Henry Dennistoun "Dennis" Stevenson, Baron Stevenson of Coddenham (born 19 July 1945) is a British businessman and former chairman of

HBOS HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland plc, which ...

. He sat on the crossbenches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1999 until his retirement in 2023.

Early life and education

Stevenson was born on 19 July 1945 to Sylvia Florence (née Ingleby) and Alexander James Stevenson. He was educated at two Scottish

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

s: Edinburgh Academy and Trinity College, Glenalmond (since renamed Glenalmond College). He then attended

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

Career

Stevenson's business career started when he set up the SRU Consultancy Group upon leaving Cambridge. He was Chairman of the Newton Aycliffe and Peterlee New Town Development Corporation from 1971 to 1980. Stevenson was a non-executive Director of British Technology Group (1979–89), Tyne Tees Television (1982–87), Manpower Inc. (1988-2006), Thames Television (1991-93), J. Rothschild Assurance plc (1991–97),

English Partnerships English Partnerships (EP) was the national urban renewal, regeneration agency for England, performing a similar role on a national level to that fulfilled by regional development agency, regional development agencies on a regions of England, region ...

(1993-2004), BSkyB (1994-2001), Lazard Bros (1997-2002), St James's Place Capital (1997-2002), and

Waterstones Waterstones Booksellers Limited, trading as Waterstones (formerly Waterstone's), is a British bookselling, book retailer based in London, England, owned by the American investment group Elliott Investment Management. It operates 311 shops, ma ...

(2011-2016). He was Chairman of the National Association of Youth Clubs (1973-1981), Intermediate Technology Development Group (1983-1990), the Trustees of the Tate Gallery (1988-1998), Aerfi (formerly GPA, 1993-1999), Pearson (1997-2005), HBOS (formerly Halifax Plc, 1999-2008), the House of Lords Appointments Commission (2001-2008), and Aldeburgh Music (2002-2012). He was formerly Chancellor of

University of the Arts London The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of ...

. Stevenson is a long time campaigner for greater understanding and treatment of mental illness informed by his own experiences of depression. He was the Founding Chair of MQ: Transforming Mental Health, a charity which supports research into mental health; and he promoted a Private Members' Bill – the "Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill" – the first key step in the UK to removing a number of the key discriminations against people who suffer from mental illness. He is currently a trustee of Inter Mediate which facilitates negotiation to help bring a sustainable peace in the most difficult, complex and dangerous conflicts where other organisations are unable to operate.

Personal life

Stevenson married Charlotte Susan Vanneck, daughter of Sir Peter Vanneck, a former Lord Mayor of London, in 1972 and has four sons. He 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 1981 New Year Honours, knighted in the 1998 New Year Honours, and created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 13 July 1999 taking the title Baron Stevenson of Coddenham, of Coddenham in the County of Suffolk. He retired from the

on 1 October 2023.

Credit crunch

Stevenson became chairman of Halifax plc in 1999 and when they merged with Bank of Scotland in May 2001 he became chairman of the merged group, HBOS plc. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and the subsequent forced rescue-merger between HBOS and Lloyds TSB, Stevenson and Andy Hornby resigned, waiving their rights to any "pay-offs". At a meeting of the Treasury Select Committee of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

on 10 February 2009, Stevenson apologised for the near-collapse of HBOS. In April 2013, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards assigned the primary responsibility for the collapse of

to Stevenson along with former chief executives Sir James Crosby and Andy Hornby. The commission urged the regulator to ban all three men from the industry. Their report said: "Lord Stevenson has shown himself incapable of facing the realities of what placed the bank in jeopardy from that time until now". And: "The corporate governance of HBOS at board level serves as a model for the future, but not in the way in which Lord Stevenson and other board members appear to see it. It represents a model of self-delusion, of the triumph of process over purpose". (Parliament's Banking Standards Commission report, issued in April 2013)

Arms

References

External links

Member Profile
at the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

website
Lord Dennis Stevenson's contact page at OneLeap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Dennis, Baron Stevenson of Coddenham 1945 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Suffolk Stevenson of Coddenham British corporate directors Scottish chairpersons of corporations Governors of the Bank of Scotland People educated at Edinburgh Academy People educated at Glenalmond College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People from Coddenham Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 People with mood disorders 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople