In her interview with the Review, Dame Colette Bowe recalls her thoughts on being approached to be Chairman of the Banking Standards Board, the aim of which is to help reform the banking industry. “I wasn’t under any illusions about the fact that this endeavour that we’re all engaged in is going to be difficult. To bring about or to support/facilitate a change in the culture of an industry is a hard job,” she says.
As the board’s Chairman, Dame Colette’s job is to recruit and encourage an enthusiastic and diverse team to lead that reform. With her wealth of experience, which includes being Chairman of Ofcom and of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, she seems perfectly placed to take on the challenge.
“To bring about change in the culture of an industry is a hard job”
Born and raised in Liverpool, Dame Colette began her working life as a civil servant in the Department of Trade and Industry, but left shortly after the Westland affair to pursue a career in regulation and industry.
She says that being Chairman of Ofcom for five years was her favourite previous job: “I think the greatest achievement was making sure that that very formidable organisation stayed focused on the end customer, because that’s what it’s about. I wasn’t the only person taking that view at Ofcom, but as chairman you do try to set a certain tone and the thing I always wanted to hang onto were the interests of the consumer.”
Dame Colette’s eyes are now firmly set on her new role. What are her ambitions for the board? “I’d like to see us as an established part of the business world of the UK and acknowledged as contributing real value to the strengthening of British business.”
Read about Dame Colette’s impressive career, and much more, in the June print edition of
the Review.
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digital edition, which is regularly updated with news, features and comment about the CISI and the financial services industry.
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