The Secretary of State has appointed Nick de Bois as Chair of the Visit England Advisory Board.
Nick de Bois has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as Chair of the VEAB for three years from 1 June 2020 to 31 May 2023.
Nick de Bois was Member of Parliament for Enfield North from 2010 - 2015. Prior to his election he was founder and Managing Director of Rapiergroup, an international events and exhibitions management agency that he set up in 1988 delivering conferences, exhibitions and digital content for U.K. and International based clients.
In 2016 he was appointed Chairman of the government’s first U.K Events Industry Board bringing industry and government agencies together to advise the government on the implementation of their Business Events Strategy launched in 2015. This strategy set about securing an increase of inbound international visitors by winning new international events hosted at U.K destinations. In addition, the board advised on securing growth of international visitors to established domestic events.
He resigned as Chair of the U.K Events Industry Board in July 2018 to join DExEU as Chief of Staff and Special Advisor to the Secretary of State Dominic Raab MP.
Nick lives with his wife Helen in Hertfordshire. He is also an author and contributory program host and broadcaster, chiefly with talkRADIO.
This role is remunerated at £345.00 per day. This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments, the process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Nick de Bois has declared he was the Conservative Party candidate for the constituency of Enfield North in the 2017 General Election.