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Digby JonesSir Digby Jones LLB (hon.s), D.Univ, D.Litt. CIMgt, FRI (born 1955) is the Director-General of the CBI. Before the CBI He was born in Birmingham on 28 October 1955, he won a major scholarship to Bromsgrove School and gained a 2:1 honours degree in law at University College, London. After some time in the Royal Navy, he started his career with corporate law firm Edge & Ellison in 1978, making partner in 1984. It was in corporate finance and client development that he made his name and he was responsible for developing the firm's London presence and establishing representation in many European countries and several states in America. He was also involved in most of the major management buy-outs and merger and acquisition activity in the West Midlands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was made deputy senior partner in 1990 and senior partner in 1995. In 1998 he joined KPMG as vice-chairman of corporate finance, where he acted as close adviser to many public companies across the United Kingdom and in KPMG's global markets. His Role at the CBI He became Director-General of the CBI on 1 January 2000 to serve a five-year non-renewable term of office. In September 2003 this was extended at the request of CBI members to seven years, his term now ending on 31 December 2006. As the chief executive of the UK's 'voice of business', he regularly and repeatedly visits businesses around the UK and across the world, taking their views back to those who make the rules. He appears regularly on television and radio and in the newspapers, promoting the interests of wealth and job creation in the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond. He has taken the British business message to over 55 different countries since being appointed. Other Work He is the senior independent director of iSOFT plc (2000), the application product manufacturer for the international healthcare market, non-executive director of Alba plc (2003), the consumer electronics manufacturer; chairman of the unlisted etrinsic plc (2003), a specialist in print and supply chain management; non-executive director of unlisted mhl support plc (2004), the provider of solutions in the health & safety arena, a director of Business in the Community (2000); a member of the Advisory Board of the Commonwealth Education Fund (2000), director of Knigswinter (2003), a board member of Visit Britain (2003), a Commissioner for the Commission for Racial Equality (2003) and President of the Tourism Alliance (2001). He is also a member of the National Learning and Skills Council (2002), a vice-president of UNICEF (2002), a fellow of the RSA (2001), a fellow of the Royal Institution (2002), a Companion of the Institute of Management (2000), a full member of the Aston Reinvestment Trust (2003), making social investment for Birmingham. He is a Fellow of University College London (2004) and an honorary doctor of the University of Central England (2002), the University of Birmingham (2002), the University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology (2003) and Honorary Fellow of Cardiff University (2004). Charity Work He is a vice-president of Birmingham Hospice, a patron of the Why My Child Appeal, a patron of Hospice of Hope, Romania, a patron of Canning House Library Appeal and a member of the National Trust, a corporate ambassador and member of the Royal British Legion and a Freeman of the City of London. He sits on the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Development Trust and is a director of the Orchestra of the Swan in Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1998, as chairman of the Birmingham Hospice Appeal which raised 1.5m, he personally raised 218,000 towards their target by cycling from John O'Groats to Lands End. Home Life, Hobbies and Knighthood Digby Jones is married to Pat. They live in Marylebone and Warwickshire. He enjoys the theatre, skiing, football, rugby and has more than a passing interest in military history. It was announced in the New Year's Honours list of 31 December 2004 that Jones was to be knighted. Reproduced by kind permission of the CBI Jones, Digby Jones, Digby
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