Cahn at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2013

Sir Andrew Thomas Cahn, KCMG (born 1 April 1951) is a non-executive director of Nomura, chair of the board of governors of Birkbeck, University of London,[1] and a former senior civil servant.[2]

Career

In January 2011, Cahn stepped down after five years in charge of UK Trade & Investment, the government department that promotes exports and attracts foreign direct investment. Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: "Andrew has been a wonderful chief executive of UK Trade & Investment and a fantastic ambassador for the UK. He has been central to the Government’s efforts to make Britain an attractive place to invest and to sell Britain to the world."

After stepping down, Cahn took on a number of non-executive directorships, including Nomura Group, Lloyd's of London and Huawei[3] and pro-bono roles including WWF[4] and the Institute for Government.

Career summary:

Personal life/family

Cahn is the son of one of the founders of Materials Science, Robert W. Cahn FRS. He was educated at Bedales School and then Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1st class Hons).

He is married to Virginia Beardshaw, who was Chief Executive of I Can, the children's communications charity; they have one daughter, and two sons.

Affiliations

Cahn is a trustee of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation[5] and a governor and member of the Executive Committee of the Institute for Government.[6] And Independent Director of Huawei Technologies (UK) [7]

He was previously a trustee of the Arvon Foundation, a member of the Government's Financial Services Trade and Investment Board, Board member of CityUK, Chair of the City of London's International Trade and Investment Group, a member of the Advisory Council of the Rector of the University of the Arts, an Association Member of BUPA and a member of the Governing Board of Business for New Europe. He has also served as trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, where he was Chairman of their Audit Committee, and of Japan Society. Cahn was chair of WWF (UK), a member of the global Board of WWF and Chair of the Audit Committee from April 2014 -June 2020.[8]

He was also formerly a non-executive director at Cadbury Ltd and a Governor of Bedales School.

Honours

Already a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), Cahn was elevated to Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[9]

Controversy

Cahn encountered controversy in January 2011, when an internal email he had sent saying the FCO wished to find ways to spend up to its 2010/11 budget ceiling, was leaked to the Daily Mail. In the email, Cahn said: "The FCO is heading for an underspend and wants to get money out of the door."[10]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Birkbeck appoints Sir Andrew Cahn as Chair of Governors".
  2. ↑ "Sir Andrew Cahn, KCMG". Debrett's People of Today. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Huawei appoints three non-executive directors to UK board
  4. ↑ New Chair of our Board of Trustees, wwf.org.uk. Accessed 29 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Key People | Gatsby".
  6. ↑ "StackPath".
  7. ↑ "HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES (UK) CO., LTD. People - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
  8. ↑ "WWF appoints Tesco's Dave Lewis as Chair of the Board of Trustees".
  9. ↑ "No. 58929". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2008. p. 2.
  10. ↑ "Department chief's dilemma: how best to spend a spare £1m?". The Guardian. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
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