Intellectual Property Office
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New Non-Executive Directors, Timothy Render, Catherine Salway and Kirsty Whitehead have been appointed in September 2024 for a period of three years.
They will join existing Steering Board members Harriet Kelsall and Hilary Newiss, both of whom have been re-appointed for three years (1 October 2024 to 30 September 2027 and Laurie Benson).
Timothy Render
Timothy Render is a panel member for the Office for the Internal Market, within the Competition and Markets Authority and a Director of Tim Render Consulting Limited.
He has held a number of senior posts including Director of Environment and Rural Affairs in the Welsh Government, and interim Director in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Prior to these roles, Timothy led the UKs engagement and representation with EU institutions in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, Brussels.
Catherine Salway
Catherine Salway is an experienced Board Director who previously accumulated 7 years of board seats within the Virgin Group.
Catherine was a charity trustee for 8 years for Partners for Change Ethiopia and guided the organisation on strategic and structural transformation towards a modern and sustainable social enterprise. Between 2012 to 2023 Catherine founded a sustainable, vegan, brand Redemption, which received critical acclaim and was rolled out to 3 popular London restaurants.
Kirsty Whitehead
Kirsty Whitehead has leadership experience at both Board and Executive team level and has held senior leadership roles across the finance, technology and media sectors.
Kirsty has a strong background in governance, risk management and internal control in complex, high change environments and was an executive team member of two private-equity-owned companies undergoing extensive transformation programmes. Kirsty is currently a Director for Monamy Trustees Limited and has a passion for environmental issues.
A number of re-appointments were also confirmed by DSIT. Steering Board Chair Harry Rich and non-executive directors Hilary Newiss, Harriet Kelsall have all been reappointed for a further three years.
Harry Rich, Chair of the IPO Steering Board, welcomed the new appointments and said:
The IPO Steering Board provides advice, guidance and constructive challenge to the executive team on the IPOs strategy and delivery. Tim, Catherine and Kirsty bring a wealth of insight and experience to the Board and their collective experience includes businesses of all sizes, brand and product development and the public sector. I look forward to working with them and our executive and non-executive teams as we support UK economic growth through an effective IP system.
He also paid tribute to the departing members of the Steering Board:
I want to thank Lopa Patel and Kevin Orford, as departing Steering Board members, for their outstanding contribution over recent years. Lopa and Kevin brought powerful entrepreneurial and organisational perspectives and experience to the team.
Adam Williams, IPO CEO said:
I am pleased to welcome Tim, Catherine and Kirsty as IPO non-executive directors. With their diverse skills and experience they will bring a new dimension to our team, contributing to our continuous organisational improvement, excellent customer focus, accountability and effective corporate