Responsibilities and governance:
Board of directors
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Sir Victor Blank (63) |
John Peace (57) |
David Tyler (53) |
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| Sir Victor Blank was ducated at Stockport Grammar School and St Catherine’s College, Oxford. He qualified as a solicitor with the law firm Clifford-Turner (now Clifford Chance), becoming a partner in 1969. In 1981, he moved into investment banking with harterhouse, becoming Chairman and Chief Executive in 1985. He was a director of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc from 1985 to 1993. He joined the Board of GUS in 1993. Sir Victor retired from investment banking in 1997, having become Deputy Chairman of GUS the previous year. He became Chairman of GUS in 2000 and was Chairman of Trinity Mirror plc until May 2006. He became Deputy Chairman of Lloyds TSB in March 2006, becoming Chairman in May 2006. Sir Victor is a member of the Financial Reporting Council and of the Council of Oxford University. He chairs two charities, WellBeing and UJS Hillel, as well as the Council of University College School. Sir Victor is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Companion of the Institute of Management. |
John Peace joined the Board of GUS in 1997, becoming Group Chief Executive in January 2000. In June 2002, he was appointed hairman of Burberry Group plc, in advance of its partial flotation by GUS in July 2002. John Peace joined GUS in 1970 and held several senior IT management positions before co-founding CCN in 1980. This was the company formed by GUS to market information services to retailers and other lending organisations. In 1991, he was appointed Chief Executive of CCN, which was by then one of Europe’s largest information services companies. During the mid-nineties, CCN was combined with a number of other US and European businesses to form a global information services organisation called Experian, with John Peace as its Chief Executive worldwide. John Peace is Chairman of the Board of Governors of Nottingham Trent niversity, a member of the President's Committee of the CBI and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. |
David Tyler graduated from Cambridge University, where he read Economics, in 1974. He spent the first 11 years of his career working for Unilever in a variety of financial, commercial and strategic jobs. In 1986 he joined County NatWest where he worked in senior financial control roles. He then worked for Christie’s International from 1989 to 1996 as Finance Director and as President of Christie’s America. David Tyler has been Group Finance Director of GUS since February 1997. Aside from his financial role, he also has responsibility for the development of Group strategy. He is a non-executive director of Burberry Group plc. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers. |
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Andy Hornby (39) |
Sir Alan Rudge (68) |
John Coombe (61) |
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| Andy graduated from Oxford University, with an MA in English, before joining the Boston Consulting Group where he spent three years working principally on media and retail projects. From there he went to Harvard Business School and obtained an MBA. On his return, Andy joined Blue Circle, where from 1993 to 1995 he was Business Development Director of Blue Circle Home Products. He moved from there to ASDA where he held a number of senior general management roles culminating in him becoming Managing Director of George, ASDA’s clothing business. In November 1999, Andy joined the board of Halifax as Chief Executive,
Halifax Retail. Following the merger of Bank of Scotland and Halifax
in September 2001, he became Chief Executive of the Retail John
Coombe joined the Board of GUS in April 2005. Andy joined the Board of GUS in January 2004. |
Sir Alan Rudge was Deputy Chief Executive of BT until November 1997 and Chairman of WS Atkins until March 2001. He joined the Board of GUS in 1997 and until March 2005 was President of CELTEL International BV and a non-executive director on the Board of SESA AG. He is currently Chairman of the ERA Foundation Ltd and Pro Chancellor of Surrey University. Sir Alan is the senior independent director of GUS. Sir Alan has a PhD in Electrical Engineering and is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a past President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and past Chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. |
John Coombe was educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School in Elstree and City of London College. He qualified as a chartered accountant with Dixon Wilson & Co in 1969, before taking up the position of Management Accountant at BOC Ltd. He moved to the Charterhouse Group plc in 1973 and became Group Treasurer, before being appointed Finance Manager of Charter Consolidated plc in 1984. In 1986, John Coombe joined Glaxo Holdings as Group Financial Controller and, in 1992, was appointed Finance Director. He continued in this role through Glaxo’s transformational mergers withWelcome and SmithKline Beecham, becoming Chief Financial Officer of GlaxoSmithKline plc in 2000. He retired from GlaxoSmithKline in March 2005. John Coombe joined the Board of GUS in April 2005. His other business appointments include member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG, non-executive director of HSBC Holdings plc, Chairman of Hogg Robinson plc and member of the Code Committee of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers. Until 2003, he was a member of the UK Accounting Standards Board. He is also a trustee of the Royal Academy of Arts Trust, where he chairs the audit committee. |
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Terry Duddy (50) |
Don Robert (47) |
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Terry Duddy began his career at Letraset in 1978, initially in personnel management and later in product management. He joined the Dixons Stores Group in 1984, where he held various commercial positions, including Sales Director of Currys, Product Marketing Director of the Dixons Stores Group and, latterly, Managing Director of PC World. Terry Duddy joined GUS in August 1998 as Chief Executive of the newly acquired Argos, becoming a director of GUS later that year. In 2000 he was appointed Chief Executive of the Argos Retail Group. |
Don Robert graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Business Administration. He began his career with U.S. Bancorp, a multi-state bank holding company, where he held positions of increasing responsibility over 15 years. From there he joined Credco, Inc., the nation’s largest specialist credit reporting company, as President. In 1995, Credco was acquired by First American Corporation and over the next six years Don Robert held positions as Executive Vice President of Mortgage Origination Services and President of First American’s Consumer Information and Services Group. In 2001, Don Robert joined Experian from First American, becoming Chief Executive Officer of Experian North America in December 2002. In February 2005, he took responsibility for Experian globally as Chief Executive Officer of Experian Group. Don Robert joined the Board of GUS in April 2005. His other business appointments include director and compensation committee chairman of First Advantage Corporation, member of the Chapman University Board of Counselors and past Chairman of the Consumer Data Industry Association. |
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Frank Newman (64) (USA) |
Oliver Stocken (64) |
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Frank Newman, who joined the Board of GUS in 2001, is Chairman Emeritus of Bankers Trust Corporation, having served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 1999. He now serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Shenzhen Development Bank. Before joining Bankers Trust, Mr Newman was the Deputy Secretary of the United States Treasury Department. He served in the Treasury Department from early 1993 until late 1995. As Deputy Secretary, Mr Newman was the number two officialand Chief Operating Officer of the department. Previously, Mr Newman spent six years with BankAmerica Corporation, where he was Chief Financial Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Board. Prior to joining BankAmerica in 1986, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Wells Fargo Bank. Mr Newman is a director of Dow Jones & Company and Shenzhen Development Bank. He is a member of the advisory board of Renault and Nissan. He is also a board member of three public-purpose organisations: the Carnegie Hall Society, Cornell University Weill Medical College, and MDRC (public policy research). |
After qualifying with Arthur Andersen, Oliver Stocken became a director of NM Rothschild & Sons and subsequently Managing Director of Barclays Australia and of Barclays Merchant Bank in London. At the inception of BZW Holdings in 1986 he was a member of the Board, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 1990 and later Finance Director. In May 1993 he became Group Finance Director, Barclays PLC, finishing this role in September 1999. Oliver Stocken was appointed to the Board of GUS in April 2000 and chairs the Remuneration Committee. He is Deputy Chairman of 3i plc and a non-executive director of Standard Chartered plc, Pilkington plc, Rutland Trust plc and Stanhope plc. Oliver Stocken is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Natural History Museum; Council Member and Treasurer of the Royal College of Art; Treasurer and Member of the Committee of the MCC, and Trustee of the Henley River & Rowing Museum. |