Sir Ian's executive career was spent mainly in the automotive industry, with 17 years at Nissan Motor Company where he was Chief Executive in the UK and Europe, and was on the Japanese Main Board. During his career at Nissan Ian was Chair of various subsidiaries including Nissan Motor Iberica and was an Advisor to the President of Nissan Mexico. He lead the development and roll-out of new sizes and models of Nissan vehicles globally and was the European Leader of the Nissan/Renault Alliance which is the most successful joint venture of its kind in the automotive industry. Prior to joining Nissan, Ian was at Ford Motor Company for 15 years in a range of industrial relations, manufacturing and operations roles in the UK, Germany and Spain.
In his Non-executive career, Ian has been a Non-executive Chair of Trinity Mirror plc, Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc and BPB plc, Deputy Chair at ASDA plc and a Non-executive Director at several companies, including GKN plc, Northern Rock plc and Greggs plc. Ian has also been a Member of the Court of Directors at the Bank of England and has had several Government advisory roles. He is currently Non-executive Chair of Norbrook, a leading global provider of veterinary pharmaceuticals, and an Independent Non-executive Member of the Public Interest Body of the UK firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Ian was made a CBE in 1990 and was knighted in 1999 for services to manufacturing. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), a former Governor of London Business School and Newcastle University and a former President of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Born and educated in Manchester, Ian graduated with a BSc in Pure and Applied Physics from The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology; he also has Honorary Degrees from the University of Sunderland and York St John University.
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