Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023, the borough merged with Eden and South Lakeland districts to form a new unitary authority: Westmorland and Furness. At the tip of the Furness peninsula, close to the Lake District, it is bordered by Morecambe Bay, the Duddon Estuary and the Irish Sea. In 2011, Barrow's population was 56,745, making it the second largest urban area in Cumbria after Carlisle, and the largest in the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority.
Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the 12th largest defence contractor in the world based on 2020 revenues. The company is partially owned by the Italian government, which holds 30.2% of the company's shares and is its largest shareholder.
Julia Elizabeth King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, is a British engineer and a crossbench member of the House of Lords, where she chairs the Select Committee on Science and Technology. She is the incumbent chair of the Carbon Trust and the Henry Royce Institute, and was the vice-chancellor of Aston University from 2006 to 2016.
Sir Richard Lake Olver FREng was the chairman of BAE Systems, one of the world's largest defence contractors.
Edmund John Phillip Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley, is a British businessman.
Michael John Turner CBE is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the aerospace and defence company BAE Systems, and current chairman of Babcock International and prior to the hostile takeover by Melrose was chairman of GKN plc.
Sir David Grant is a British academic who was the vice-chancellor of Cardiff University in Wales from 2001 to 2012. Following his appointment, Grant oversaw the merger between Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine, which was completed in 2004, and the award of university status to Cardiff.
Furness College is a college of further education in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. It provides a wide range of A levels, vocational education and skills training to over 16s, notably working with BAE Systems to train apprentices for their shipyard in Barrow. The college also offers courses for adults, and runs HNDs and other higher education programmes including foundation degrees, degrees and master's degrees, for which it achieved Teaching Excellence Framework silver status in June 2017. It is the only college in Barrow and the largest further education college in Cumbria. On 1 August 2016, Furness College merged with Barrow Sixth Form College.
Sir Peter Michael Williams, is a British physicist.
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.
Sir John Alexander Armitt is an English civil engineer, and current chairman of the UK's National Infrastructure Commission.
David Warren Arthur East is a British businessman and engineer. He is a former chief executive officer (CEO) of Rolls-Royce Holdings, a leading UK-based engine manufacturer, and previously held senior positions at ARM Holdings and Texas Instruments.
Ralf Dieter Speth is a German automotive executive and a director of Indian company Tata Sons since 2016. From 2010 to 2020, he was the chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover. He has also had roles with BMW, Linde and Ford's Premier Automotive Group. Since 2022, Speth is the chairman of Indian Automaker TVS Motor Company.
Colin P. Smith CBE FRS FREng FRAeS FIMechE was director of engineering and technology at Rolls-Royce plc.
Melanie Georgina Lee CBE is an English pharmaceutical industry executive and CEO of LifeArc, succeeding Dave Tapolczay in November 2018.
Satish Kumar Kaura is an Indian technocrat, industrialist and the founder of Samtel Group, where he holds the post of the chairman. He is also the chairman and managing director of Samcor Glass Limited and the executive director of Samtel Colour Limited. An elected Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE), Kaura is the first recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2004, for his contributions to Indian industrial sector.
Colin Stephen Matthews CBE FREng is a British businessman, and the Chairman of Highways England, a position he has held since 2014; and EDF Energy.
Dame Emma Natasha Walmsley is the chief executive officer (CEO) of GlaxoSmithKline. She succeeded Sir Andrew Witty, who retired in March 2017. Before GSK, she worked for L'Oréal for 17 years, and was a non-executive director of Diageo until September 2016. She grew up in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England.
Ramon Martin Chavez is an American investment banker and entrepreneur. He is vice chairman and partner of Sixth Street Partners. Previously, he served in a variety of senior roles at Goldman Sachs, including chief information officer (2014–2017), chief financial officer, and global co-head of the firm's Securities Division. Marty was also a partner and member of Goldman's management committee. He was the chief technology officer and co-founder of Quorum Software Systems and CEO and co-founder of Kiodex. He is chairman of the board of computational pharmaceutical company Recursion, Board Observer of biotech company Earli and longevity biopharma company Cambrian Biopharma, and board member of Alphabet Inc.
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.
