Corporate Governance - Board of Directors

Annual Report and Accounts
 
 
  1. Home
  2. Corporate Governance

Board of Directors

Image: Sir Robert Wilson KCMG - ChairmanImage: Frank Chapman - Chief ExecutiveImage: Ashley Almanza - Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Europe & Central AsiaImage: Martin Houston - Executive Director and Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Americas and Global LNG
Image: Baroness Hogg - Non-Executive DirectorImage: Peter Backhouse - Non-Executive DirectorImage: Jürgen Dormann - Non-Executive DirectorImage: Sir David Manning GCMG CVO - Non-Executive Director
Image: Dr John Hood - Non-Executive DirectorImage: Mark Seligman - Non-Executive DirectorImage: Lord Sharman - Non-Executive DirectorImage: Philippe Varin - Non-Executive Director

1. Sir Robert Wilson KCMG

Chairman, (age 66)

Appointed Chairman in January 2004, having been a Non-Executive Director since September 2002.

Committee membership: Chairman’s*, Finance*, Nominations*, Remuneration and Sustainability.

Skills and experience: Most of Sir Robert’s career was with Rio Tinto where he became Chief Executive in 1991 and then Executive Chairman from 1997 until his retirement in 2003.

From 2003-2009, he was non-executive chairman of The Economist Group.

External appointments: Sir Robert is currently senior independent director of GlaxoSmithKline plc.

Back to top

2. Frank Chapman

Chief Executive (age 56)

Appointed Chief Executive in October 2000, having been appointed to the Board in February 1997.

Committee membership: Group Executive*, Chairman’s, Finance and Sustainability.

Skills and experience: Frank joined British Gas plc in November 1996 as Managing Director, Exploration and Production. He is an engineer and has worked in the oil and gas industry for 35 years. Prior to joining the Group, he spent a total of 22 years with Shell and BP.

External appointments: No external director appointments.

Back to top

3. Ashley Almanza

Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Europe & Central Asia (age 46)

Appointed Chief Financial Officer in August 2002 and assumed interim responsibility for the management of the Europe & Central Asia region in November 2009.

Committee membership: Group Executive, Chairman’s and Finance.

Skills and experience: Ashley joined British Gas plc in 1993 and has held a number of key management roles in BG Group, including Group Finance Director, seeing the Group through the de-merger of Lattice in 2000. He is currently responsible for the management of the Europe and Central Asia region, Group finance, tax, treasury, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, internal audit and secretariat. A chartered accountant with a MBA from London Business School, he serves as chairman of The 100 Group, which represents finance directors of the UK’s largest listed companies.

External appointments: No external director appointments.

Back to top

4. Martin Houston

Executive Director and Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Americas and Global LNG (age 52)

Appointed to the Board in February 2009.

Committee membership: Group Executive and (from February 2010) Sustainability.

Skills and experience: Martin joined British Gas plc in 1983 and was appointed BG Group Executive Vice President in 2000. Based in Houston, he is responsible for the Group’s activities in the Americas and for the Group’s global Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) activities. Martin has gained extensive international experience from a wide variety of technical, commercial and management roles and has played a leading role in developing the Group’s LNG business. He is a fellow of the Geological Society of London.

External appointments: No external director appointments.

Back to top

5. Baroness Hogg

Non-Executive Director (age 63)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in January 2005.

The Board nominated her as Senior Independent Director from 1 January 2009.

Committee membership: Audit, Nominations and Remuneration*.

Skills and experience: Baroness Hogg is a former head of the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit and has extensive experience of business, government and the media, including her former role as a Governor of the BBC.

External appointments: Baroness Hogg is chairman of 3i Group plc and Frontier Economics Ltd and is deputy chairman of the Financial Reporting Council. In May 2010, Baroness Hogg will become chairman of the Financial Reporting Council.

Back to top

6. Peter Backhouse

Non-Executive Director (age 58)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in July 2000.

Committee membership: Audit and Sustainability.

Skills and experience: Peter was formerly executive vice president, refining and marketing at BP Amoco plc. Previous roles at BP included deputy chief executive of BP Oil and chief executive of BP Oil Europe. He gained considerable gas experience in international LNG and in UK natural gas as head of BP’s UK gas marketing business.

External appointments: Peter is a member of the advisory board of Carlyle/Riverstone Energy Partners, a US private equity fund.

Back to top

7. Jürgen Dormann

Non-Executive Director (age 70)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in June 2005.

Committee membership: Remuneration and Sustainability.

Skills and experience: Jürgen was chairman of Adecco S.A. (Switzerland) until 31 December 2008 and was chairman of Swiss-based ABB Ltd from November 2001 to May 2007, having been a non-executive director since May 1998. Prior to his roles at ABB, he had a successful career at Hoechst and Aventis spanning almost 40 years. He has previously been a non-executive director of IBM Corporation and vice-chairman of Sanofi-Aventis S.A.

External appointments: Jürgen is chairman of the board at Metall Zug AG (Switzerland) and Sulzer Limited (Switzerland).

Back to top

8. Sir David Manning GCMG CVO

Non-Executive Director (age 60)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in July 2008.

Committee membership: Sustainability.

Skills and experience: Sir David was a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for 35 years, serving in Warsaw, New Delhi, Paris, Moscow, Tel Aviv and Brussels. He retired from the Diplomatic Service in 2008 after four years as British Ambassador to the United States. Sir David has previously been a non-executive director of Lloyds Banking Group plc.

External appointments: Sir David is also a non-executive director of Lockheed Martin UK Holdings Ltd, and is a trustee of Turner Contemporary.

Back to top

9. Dr John Hood

Non-Executive Director (age 58)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in April 2007.

Committee membership: Audit and Sustainability*.

Skills and experience: Dr Hood was vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford from 2004 until September 2009. He was formerly vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland and a member of the Growth and Innovation Advisory Board and the Enterprise Council of the Prime Minister of New Zealand. He has also been a director of a number of New Zealand-based companies including the Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd and ASB Bank Limited, a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and was chairman of Tonkin & Taylor Ltd.

External appointments: Dr Hood is currently non-executive chairman of Matakina Technology Ltd in New Zealand and became president and chief executive officer of the Robertson Foundation in January 2010.

Back to top

10. Mark Seligman

Non-Executive Director (age 54)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in December 2009.

Committee membership: Audit and Sustainability (both from February 2010).

Skills and experience: A chartered accountant, Mark has held senior roles at Barclays de Zoete Wedd and SG Warburg & Co Ltd. He is a former chairman of UK Investment Banking at Credit Suisse and a former member of the bank’s Global Investment Banking Executive Board.

External appointments: Mark is currently a senior adviser to Credit Suisse. He is a non-executive director of G4S plc and serves as an alternate member of the Panel of Takeovers and Mergers and is chairman of the Industrial Development Advisory Board.

Back to top

11. Lord Sharman

Non-Executive Director (age 67)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in October 2000.

Committee membership: Audit* and Nominations.

Skills and experience: A chartered accountant, Lord Sharman was chairman of KPMG International from 1997 to 1999, having been senior partner since 1994.

External appointments: Lord Sharman is non-executive chairman of Aviva plc and a non-executive director of Reed Elsevier plc.

Back to top

12. Philippe Varin

Non-Executive Director (age 57)

Appointed as a Non-Executive Director in May 2006.

Committee membership: Audit and Remuneration.

Skills and experience: Until April 2009, Philippe had spent six years as chief executive of Corus, during which time he led the merger with Tata Steel, India in 2007. Prior to this, Philippe spent 25 years with the Pechiney Group, most latterly as senior executive vice president of the aluminium sector and a member of Pechiney’s executive committee.

External appointments: Philippe was appointed chairman of the managing board of PSA Peugeot Citroen in June 2009.

  1. *Committee Chairman.

Back to top

© 2012 BG Group plc. All rights reserved

BG Group plc. 100 Thames Valley Park, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 1PT

Registered in England & Wales No. 3690065

VAT: GB 232177091