Margaret Anne Ford, Baroness Ford (born 16 December 1957) is a Scottish businesswoman and non-aligned

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 ...

peer. She was appointed by

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

as a Labour Peer in 2006, but resigned the Labour Whip in 2009 and now sits as a Crossbencher. She is Chair of London Gatwick Airport and Chair of The Centre for Public Interest Audit.

Life

Ford was born in

Saltcoats Saltcoats (; Scots: ''Saulcuts'') is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages ...

, Ayrshire, in December 1957. The daughter of Edward and Susan Garland, she received education at St Michael's Academy in Kilwinning and

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. She graduated MA (Hons) in 1979 and M.Phil in 1984. She married Christopher Derek Ford in 1982, with whom she had two children, Michael and Katharine. After a divorce in 1990, she married David Arthur Bolger later that same year.

Career

Ford is Chair of London Gatwick Airport, and in July 2024 she was announced as the inaugural Chair of the Centre for Public Interest Audit, a thinktank dedicated to audit quality research. She is the former Chair of NewRiver REIT,

STV PLC STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...

, of

Grainger plc Grainger plc is a British-based residential property business. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The business was established by the Dickinson family in 1912 as the ''Grainger Trust'' ...

, of May Gurney plc, and of

Barchester Healthcare Barchester Healthcare Ltd. is an independent care provider in the United Kingdom, running over 250 care homes and seven registered hospitals across the country. The organisation employs over 17,000 staff in care homes which offer residential an ...

. Grainger was the first Company listed on the

LSE LSE may refer to: Education * London School of Economics, a public research university within the University of London * Lahore School of Economics, a private university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan * Lincoln Southeast High School, a public gove ...

which had an all female leadership team with Ford appointing women to the positions of CEO, CFO and SID. She has also chaired the Buckingham Palace Reservicing Challenge Board, Lothian Health Board, English Partnerships (now Homes England) and the Olympic Park Legacy Company (now LLDC). In 2011, she was included in the Times newspaper Sport Power 100, entering at number 26. In 2012 she was controversially replaced as chairman of the LLDC by

Daniel Moylan Daniel Michael Gerald Moylan, Baron Moylan (born 1 March 1956) is an English Conservative politician and a member of the House of Lords. Before being created Baron Moylan in September 2020, he had been a diplomat, a merchant banker, and a memb ...

, a

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 ...

. She has served as a non executive Director of the

Scottish Prison Service The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) () is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons and Young Offender Institutions. The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, currently Teresa Medhurst, is responsible ...

, of

Ofgem The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is the government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain. It was formed by the merger of the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER) and Office of G ...

, Thus plc, Serco plc, Segro plc, and Taylor Wimpey plc. Ford was also the inaugural Chair of Deloitte UK’s Audit Governance Board, and was an Independent Non-Executive Member of the Deloitte UK Oversight Board, Deloitte North and South Europe Board, and the Deloitte Global Independent Non-Executive Advisory Council. She stepped down from these positions on 31 October 2023 to join Gatwick Airport as its Chair. Her main executive roles were at BIFU, Price Waterhouse, Scottish Homes, and as the founding CEO of Eglinton Management Centre. She sold Eglinton in 2000 and in the same year, set up Good Practice, the online publisher (which was sold to Emerald Publishing in 2015). Her last executive role was at

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

as Managing Director (DCM) in the Social infrastructure Division. In September 2023, she was announced as the new Chair of

London Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

Honours

Ford was raised to the

Peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

as Baroness Ford, of Cunninghame in North Ayrshire on 11 July 2006. She was appointed as an honorary member of the

RICS The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for those working in the Built Environment, Construction, Land, Property and Real Estate. The RICS was founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental ...

in 2009. In 2015 she was elected as a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

. She was appointed an

Officer 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 ...

(OBE) for services to business and sport in 2019, and holds Honorary degrees from

Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

and the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

. Ford was appointed a

Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

in the

2025 New Year Honours The 2025 New Year Honours are appointments by King Charles III among the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The ...

Voluntary

Ford has been Honorary President of the charity

Epilepsy Action Epilepsy Action is a UK-based charity dedicated to supporting people with epilepsy, raising awareness, and campaigning for better services and treatment for individuals affected by the condition. Founded in 1950, the charity provides informatio ...

since 2008, a Trustee of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

and a Councillor of the LTA. She was formerly a Chair of the

STV Children's Appeal STV Children's Appeal (previously named STV Appeal) is a Scottish people, Scottish charitable organization, charity appeal organised by STV (TV channel), STV and Tom Hunter, The Hunter Foundation, in aid of the STV Charitable Trust (number SC042 ...

and Trustee and Chair of the Tennis Foundation, prior to its merger with the LTA in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Margaret Anne 1957 births Living people People from Saltcoats Nobility from North Ayrshire Labour Party (UK) life peers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scottish politicians Scottish businesspeople People educated at St Michaels Academy Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Scottish television executives Alumni of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order