Kate Harriet Alexandra Rock, Baroness Rock, (born 9 October 1968), is a British

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

politician and member of 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 ...

. Formerly Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party with special responsibility for business engagement, she was nominated for 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 ...

age in August 2015.

Education

Rock was educated at

Hanford School Hanford School is a girls' boarding Preparatory school (UK), preparatory school located in Hanford, Dorset, Hanford, Childe Okeford, Child Okeford, Dorset, England, established in 1947 and located in a grade II* Listed building, listed house buil ...

Sherborne School for Girls Sherborne Girls, formally known as Sherborne School for Girls, is an independent day and boarding school for girls, located in Sherborne, North Dorset, England. There were 485 pupils attending in 2019–2020, with more than 90 per cent of them ...

and

Oxford Polytechnic A polytechnic is an educational institution that primarily focuses on vocational education, applied sciences, and career pathways. They are sometimes referred to as ''institutes of technology'', ''vocational institutes'', or ''universities of app ...

, where she graduated with a BA in publishing and history.

Business career

Between August 2014 and November 2017, Rock served as non-executive director and as chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Imagination Technologies plc (a

FTSE 250 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 250 Index, also called the FTSE 250 Index, FTSE 250, or, informally, the "Footsie 250" , is a stock market index that consists of the 101st to the 350th mid-cap blue chip companies listed on the London Stock ...

high technology company, which was sold to Canyon Bridge Partners). She also served as a non-executive director of First News (UK) Ltd, a national newspaper for young children, between 2014 and February 2017. On 1 September 2018 she joined the Board of Keller Group plc (the world's largest provider of geotechnical solutions) and is now the senior independent director, serving on the Audit, Nomination, Remuneration and Health, Safety, Environment and Quality Committees. In October 2022, it was announced that Rock was appointed Chair of the UK infrastructure company Costain Group.

Public service

Between 2015 and 2016 Rock served as Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party with special responsibility for business engagement. She was created Baroness Rock, of Stratton in the County of Dorset on 15 October 2015. In 2016/2017 she was a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow of

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...

. Between 2017 and 2018 she was a member of the

Select Committee on

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

and since 2019 she has sat on the

Select Committee on

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

Technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

. She has also served since May 2018 as a member of the

Select Committee on the Rural Economy. In November 2018 she was appointed as a founding board member of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, an advisory body set up by the UK Government to seek to maximise the benefits of data-enabled technologies, including artificial intelligence. She is a founding Ambassador of “Women Supporting Women”, a group at

The Prince's Trust The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...

committed to changing the lives of young women, and was a member of The Prince's Trust's Philanthropy Advisory Board. In March 2021 Rock was appointed as a Director and Trustee of The Royal Countryside Fund, which was founded by HM King Charles III. In February 2022 Rock was appointed as Chair of The Tenancy Working Group, commissioned by the Secretary of State for DEFRA to look at the future of agricultural tenancies. The Rock Review, with recommendations to Government, was published in October 2022. Rock was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

in November 2023.

Personal life

Her husband Caspar Rock is Chief Investment Officer at Cazenove Capital Management, the wealth management arm of

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1804, it employs over 6,000 people worldwide in 38 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It is traded on ...

in the UK, Channel Islands and Asia.Dylan Lobo
''Axa Architas' Caspar Rock joins Cazenove''
City Wire, 4 April 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock, Kate Rock, Baroness 1968 births Living people People educated at Hanford School People educated at Sherborne Girls Alumni of Oxford Brookes University 21st-century British women politicians Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Deputy lieutenants of Dorset Place of birth missing (living people)