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New Advisory Group to Shareholder Executive announced

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2008/090) issued by The Government News Network on 7 May 2008

The Chairman of the Shareholder Executive, Philip Remnant, has today announced the creation of a new Advisory Group to the Shareholder Executive.

The new group will oversee the work of the Shareholder Executive and will ensure that it fulfils its mission. This will include:

* Ensuring the Shareholder Executive is meeting the objectives set out in its business plan

* Monitoring the Shareholder Executive's impact on its relationship with its portfolio companies, Whitehall departments and external constituencies

* Suggesting improvements in the way the Shareholder Executive operates

* Identifying and learning from the Shareholder Executive's activities.

The members of the group are:

* Claudia Arney: Ex-Director, HM Treasury's Enterprise & Growth Unit

* Dominic Murphy: a partner at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

* Anthony Watson: Non Executive Director of Vodafone.

Philip Remnant said:

"I am delighted to have attracted such distinguished individuals to form our new Advisory Group. They will play an invaluable role in challenging our performance and ensuring that the Shareholder Executive fulfils its mission."

Notes for Editors:

1. The Group is an internal advisory group set up to advise the Chairman of the Shareholder Executive on the work of the Shareholder Executive. The appointments are not ministerial or public appointments and are part-time and unpaid.

2. The Shareholder Executive was formed in 2003 to improve fundamentally the government's performance as a shareholder in businesses. It currently has a portfolio of 27 businesses. It also acts as a source of corporate finance and corporate governance advice across Government.

3. The Shareholder Executive's mission is to ensure that Government is an effective and intelligent shareholder in business. It works with the boards and management teams of Government-owned businesses to create long-term shareholder value.

4. The first meeting will be held on 9 May 2008 and the group will meet approximately 4 times a year.
5. Further appointments may be made in due course.

6. Until February 2008 Claudia Arney was Director of the Enterprise and Growth Unit at HM Treasury. She joined HM Treasury from Goldman Sachs. Prior to working at Goldman Sachs, Claudia was CEO of TheStreet.co.uk, and had worked at Pearson PLC, the Financial Times and McKinsey. She is a Non-Executive Director of Partnerships UK.

7. Dominic Murphy has operated within private equity for over 14 years. He joined KKR in 2005 and currently serves on the board of directors at Alliance Boots. Formerly he was a partner at Cinven.

8. Tony Watson, who retired as Chief Executive of Hermes Pensions Management in January 2006, is currently Chairman of the Marks & Spencer Pension Trust Ltd and the Strategic Investment Board (NI) Ltd, and a non executive director of Vodafone Group Plc, Hammerson plc and the Witan Investment Trust Plc.

9. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive world. It promotes business growth and a strong enterprise economy, leads the better regulation agenda and champions free and fair markets. It is the shareholder in a number of Government-owned assets and it works to secure, clean and competitively priced energy supplies

Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
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