For immediate release

Crown Agents, the not for profit international development company, has appointed Baroness (Lucy) Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG as its new Chair of the Board. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, a former Treasury minister and previously a board director of Tesco plc, will take over in December from Marie Staunton CBE who has been Chair since 2015.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe has sat as a Conservative peer since 2013 and is a prominent speaker on issues affecting business. A former senior civil servant, Baroness Neville-Rolfe brings to her role at Crown Agents an understanding of commercial agility from her 16 years at Tesco and of the challenges of turning policy into delivery from her years as a government minister including as Commercial Secretary at HM Treasury between 2016 and 2017. She also served as a non-executive member of the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office Management Board between 2000 and 2005.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe’s extensive experience at the heart of the British Government and business will be a major asset to Crown Agents which works in more than 60 countries delivering health and humanitarian programmes, providing supply chain and procurement expertise and helping to build the capacity of national governments to meet their citizens’ needs.

Recently Crown Agents has worked closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on the response to COVID-19, delivering over 4.5 million items of Personal Protective Equipment across the globe to vulnerable populations across the Overseas Territories and more than 50 countries. Crown Agents is now gearing up for the challenges of vaccine distribution to vulnerable populations, focussing on practical delivery solutions at scale. In its wider international development role, Crown Agents will utilise its expertise and global network to align with the FCDO’s vision of being a ‘force for good’ on the global stage and to support countries around the globe to deal with COVID-19 and its aftermath whilst continuing to work towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Baroness Neville-Rolfe said: “I am delighted to be joining Crown Agents at this pivotal moment. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the international community can work flexibly and quickly to put resources where they are most needed to respond to critical threats. This creates real opportunities to resolve the most pressing global challenges of our time, such as climate change and the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. I very much look forward to using my government and commercial experience to help Crown Agents boost its capability even further in future years.”

Fergus Drake, Crown Agents CEO, said: “I am thrilled to welcome Baroness Neville-Rolfe to Crown Agents at this important time. She has shown leadership throughout her career in bringing together the best of government expertise and business acumen. I greatly look forward to working closely with her as we respond to the rising challenge of climate change and the delivery of the SDGs.”

Contact Person for press enquiries: Ms Anna Schuesterl, Senior Communications and Marketing Manager Email: comms.team@crownagents.co.uk

Notes for Editors

About Crown Agents

Crown Agents is a not-for-profit international development company, with decades of experience supporting governments, working in some of the most difficult contexts in the world and focusing on the most vulnerable in society.

Crown Agents work reaches over 120 million people in 60 countries, with expertise in Public Sector Transformation, Humanitarian & Stabilisation, Procurement reform, Last Mile Supply Chain, Health System Strengthening and Training & Professional Development.

Capitalizing on the opportunity to ‘build back better’ and boost climate resilience in the aftermath of COVID-19, the organisation also helps partner countries transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient economies to mitigate against the effects of climate change.

About Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Baroness (Lucy) Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG is a British Conservative peer who served as a minister (2014-17) at the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Culture departments and as Commercial Secretary, HM Treasury (2016-2017).

Previously, Baroness Neville-Rolfe was an executive at Tesco plc (1997-2013), serving on the main Board (2006–2013). Earlier she was a civil servant including in the Policy Unit at 10 Downing St and was Director of the Deregulation Unit in the Cabinet Office.

She is currently a non-executive director of Secure Trust Bank and of Capita plc, a trustee of Thomson-Reuters and the Chair of the UK-ASEAN Business Council. Among her pro bono work she is a non-executive board member of Health Data Research UK.