Andrew Peter Cosslett, (born 14 April 1955) is a British businessman and chairman of the Rugby Football Union, and

Kingfisher plc Kingfisher plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher i ...

. He is also an operating partner at

Advent International Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core ...

, and a trustee of

Shooting Star Chase Shooting Star Children's Hospices is an English children's hospice charity (No: 1042495). The charity cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across Surrey and West London. They provide spec ...

, a children's hospice charity. Previously he was the CEO of

InterContinental Hotels Group InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), marketed as IHG Hotels & Resorts, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the F ...

(IHG), and was succeeded by

Richard Solomons Richard Leslie Solomons (born 9 October 1961) is a British businessman. He was the chief executive of InterContinental Hotels Group until July 2017, when he was succeeded by Keith Barr. Career Solomons qualified as a chartered accountant with ...

Early life

Andrew Peter Cosslett was born in April 1955 in Whalley Range,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and grew up in

Withington Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ...

. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in economics and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

European Studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on current developments in European integration. Some programmes offer a social science or public administration curriculum focusing on develop ...

from the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

Career

Cosslet began his business career in 1979 as a graduate trainee selling Wall's ice cream and spent 11 years with

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

becoming a marketing director, before joining

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

in 1990. He then spent 14 years at Cadbury Schweppes in a number of senior roles, including chairman, Cadbury Schweppes Australia; CEO of the Asia Pacific confectionery business; managing director, Great Britain & Ireland; and president, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Cosslett joined

as CEO in 2005. As CEO of IHG, he oversaw the launching of the midmarket boutique hotel brand

Hotel Indigo Hotel Indigo is a chain of small, individually owned boutique hotels, which is part of IHG Hotels & Resorts. As of December 2021, there were 130 Hotel Indigo properties featuring 16,343 rooms worldwide. History The first Hotel Indigo opened i ...

, and a focus on further expansion into the Chinese market. An additional change includes IHG selling most of the hotels the company owned and reaffirming their business model as mainly a manager and franchisor of hotels. During the late 2000s, he oversaw a $1bn (£603m), four-year relaunch of the Holiday Inn franchise. Between 2005 and 2011, Cosslett was a board member of the

World Travel and Tourism Council The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a forum for the travel and tourism industry. It is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry. It is know ...

(WTTC), a member of the presidents council of the

Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...

(CBI) and a board member of the International Tourism Partnership. Cosslett stood down as the CEO on 30 June 2011 stating that he has been considering his situation for quite a while: “I’m into my seventh year, but it does feel like the right time to hand over the reins. ... The business is in great shape, and that really helps my exit.” In June 2017, Cosslett succeeded Daniel Bernard as chairman of

Rugby Football Union

Coslett became chair of the RFU in October 2016, succeeding

Bill Beaumont Sir William Blackledge Beaumont, (born 9 March 1952 in Chorley, Lancashire, England) is a former rugby union player, and was captain of the England rugby union team, earning 34 caps. His greatest moment as captain was the unexpected 1980 Grand ...

. He himself played rugby for 25 years. He 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 ...

(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 the Rugby Football Union.

Personal life

Cosslett is married with two adult children.

References

External links

Cosslett Biography

Videos: InterContinental Hotels Group's Andy Cosslett

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosslett, Andy 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester British corporate directors Businesspeople from Manchester English chief executives Chairmen of ITV Commanders of the Order of the British Empire InterContinental Hotels Group people