A civil service union boss and a former Treasury director general have been appointed as non-executive directors in the Department for Business and Trade.
Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds announced the appointment of Prospect union general secretary Mike Clancy, former Treasury DG Katharine Braddick and six others to DBT’s new slate of NEDs yesterday.
Clancy said it is a “real privilege” to join the DBT board.
“If our economy is to grow, and the benefits of that growth are to be felt widely across the economy, then it is going to require a degree of partnership between business, government and workers,” he said.
“I look forward to bringing my experience of the world of work to bear on the challenges the department faces as it drives forwards the government’s missions and implements an ambitious new industrial strategy,” the Prospect general secretary added.
Clancy has led the trade union, which represents specialists in the civil service including engineers and scientists, for the last 12 years.
Braddick, a former fast streamer, left her role as the Treasury’s director general for financial services in 2021 to become group head of strategic policy for Barclays. The other new NEDs include two former advisers to former prime ministers.
Iain Anderson was appointed as the government's LGBT+ champion in September 2021 by then-prime minister Liz Truss. He continued in the role under Truss's successor, Boris Johnson, but quit in April 2022 over the decision not to ban conversion therapy for transgender people. Anderson was also a member of the Conservative Party for 20 years, quitting last year to join Labour. He is the founder of PR firm Cicero and a former chair of LGBT+ charity Stonewall. Last year, he began working with Labour last year as an adviser to Reynolds, who was then the shadow business secretary.
Nita Clarke was an assistant political secretary to then-PM Tony Blair from 2001 to 2007, a role in which she liaised with the trade union movement. Before working for Blair, she spent nine years as a political officer for the trade union Unison, where she liaised with the Labour Party and its policymaking machinery. Since 2008, she has been the director of the Involvement and Participation Association, an organisation which promotes employee voices in the workplace. Clarke has also worked with both major parties – she worked on the Employee Engagement Task Force launched by then-prime minister David Cameron in March 2011.
DBT said Clarke has been appointed without competition in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments and following consultation with the commissioner for public appointments. It added that she“will bring additional skills and experience in employee engagement, partnership, and employee voices in the workplace”.
Paul Drechsler, a former president of the Confederation of British Industry, has been appointed as the department’s lead non-executive director.
The other new NEDs are Professor John Latham (also appointed chair of DBT's Audit and Risk Assurance Committee), vice-chancellor and chief of the Coventry University Group; Dr Roni Savage, chief exec and founder of engineering firm Jomas Associates; and David Sayer, former vice-chair at consulting giant KMPG.
The new non-execs have been appointed for three years. During this period, they will provide independent advice and support and scrutinise the department’s work.
The department said the group will “bring a wide range of senior experience across the public and private sectors, as well as a wealth of knowledge relevant to delivering the secretary of state’s priorities”.
The department initially launched recruitment for six NEDs in August after five non-execs were shown the door following Labour’s election victory in July, including two with strong links to the Conservative Party.
Amid accusations of a “purge” of NEDs across several departments, a government spokesperson said at the time: “It is normal practice for incoming ministers to make decisions on their own departmental boards, including their membership.
"Appointments will be made to bring fresh scrutiny and external perspectives to departmental boards and ministers."
Karina McTeague is the only remaining NED from the previous administration. She will only stay until the department's 2023-24 annual report and accounts are published, after which Latham will replace her as ARAC chair.