New Chair and Non-Executive Directors appointed
Appointments confirmed for new IPO Chair and Non-Executive Directors.
Harry Rich has been appointed as the new IPO Chair along with two new Non-Executive Directors, Harriet Kelsall and Hilary Newiss. All three will take up their roles from 1 October 2021 for a period of three years.
They will join existing Steering Board members Andrew Lawrence, Kevin Orford, both of whose appointments have been extended by year (to 30 July 2022 and 27 November 2022 respectively) and Lopa Patel MBE who has been re-appointed for three years (to 3 July 2024) and Laurie Benson.
Harry Rich is currently Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, Chair of the Valuation Tribunal Service, non-executive director of the Press Recognition Panel and governor of the Glasgow School of Art. He has held a number of senior posts including Chief Executive of the Royal Institute of British Architects and Enterprise UK. He has been a board member of the Advertising Standards Authority and the UK government’s Creative Industries Council.
Harriet Kelsall is one of the most respected bespoke designers and business trailblazers working in the UK jewellery industry. Having finished her term as the Chair of the National Association of Jewellers in 2020, she is now the Deputy Chair. She has been a Non-Executive Director for the British Hallmarking Council since 2016 and she advised the Creative and Cultural Skills Academy on jewellery skills from 2012-2018.
Hilary Newiss is a lawyer and former partner in a City law firm, specialising in Intellectual Property. Since leaving the City, she has served on several public boards including The Human Genetics Commission, the National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care, Biobank Ethics and Governance Board and the Francis Crick Institute.
Commenting on his appointment to the role of Chair, Harry Rich said:
“I’m passionate about the ways that design, innovation, creativity and business drive wellbeing and prosperity. So, I am very excited to have been appointed as Chair of the Intellectual Property Office - and look forward to working with a great team to support the use of IP rights.”
Tim Moss welcomed all of the appointments and said:
“Our role is to incentivise innovation through an accessible and balanced IP system. To perform at our best we need to draw on breadth and wealth of professional experience and expertise. I am delighted to welcome Harry, Harriet and Hilary to an already experienced and committed team of Non-Executive Directors.
“The new appointments and re-appointments put us in an excellent position at an exciting time. We have an important role to play in helping to deliver the government’s innovation strategy and make the UK a science super power just as we are starting to deliver on our ambitious programme to transform our services over the next five years.”