William James Timpson OBE DL (born 17 September 1971) is a British businessman and philanthropist. He has been CEO of Timpson Group, owned by his father, John Timpson, since 2002. [1]
Timpson attended Uppingham School. He completed a degree in Geography at Durham University before joining the family business. [1]
Known for advocating the employment of former prisoners, he was the Chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFFRR) until 2016, and became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust [1] that same year. He also founded the Employment Advisory Board network across the prison estate, which links prisons with employers to improve the employment opportunities for ex-offenders upon release. [2]
In November 2018, Timpson was selected to co-chair one of five new business councils by the Prime Minister, to advise on how to create the best conditions for UK businesses after Brexit. He was the co-chair of the Small Business, Scale ups and Entrepreneurs Council, alongside Brent Hoberman and Emma Jones [3] .
In March 2021, he was reappointed by the Prime Minister as Trustee of the Tate for a four year period in March 2021. [4] He replaced Jonathon Porritt as Chancellor of Keele University in June 2022. [5]
Timpson wrote a column on business and leadership for The Sunday Times [6] throughout 2021, and this inspired his book The Happy Index: Lessons in Upside-Down Management, which was published in February 2024. [7]
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. The role includes as part of its duties the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Antony Harold Newton, Baron Newton of Braintree, OBE, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet member. He was the member of Parliament for Braintree from 1974 to 1997, and was later a member of the House of Lords.
Christopher Stephen Grayling is a British politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Justice from 2012 to 2015, Leader of the House of Commons from 2015 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Transport from 2016 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Epsom and Ewell since 2001. Grayling previously worked in the television and film industry.
Jonathan George SnowHonFRIBA is an English journalist and television presenter. He is best known as the longest-running presenter of Channel 4 News, which he presented from 1989 to 2021. On 29 April 2021, Snow announced his retirement from the role; his final programme aired on 23 December 2021. Although Channel 4's news programming is produced by ITN, Snow was employed directly by the broadcaster.
Christopher Heaton-Harris is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 6 September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Daventry since 2010.
The Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA) is the employers' association for universities and colleges of higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom. It represents universities and HE colleges in national negotiations with the five sector trade unions, government bodies, funding councils and other stakeholders.
Sir Howard John Davies is a British historian and author, who is the chairman of NatWest Group and the former director of the London School of Economics.
Robert (Bob) Wigley, OStJ, BSc, HonDBA, FCA, CCMI, is Chairman of UK Finance, a Non Executive Director of R3 LLC and Lightico Ltd, an Executive Member of Seraphim Space Enterprise LLP and is an investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is author of a book about the effects of technology on Gen Z, Born Digital: The Story of a Distracted generation. He is a non-executive director of the Qatar Financial Centre and chairman of its audit committee. He was a Founding Global Britain Commissioner during its life, is a member of the Trade Advisory Group for Financial Services at the Department for International Trade and a member of the UK's Economic Crime Strategic Board at the Home Office, co-chaired by the Home Secretary and Chancellor. He is a member of the UK's Economic Security Public Private Forum Chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Business and Trade.
The Timpson Group is a British and Irish service retailer that has a number of different brands across its portfolio of 2,100 stores, including Timpson, Max Spielmann, Johnsons The Cleaners, Snappy Snaps, Jeeves of Belgravia, The Watch Lab and Flock Inns.
Christopher James Skidmore is a British former Conservative Party politician and author of popular history who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingswood in South Gloucestershire from 2010 to 2024.
Sir Robert James Buckland is a British politician who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2019 to 2021. He later served as Secretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South Swindon since 2010.
The 2010 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 28 May 2010 at the advice of the outgoing Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. The list was gazetted on 15 June.
Dominic Barton, known as Bao Damin in China, is a Ugandan-born Canadian business executive, author, and diplomat. He is the current chairman of the private investment firm LeapFrog Investments as well as the chancellor of the University of Waterloo. He served as the Canadian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China from 2019 to 2021. Prior to this, Barton was the Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm, from 2009 to 2018 and has previously served as Chairman of Teck Resources and as Non-Executive Director at the Singtel Group in Singapore and Investor AB in Sweden.
Rishi Sunak is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2022. The first British Asian prime minister, he previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, latterly as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. Sunak has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) since 2015.
Oliver James Dowden is a British politician and the current Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. A member of the Conservative Party, he is also Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hertsmere since 2015.
Sir Stuart James Etherington is a British charity executive and former social worker. From 1994 to 2020, he was chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, with the membership base increasing from 400 to over 14,000. He was previously the chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People. He received a knighthood in 2010 in recognition of his work for the voluntary and community sectors.
A number of politicians, public figures, newspapers and magazines, businesses and other organisations endorsed either the United Kingdom remaining in the EU or the United Kingdom leaving the EU during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.
The powers of the prime minister of the United Kingdom come from several sources of the UK constitution, including both statute and constitutional convention, but not one single authoritative document. They have been described as "...problematic to outline definitively."
Lucy Winskell, is a British lawyer who is Pro Vice-Chancellor at Northumbria University. She was awarded an OBE in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List in recognition for her services to Higher Education and the regional economy in the North East. She has served as the Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear since 18 May 2022.