BSI Board

Sir David Brown joined the Board as Non-executive Director in May 2010 and became Chairman in March 2012. He was Chairman of Motorola Ltd from 1997 to 2008 and was also Motorola’s Global Governance Advisor. A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, he was President of the Federation of the Electronics Industry and President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. He was the first President of the Chartered Quality Institute, during which time it secured its Royal Charter status. He is Non-executive Director of TTG Global Group Ltd.

Howard Kerr was appointed to the Board in November 2008 and assumed the position of Chief Executive in January 2009. After a period at Associated British Ports, his early career was spent in business development roles in the fields of shipping, logistics and B2B marketing with Inchcape PLC in the UK, Japan, China and the Middle East.  Subsequently he joined SHV Holdings NV, where he held general management positions in the energy division, including Chief Executive of Calor Group Ltd, UK, and Senior Vice-president on the International Management Board of SHV Gas in the Netherlands.

Craig Smith joined the Board as Group Finance Director in August 2011. A Chartered Certified Accountant, he began his career in 1985 with Coats Viyella PLC, undertaking finance roles in Australia, Spain, the UK, Morocco, Hungary and Finland. On his return to the UK in 1997 he was European Finance Director for two large American corporations in the product identification and printing ink industries. Immediately prior to joining BSI he was Group Finance Director of two UK-listed companies, Huntleigh Technology PLC from 2003 to 2007 and Management Consulting Group PLC from 2007 onwards.

Scott Steedman joined the Group in January 2012 and was appointed to the Board in October 2012. An engineer by background, he started his career at Cambridge University before moving to industry where he spent over 20 years working for consulting and contracting companies on major infrastructure and building projects around the world. Elected Vice-president Policy for the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) in November 2012, he is a former Vice-president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Royal Academy of Engineering, where he continues to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the Academy’s flagship magazine, Ingenia.

Lucinda Riches was appointed advisor to the Board in May 2011, Non-executive Director in May 2012 and Senior Non-executive Director in October 2015. She was an investment banker for over 20 years at SG Warburg and its successor firms, ultimately as Global Head of Equity Capital Markets and a Board Member at UBS Investment Bank. She is Non-executive Director of UK Financial Investments Limited, which manages the UK Government’s investments in financial institutions. She is also Non-executive Director of the Diverse Income Trust PLC, the Graphite Enterprise Trust PLC, CRH PLC, on the Partnership Board of King and Wood Mallesons LLP, and a Trustee of Sue Ryder.

Douglas Hurt joined the Board in November 2015 as Non-executive Director. Douglas started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. From there he joined the GlaxoSmithKline Group, where he held many senior roles including Managing Director, Glaxo Wellcome UK. In 2006 he joined IMI PLC and was Group Finance Director until February 2015. He is currently Non-executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Tate & Lyle PLC and Vesuvius PLC.

Alicja Lesniak was appointed Board Advisor in October 2014 and Non-executive Director in June 2015. She has broad experience on a global level of the financial and commercial management of fast growing professional service businesses, having held senior positions at Arthur Andersen & Co., where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant, J Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather at WPP Group PLC and then Omnicom before latterly being Chief Financial Officer of Aegis Group PLC from 2007 to 2009. She is Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Channel 4 Television Corporation and, in addition, Senior Non-executive Director at Next Fifteen Communications Group PLC.

Stephen Page joined the Board in September 2015 as Non-executive Director. Stephen has a wealth of experience in IT transformation and corporate risks such as cyber security and counter-terrorism. At Accenture he had a variety of European and global leadership roles including Managing Director, Strategic IT Effectiveness. For the past ten years he has held a portfolio of Board and senior advisory positions. He is currently a Non-executive Director of the National Crime Agency and of the British Library, and advises a number of companies facing the risks and opportunities of the digital age.

Alison Wood joined the Board in September 2014 as Non-executive Director. She spent nearly 20 years at BAE Systems PLC in a number of strategy and leadership roles, including that of Group Strategic Director, and was the Global Director of Strategy and Corporate Development at National Grid PLC from 2008 to 2013. She has held Non-executive Director positions with BTG PLC and Thus Group PLC and is currently Non-executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at Cobham PLC, Costain PLC and TT Electronics PLC and Senior Independent Director of e2v PLC.

Grainne Brankin joined BSI as General Counsel and Company Secretary in July 2017. She is a UK qualified solicitor with extensive international experience as a strategic advisor, legal team leader and corporate lawyer. After qualifying at Clifford Chance, Grainne worked as a commercial lawyer in London and Paris specialising in telecoms and technology sectors and then spent nearly 10 years with Yahoo! Inc in various senior legal roles. Her experience includes General Counsel and Company Secretary roles at UK listed, US multinational and private-equity owned companies.