Archie Norman – Keynote Speaker

Archie Norman is one of Britain’s leading businessmen with a long term track record of business change and value creation. He has led transformations of major British businesses, served on the Boards of several others, and built over time very strong management teams who are now in leading positions in several major British companies. He was the only person to have been a FTSE 100 chairman and a Member of the House of Commons (MP) at the same time.

He was appointed non-executive Chairman of ITV 2009 and stepped down in 2016.

Archie Norman was a member of a three strong team that established and built Kingfisher plc in the 1980s to become Britain’s leading general merchandise retailer. In 1991 he moved to ASDA to lead the turnaround as Chief Executive. Over the subsequent eight years the business was transformed into the second largest supermarket group before being sold to Wal-Mart for an eight times multiple of the starting share price. Latterly, Archie acquired Energis, Britain’s third largest telecoms business, on behalf of the creditor banks and over three years refocused and rebuilt the business before agreeing a sale to Cable and Wireless for double the original enterprise value.

Archie has also served for eight years as a Member of Parliament, including as Chief Executive of the Conservative Party and as a leading member of the Shadow Cabinet.

In November 2003 Archie Norman was appointed as Senior Advisor to Lazard. In November 2007 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of Coles Group, the second largest retailer in Australia, and has played a leading role in setting the strategy and recruiting the team for potentially the largest turnaround project in global retailing.

Archie Norman has set up a management partnership, Aurigo Management Partners, which seeks to acquire underperforming, distressed, or unfashionable businesses which are capable of responding to the management intensive approach. In June 2007 Aurigo acquired HSS, the UK’s second largest equipment hire business.

Archie has served as a non executive director on the Board of a number companies including British Rail, Railtrack and Geest. He was previously the youngest partner at McKinsey and Co and has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MA from Cambridge University. He is on the Board of the NIESR, has an Honorary Degree from Leeds Metropolitan University, was a Director of the Judge Institute, has been elected to the Marketing Society Hall of Fame, and been voted Retailer of the Year and Yorkshire Businessman of the Year.