A University of Strathclyde alumna, and two Visiting Professors at the University, have been appointed to a council of business leaders established to support economic growth in the UK.
Alumna Anita Frew, Chair of Rolls Royce, is among the 28 members of the Business Council, along with fellow alumna Dr Lena Wilson, Chair of AGS Airports and Picton Property and Visiting Professor in Strathclyde Business School; and Keith Anderson, Chief Executive of ScottishPower and Visiting Professor in Strathclyde’s Department of Accounting & Finance.
The Council, launched by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and co-chaired by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, will work in partnership with the UK Government, helping to drive a high productivity, high growth economy over the next 12 months and level up local economies around the country.
The Council will support the UK’s recovery from COVID-19 and prioritise delivering the green industrial revolution, creating new jobs and developing a skilled workforce, and unlocking global investment. It will retain and implement the three core pillars of the Plan for Growth framework – infrastructure, innovation, and skills – against which Council members will continue to translate goals into measurable action.
Strathclyde Principal Professor Sir Jim McDonald said: “It is very gratifying to see successful Strathclyde alumnae and honorary staff members earning their place on an advisory body which will play a major role in guiding and informing the UK’s economic future.
“Their vast experience in business and industry makes them all ideally qualified for their appointments to the Business Council. Its focus on innovation, skills, economic growth and net zero reflects Strathclyde’s mission of finding solutions to urgent global challenges and we remain committed to pursuing these goals.”
Mr Johnson said: “Harnessing the extraordinary powers of our new Business Council, together we will knuckle down on creating new high skilled, high wage jobs, driving innovation in science and tech, and mobilising investment to deliver the green industrial revolution – all while levelling up and securing the UK as the best place to do business.”
Mr Sunak said: “We’re investing billions in innovation, infrastructure and skills to release the potential of the whole of the UK and ensure the UK continues to be the most attractive place in the world to do business. This new Business Council will help drive this vision forward and ensure our Plan for Growth is delivered successfully – levelling up across the country and powering a high growth, high productivity economy.”
Mr Anderson is among the Business Council members quoted in the UK Government’s announcement. He said: “Speeding up the journey to Net Zero is at the heart of everything we do. Taking our cue from the vision set out in the Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, we’re leading the way in investing in renewable power and grid infrastructure so that everyone can benefit from decarbonisation.
“We’re committed to ensuring the economic benefits of net zero are felt in local communities right across the UK.”
Ms Frew graduated with a BA in Business from Strathclyde in 1978 and was appointed Chair of Rolls-Royce in 2021. She was previously Chair of science, technology and chemicals group Croda and a non-executive director of global resources company BHP Group.
Dr Wilson gained an MBA from Strathclyde in 1992. She was Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise from 2009 to 2017 and has been a FTSE 100 non-executive director for more than a decade. She was appointed a CBE in 2015 for services to economic development in Scotland and received an honorary degree from Strathclyde in 2016.
Before taking up his current post with ScottishPower, Mr Anderson was CEO of ScottishPower Renewables and led the international offshore business of energy company Iberdrola. He previously worked with financial institutions including the Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life and was a management consultant with E&Y.