Josephine Clare Valentine, Baroness Valentine (born 8 December 1958) is a

Crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

member of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

House of Lords.

Career

Baroness Valentine's career spans the City, industry, campaigning and regeneration. She now has a portfolio career. She is currently working for

Business in the Community Business in the Community (BITC) is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, Corporate social responsibility, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the The Prince's Charities, Prince's Charities of Cha ...

, seeking to improve economic and social outcomes for some of Britain's “forgotten” towns. Her non-executive roles include vice chair of UCL, non-executive director of Value and Indexed Property Income Trust and chair of Heathrow Southern Railway. Lady Valentine previously ran London First for many years. She joined the organisation in 1997 as Managing Director, becoming Chief Executive in 2003. London First's mission is to make London the best place in the world in which to do business. Its members include leading retailers, investment banks and property companies. Whilst at London First, Lady Valentine was instrumental in the creation of Teach First, campaigning for Crossrail and the Olympics and championing the development of the South Bank of the Thames. Lady Valentine stood down from the organisation in 2016. Prior to London First, Lady Valentine worked in corporate finance at

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

, where she became the first female manager. In 1988, on secondment from Barings, she established and ran 'The Blackburn Partnership', a public-private partnership to regenerate

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, Lancashire. In 1990 she joined

The BOC Group BOC Limited is a British based multinational, industrial gas company. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange, since 2006 it has been a subsidiary of Linde plc. History Brin's Oxygen Company was formed in 1886, by two French brothers, ...

to head the corporate finance and planning function, leaving in 1995 to establish the Central London Partnership (CLP). She worked in Blackpool for two years from 2017, which successfully bid to become one of the first and largest town deals. She has held many non-executive roles including Peabody Housing Association, HS2, Crossrail, and was on the National Lottery Commission. She was recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission to be 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 ...

, taking the title Baroness Valentine, of

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea, Balham, P ...

on 10 October 2005.

Education and family

Lady Valentine was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

, where she read

Maths Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include num ...

and

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. She is an Honorary Fellow of St Hugh's and of Birkbeck College and holds honorary degrees from the University of London and Roehampton. She is married to venture capitalist and author

Simon Acland Simon Acland (born 27 March 1958) is a British venture capitalist and author. Education Simon Hugh Verdon Acland was educated at Eton College, Eton and Lincoln College, Oxford, graduating in 1979 with an Honours Degree in Modern Languages (Fren ...

, son of Sir Antony Acland, the former British Ambassador to Washington. They have two daughters, Eloise Acland and Isabel Acland.

References

External links

Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords
House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 25 October 2005
London First
Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford 1958 births Peers recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Living people Crossbench life peers {{Life-peer-stub