Peter Gershon

Last updated

Peter Gershon
Born (1947-01-10) 10 January 1947 (age 77)
Alma mater University of Cambridge
OccupationBusinessman
Children3

Sir Peter Oliver Gershon, KBE , FREng (born 10 January 1947) is a British businessman and former civil servant, former chairman of Tate & Lyle, and since January 2012, Chairman of the FTSE 100 company National Grid. [1] He is chiefly known for conducting the Gershon Review in 2004/2005 which recommended savings across the UK's public services and for being an adviser to the Conservative Party during the run up to the 2010 General Election. He has also been Chair of the Office of Government Commerce as well as sitting on the boards of several well known companies and organisations.

Contents

Early career

He was educated initially at Reigate Grammar School [2] and graduated from Cambridge University with a First in Mathematics in 1969. Gershon then joined International Computers Limited and worked in the computer industry for seventeen years, before holding senior line managerial positions in the telecommunications industry between 1987 and 1994. In 1994 he was appointed the main board director of GEC plc, where he had responsibility for the company's worldwide defence business.

In November 1998 the Paymaster General and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office asked him "to review civil procurement in Central Government in the light of the Government's objectives on efficiency, modernisation and competitiveness". His report on this work was published in April 1999. [3]

Civil service career

Gershon joined the Civil Service in April 2000 as the first Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce, where he was given a remit to implement a programme to reform the way the British government handles the annual budget of public procurement. In August 2003 he was invited to lead a major review of efficiency across the whole UK public sector by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown. The Gershon Review was completed in 2004/2005 and was intended to lead to significant savings in public spending by 2007/2008.

Return to the private sector

He returned to the private sector after four years of public service, and is currently Chairman of Premier Farnell plc. and Symbian Ltd. He has also led a review of Ministerial and Royal Air Travel, is a non-executive director of HM Treasury, and a member of the councils of the Royal Academy of Engineering [4] and Imperial College London. In addition, he is an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the Association for Project Management; and a Fellow [5] of the Royal Academy of Engineering, [6] the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute; and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Technology from Kingston University.

Conservative Party adviser

Along with another former government adviser, Dr Martin Read, Gershon became a member of the Conservatives' Public Sector Productivity Advisory Board. In the run up to the 2010 General Election, this Board claimed that savings of £12 billion in spending could be collectively saved across all Government departments without affecting the quality of front line services. The body also claimed to have identified £6bn in efficiency savings which would allow the Conservatives to avoid the Labour Party's planned rises in National Insurance contributions in 2010. [7]

Honours

Gershon was appointed a CBE for his services to industry in 2000 and knighted in 2004 for his work on public procurement. In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). [8]

Personal life

Gershon is married with three children. His hobbies include skiing, swimming, reading, travel and the theatre. He is the second cousin once removed of Daniel Radcliffe.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">General Electric Company</span> British engineering company (1886–1999)

The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Maude</span> British Conservative politician

Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude, Baron Maude of Horsham, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2010 to 2015. He also served in several posts while the Conservatives were in opposition, notably as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Chairman of the Conservative Party. Maude was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Warwickshire from 1983 to 1992 and then for Horsham from 1997 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Olver</span>

Sir Richard Lake Olver FREng was the chairman of BAE Systems, one of the world's largest defence contractors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of Government Commerce</span> Former UK Government Office

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) was a UK Government Office established as part of HM Treasury in 2000. It was moved into the Efficiency and Reform Group of the Cabinet Office in 2010, before being closed in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson</span> British businessman and former politician

Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced Ian Pearson. In June 2009 he was additionally appointed as Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform at the Ministry of Defence. After losing his ministerial positions in the General Election 2010 he decided to devote himself totally towards his motorsports company Drayson Racing Technology. He is chairman and CEO of Drayson Technologies Ltd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chow Chung-kong</span>

Sir Chung-kong Chow, FREng, FCGI, FIChemE, also known as Chow Chung-kong and C.K. Chow, is a Hong Kong businessman and government appointee. He is currently chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority and is a former non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong. He was also chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which owns the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Sir Peter Leahy Bonfield is a business executive who has led a number of companies in the fields of electronics, computers and communications. Currently a director of several companies in the USA, Europe and the Far East, he was formerly chief executive of ICL and more recently of BT Group. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Marketing Society and the Royal Society of Arts. He is a Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, Freeman of the City of London, Honorary Citizen of Dallas, Texas and Member of the Pilgrims of Great Britain.

John Pix Weston CBE FREng is a British businessman.

The Gershon Efficiency Review was a review of efficiency in the UK public sector conducted in 2003-4 by Sir Peter Gershon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Armitt</span> English civil engineer

Sir John Alexander Armitt is an English civil engineer, and current chairman of the UK's National Infrastructure Commission.

Vice Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, was a senior officer of the Royal Navy who served as Chief of Defence Procurement at the UK Ministry of Defence from 1996 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mouchel</span> UK business services company

Mouchel Group, originally known as L. G. Mouchel & Partners Ltd, was an infrastructure and business services company headquartered in Woking, United Kingdom. It provided advisory, design, project delivery and managed services associated with infrastructure and business services across the highways and transportation, local government, emergency services, property, health, education and utility markets across the world.

Ian Cleland Ritchie, is a Scottish businessman specialising in the information technology sector.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Cleevely</span> British businessman and academic (born 1953)

David Douglas Cleevely CBE FREng FIET is a British entrepreneur and international telecoms expert who has built and advised many companies, principally in Cambridge, UK.

Sir John Robin Ibbs, was an English business executive, government advisor and Royal Navy officer. He was Chairman of Lloyds Bank from 1993 to 1997 and of Lloyds TSB Group PLC from 1995 to 1997 and also served as Margaret Thatcher’s part time adviser from 1983–1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Parker (businessman)</span> Businessman from the United Kingdom, born 1942

Sir Thomas John Parker is a British businessman. He is chairman of Laing O'Rourke and former chairman of Pennon Group, a director of Carnival Corporation & plc and lead non-executive director at the Cabinet Office. He has been a director or chairman of numerous other public companies including Airbus, Anglo American plc, Babcock International, British Gas, DP World, Lattice Group, National Grid plc and Ombu Group. He is a past president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, patron at the Centre for Process Innovation and a Visiting Fellow of the University of Oxford.

Sir Robin Buchanan Nicholson is a British industrial metallurgist and academic, who served as Chief Scientific Adviser, Cabinet Office, from 1983 to 1985. He then joined the board of Rolls-Royce plc, where he served until 2005. He was also a non-executive board member of BP plc and Pilkington plc.

Sir David Evan Naunton Davies is a British electrical engineer and educator, knighted for services to science and technology in the 1994 New Year Honours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Morrell</span> English chartered quantity surveyor

Paul Dring Morrell is an English chartered quantity surveyor. Formerly senior partner of Davis Langdon, he was, from November 2009 to November 2012, the UK Government's first Chief Construction Adviser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Read</span> British businessman (born 1950)

Sir Martin Peter Read, is a British businessman who has been Chairman of the Senior Salaries Review Body since January 2015, and Chairman of Wincanton plc since 2018.

References

  1. ↑ Nationalgrid.com
  2. ↑ "Sir Peter Gershon | Reform".
  3. ↑ Gershon, P. (1999), Review of Ciivil Procurement in Central Government, published 21 April 1999, accessed 21 April 2021
  4. ↑ "List of Fellows".
  5. ↑ "List of Fellows".
  6. ↑ "List of Fellows".
  7. ↑ Wintour, Patrick (6 April 2010). "Conservatives accused of sleight of hand over NHS savings". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  8. ↑ "List of Fellows".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.