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Penny Hughes

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Penny Hughes
Born
Penelope Lesley Hughes

1959 (age 64–65)[1]
EducationBirkenhead High School
Alma materUniversity of Sheffield (BA)
OccupationBusinesswoman
TitleChair, IQ Student Accommodation
Children2 sons

Penny Hughes CBE (born 1959) is a British businesswoman, and the chair of IQ Student Accommodation. She is the former chair of Aston Martin and The Gym Group.

Early life

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Hughes was born in West Kirby, the youngest of three daughters in a middle-class family.[2]

Hughes was educated at Birkenhead High School.[3][4] While at the school she represented the county at hockey and lacrosse.[3] She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Sheffield in 1980.[3][5]

Career

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She joined Procter & Gamble, as a technologist, then moved to the sales and marketing department. She was then recruited by the Milk Marketing Board, and later joined Coca-Cola as a brand manager. By 1989, having successfully overseen the merger of the bottling interests of Coca-Cola UK and Schweppes, she was appointed commercial director. In 1993, at the age of 33 she became president of the UK and Ireland businesses of Coca-Cola.[6][7]

She has been a director of the Bodyshop, GAP, Trinity Mirror, Next, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Vodafone and Reuters. She was a non-executive director of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group between 2010 and 2018 and a member of the boards remuneration committee.[8] She is a non-executive director of Morrisons, Cable & Wireless and Home Retail Group.[3] She is a trustee of the British Museum and president of the Advertising Association.[7]

In February 2018, Hughes was appointed as the chair of IQ Student Accommodation, the UK's largest provider of student housing.[9]

In September 2018, Hughes was appointed as the chair of Aston Martin.[10] In January 2020 it was announced that Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll would replace Hughes as chairman after purchasing a 25% stake in the company.[11][12][13]

In July 2022, Hughes stepped down as chair of The Gym Group.[14]

Honours

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She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to the media industry.[15][16]

Personal life

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She has two sons.[17][2]

Notes

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  1. ^ West Kirby was part of Cheshire in 1959. It later became part of Merseyside upon the county’s establishment in 1974.

References

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  1. ^ "Companies House Profile". Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Milk and Coca Cola make Penny Woman of the Year". Wirral Globe. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d "Business big shot: Penny Hughes, incoming non-executive, Wm Morrison". 16 December 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2018 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  4. ^ "Notable alumnae". gdst.net. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  5. ^ Sheffield, University of (14 June 2011). "Sporting star and University graduate receives MBE - Latest - News - The University of Sheffield". www.sheffield.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Penny Hughes – Business Speaker". 16 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  7. ^ a b Farey-Jones, Daniel (13 June 2011). "Advertising Association president awarded CBE". Campaign Live. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  8. ^ RBS Press Announcement Archived 5 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Curry, Rhiannon (18 February 2018). "RBS director to chair UK's largest student digs company". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. ^ Neate, Rupert (10 September 2018). "Aston Martin names first female chair as it prepares for £5bn float". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Billionaire Stroll Takes Stake in Aston Martin In $655 Million Rescue Deal". Forbes. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  12. ^ "F1 billionaire owner in Aston Martin rescue deal". BBC News. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  13. ^ "Aston Martin has been bailed out by Formula 1 billionaire". CNN. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. ^ Maatouk, Michele. "The Gym Group chair Penny Hughes steps down". Sharecast News. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  15. ^ "No. 59808". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2011. p. 7.
  16. ^ "Main list of the 2011 Queen's birthday honours recipients" (PDF). BBC News UK. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  17. ^ "Penny Hughes". growthcompany.co.uk. 1 October 2000. Retrieved 10 September 2018.