Speaker of the Year 2008 - Baron Jones of Birmingham
Digby Jones has been selected by the Association of Speakers Clubs as the 2008 Speaker of the Year. Now Lord Jones (but still better known as Digby Jones), he became widely known from 2000 through 2006 as the Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, the British ‘Voice of Business’.
In this role he regularly visited companies in the United Kingdom and worldwide, taking the British business message to 70 different countries and meeting political, business and media figures, in this country and abroad, on regular bases.
Lord Jones is recognised as a powerful public speaker with definite – often controversial – opinions. For example, as Director General of the CBI, he expressed unorthodox views on climate change, noting that “…the next Bill Gates will be the deliverer of a highly technological solution to some of our climate change challenges; I want them to be British”. He also regarded trades unions as “…an irrelevance: they are backward looking and not on today’s agenda”.
Digby Jones considered running for Mayor of London, after being encouraged by a group of prominent businessmen – he was also approached by the Conservative Party to be their official candidate, but he rejected their proposal. In December 2006, he was appointed by then Chancellor Gordon Brown to be the UK's Skills Envoy, and he has also held several advisory positions in the private sector, including Barclays Capital, Ford, Deloitte and J. C. Bamford (JCB).
Since June 2007, Lord Jones has been Minister of State at the newly created Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, as well as at the Foreign Office.
On accepting the appointment, he made clear that, although he had criticised the government in the past, it would be wrong to pass up the opportunity of helping put business at the heart of a new administration: “I am absolutely delighted to get the chance to just put wealth and job creation right in the middle of decision-making.”
He has been created a life peer as Baron Jones of Birmingham, of Alvechurch and of Bromsgrove in the County of Worcestershire: he styles himself Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham. He has taken up the Labour whip in the House of Lords but has not joined the Labour Party.
Lord Jones is a Corporate Ambassador for Cancer Research UK and a Fellow of UNICEF. He is President of the Diversity Works initiative – a programme led by the disability organisation Scope - and a Diamond Ambassador for Mencap's WorkRight initiative, designed to spread the message of equality for disabled people. He is also a Vice-President of Birmingham Hospice, and a Patron of Lifecycle UK, a Director of Leicester Rugby Football Club and a fan of Aston Villa Football Club.
He was educated at Bromsgrove School where he was Head Boy, and read Law at University College London. After a spell in the Royal Navy, Digby worked in corporate law, before joining consultants KPMG in 1998. He is now President of the University College London Campaign, a visiting professor at the University of Hull Business School, Chairman of the Birmingham University Business School Advisory Board, and has received honorary doctorates from many universities.
The dinner in Digby Jones’ honour will be at the Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington on Saturday 22nd November. The organiser is Richard Johnson who may be contacted at richard.johnson@cfcltd.freeserve.co.uk or at 51 Wilmington Way, Brighton BN1 8JG. Costs are £39 (cheques payable to the ASC). Further details and bookings forms will be issued later.
The Speaker of the Year Dinner 2007
The Speaker of the Year Dinner is one of the highlights of the ASC calendar, where a nationally or internationally renowned personality, chosen by the membership of ASC, is honoured by the ASC and invited to speak at the annual dinner.
For details about the speakers and the events please follow the links in the sidebar
The Speaker of the Year for 2007 was The Most Reverend and Right Honourable, Dr John Sentamu, The Archbishop of York.
Dr Sentamu with ASC National President Gwyn Redgers (left) and National Vice President Joe James (right)