A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family.
The role exists in t ...
to the
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the First Lord of the Treasury, first lord of th ...
. From 1996 to 1997 she was a
Grade 7
Seventh grade (or grade seven) is a year or level of education. The seventh grade is the eighth school year, the second or third year of middle school, and the first year of junior high school. Students are around 13-14 years old in this stage of ...
civil servant.
In 1997, Heywood left the civil service and moved into the private sector, joining
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
as an associate.
She became a partner in 2007.
She was made director (senior partner) in 2013 when she was appointed Global Head of the Organisation Design Service Line.
She left McKinsey & Company in 2016 to join the
Exor Group as managing director
of which she was later appointed Chief Operating Officer in November 2022. She has additionally been chair of
CNH Industrial
CNH Industrial N.V. is an Italian-American multinational corporation with global headquarters in Basildon, United Kingdom, but controlled and mostly owned by the multinational investment company Exor, which in turn is controlled by the Agnelli ...
since July 2018.
Additionally, she has served as interim CEO of CNH Industrial since March 2020, following the resignation of Hubertus Mühlhäuser. As Deputy Chair of Trustees she became Acting Chair of the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
from December 2019 until July 2020. Heywood is also on the board of the
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
Foundation,
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...
Ltd.,
The Economist Group Ltd. and the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
.
Personal life
In 1997, the then Suzanne Cook married
Jeremy Heywood
Jeremy John Heywood, Baron Heywood of Whitehall, (31 December 1961 – 4 November 2018) was a British civil servant who served as Cabinet Secretary to David Cameron and Theresa May from 2012 to 2018 and Head of the Home Civil Service from 2014 ...
.
Jeremy was a senior civil servant, who was Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service until shortly before his death in 2018. Together they had three children, including twins.
In 2017, Heywood wrote a biography of her mother-in-law, the archaeologist
Brenda Swinbank
Brenda Swinbank (later Heywood; 2 February 1929 – 20 December 2022) was an English archaeologist. She was one of the first women in Britain to become a professional archaeologist, specialising in the study of Hadrian's Wall, and was instrumen ...
.
In 2021, Heywood spoke out in defence of her late husband, following criticisms made in
Nigel Boardman's review of the
Lex Greensill affair.
Selected works
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heywood, Suzanne
1969 births
Living people
British business executives
British women business executives
Heywood of Whitehall
Civil servants in HM Treasury
Businesspeople from Southampton
Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Spouses of life peers
McKinsey & Company people