Rona Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead
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Rona Alison Fairhead, Baroness Fairhead, (; born 28 August 1961), is 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 ...
and businesswoman. She served as a
minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
at the
Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for stri ...
from 2017 to 2019. Prior to that, she was the last chairman of the
BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...
before its abolition and the first woman to hold the post. On 3 September 2017, it was announced that trade policy minister Lord Price would leave the government; on 28 September, Fairhead was appointed to succeed him. Fairhead resigned as Minister of State in May 2019 having completed her agreed term.


Early life and education

Fairhead was born Rona Haig in Cumberland (now
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
) in 1961 and educated at
Yarm Grammar School Conyers School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, in Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees, England. History The Free Grammar School was founded in 1590 by Thomas Conyers of Egglescliffe, who was issued letters patent by ...
, near
Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...
, North East England before attending
St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...
; she was president of the Cambridge University Law Society before graduating with a
double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a Grading in education, grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and Master's degree#Integrated Masters Degree, integrated master's degrees in the United Kingd ...
in law (
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
, BA). She later obtained a
Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
from
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...
.


Professional career

Fairhead's early business career was spent at
Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and nonprofit organizations. One of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three management co ...
and
Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...
in the 1980s before she moved to
British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...
as an independent consultant in 1991. Later in 1991 she moved to
Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
shortly after it was bought by
Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Inc. () is a Canadian aerospace manufacturer that produces business jets. Headquartered in Montreal, the company was founded in 1942 by Joseph-Armand Bombardier to market his snowmobiles, and it later became one of the world's big ...
She rose to become vice-president for corporate strategy and public affairs in 1994 and then vice-president, UK aerospace services in 1995. In 1996, she became director of planning and acquisitions for ICI before joining the company's executive management team as executive vice-president for planning and communications in 1997, and continuing as executive vice-president for strategy and control from 1998 to 2001. From 2002 to 2006, Fairhead served as chief financial officer for Pearson PLC. Fairhead moved to the Financial Times Group (a subsidiary of Pearson) in 2006 as chief executive. She oversaw the sale of several of the group's other titles during her tenure. She has also served as a non-executive director on the boards of several large corporations, including
PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...
, and is a former director of
HSBC Holdings HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
and former "business ambassador" for
UK Trade & Investment UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) was a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to assist their success in international markets, and with overseas investors looking to the UK as an investment destination. It wa ...
. She stepped down from her Financial Times role in 2013 after being overlooked for the position of Chairwoman of the Pearson Group when the post was vacated by the previous incumbent,
Marjorie Scardino Dame Marjorie Scardino ( Morris; born 25 January 1947) is an American-born British business executive. She is the former CEO of Pearson PLC. Scardino became a trustee of Oxfam during her tenure at Pearson. She was criticized by ''Private Eye' ...
. Her leaving package was estimated to be worth over £1 million in addition to stock options estimated at over £3 million—a contributing factor to a shareholder revolt at Pearson's annual general meeting in April 2014. In August 2014
Culture Secretary The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Cultu ...
Sajid Javid Sir Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British former politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the ...
recommended Fairhead as the preferred candidate for the chairmanship of the
BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...
, following the departure of
Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes (; born 12 May 1944), is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a lif ...
, who resigned on health grounds in May. Sources such as ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' reported that her appointment had caused surprise at the BBC, which had expected someone with a higher public profile to get the job. Others considered for the post were
Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...
, the former chairman of the
London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was jointly established by the UK Go ...
, and former
Camelot Group Camelot Group was an operator of lotteries, particularly the UK National Lottery from 1994 to 2024. It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 2018. The Camelot Group companies, of wh ...
chief executive
Dianne Thompson Dame Ila Dianne Thompson, DBE ( Wood; born 31 December 1950) is a British businesswoman. She was chief executive officer of Camelot Group from 2000 to 2014. Early life and education Thompson was born on 31 December 1950 to Ronald and Joan ( Pi ...
. Fairhead officially took up the BBC Trust role on an acting basis on 9 September 2014, following approval by the House of Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport. She was formally appointed by the
Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...
on 8 October 2014, for a four-year term beginning the following day. In September 2016, Fairhead announced that she would not be applying to head the new unitary board replacing the BBC Trust. In July 2019, Fairhead joined the Board of Directors of Oracle Corporation as a non-executive director. She joined the Board of RS Group plc ( formerly Electrocomponents plc) in November 2020, stepping up as Chair in January 2021. In February 2023, she was named a member of the
McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...
External Advisory Group.


Appearance before Public Accounts Committee

In March 2015 Fairhead appeared before the
Public Accounts Committee A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...
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 ...
as a non-executive director of the Swiss subsidiary of HSBC.
Margaret Hodge Margaret Eve Hodge, Baroness Hodge of Barking (, formerly Watson; born 8 September 1944), is a British politician and life peer, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Barking from 1994 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was p ...
, the chair of the committee, stated that in the light of her performance as an HSBC director, she was no longer fit to continue in her role heading the BBC Trust. Hodge was accused of making a "bullying" attack.


Ministerial and parliamentary career

On 28 September 2017 the government announced that Fairhead would become an unpaid Minister of State at the Department for International Trade, succeeding Mark, Lord Price. In addition, it was announced that Fairhead would be granted 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. On 19 October, she was created Baroness Fairhead, of Yarm in the County of North Yorkshire. Baroness Fairhead resigned her ministerial position on 7 May 2019.


Personal life

Baroness Fairhead's husband, Thomas Edwin Fairhead, is a businessman and director of
Campbell Lutyens Campbell Lutyens is an independent private markets advisory firm exclusively focused on primary fundraising, secondary transactions and GP capital advisory services in the private equity, private debt, infrastructure and sustainable investing ...
. He was 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 ...
councillor for
Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...
in West London from 1994 to 2010. He now serves as an honorary
alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
of the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...
. The couple have three children. Rona Fairhead is a qualified pilot and her hobbies include flying and scuba diving. Towards the end of her tenure with the Financial Times Group, Fairhead was treated for
breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
. She 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 2012 New Year's Honours List for "services to UK Industry".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairhead, Rona Fairhead, Baroness 1961 births Living people Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Chairmen of the BBC Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Conservative Party (UK) life peers Crossbench life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Harvard Business School alumni Trustees of the British Broadcasting Corporation People from Cumbria Women chief financial officers