The Co-operative Group appoints Lord Myners to lead governance review
The Co-operative Group has appointed former Treasury minister Lord Myners to chair its governance review.
In a statement, the group said that Lord Myners had joined its board as a senior independent director. He has also been appointed to chair the Co-operative Group’s current governance review, which is looking in detail at the group’s democracy and how the board is constituted and chaired.
A former financial services minister in the Treasury, his previous roles include chairman of Marks & Spencer, deputy chairman of PowerGen, chairman of The Guardian Media Group and chairman of Land Securities.
Lord Myners is a member of the House of Lords and current roles include the non-executive chairmanships of Cevian Capital and Autonomous. In addition, he is the former chairman of the Low Pay Commission and previously undertook a review on governance of mutuals for the Treasury.
Never Miss a Retail Update!His appointment follows last month’s scandal surrounding disgraced former Co-operative Bank chairman Paul Flowers.
Euan Sutherland, group chief executive of The Co-operative Group, said: “I am delighted that Paul has agreed to join the Board and I look forward to working closely with him. He brings significant and valuable experience across a number of fields and will be a great asset as we work through the final stages of the recapitalisation of the Bank and move to take the wider group to the next phase of its development. His leadership on the governance review will be crucial.
“I lead a dynamic, new management team and we have already started to make real progress on the important work of rebuilding the group, having stabilised the Bank. What our customers, colleagues and wider membership base needs is an organisation and a business that they can be proud of again and I believe that Paul has a key role to play in helping us deliver that.”
Ursula Lidbetter, chair of The Co-operative Group, added: “The appointment of Paul Myners to the Board marks a significant strengthening of our ranks. Our rules allow for the appointment of independent non-executive directors to strengthen the elected Board members, and now is the right time to make that move. We are delighted that Paul has also agreed to chair our governance review.
“We have made it clear that we need to modernise and to embed the very best standards of corporate governance – while also ensuring that the voices of all our members and customers resonate through the business. Paul is ideally placed to oversee that work given his extensive experience across business and public life.”
Meanwhile the group has also announced that its looking to appoint two additional independent non-executive directors to add to the mix of skills and experience on the Board.
