Allan Cook CBE

Biography

Allan Cook has been the BIS lead non-executive director since February 2014.

Allan is a chartered engineer with more than 40 years’ international experience in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. He took up the post of Chairman of WS Atkins in February 2010. He is also Deputy Chairman of Marshall Group and was Chairman of Selex ES and Finmeccanica UK until December 2014. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of Cobham PLC until the end of December 2009 and has held senior executive roles at GEC-Marconi, BAE Systems and Hughes Aircraft.

Allan is Chairman of the Skills & Jobs Retention Group and chairman of the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (SEMTA). He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, where he is Vice President, and serves as a trustee for the Academy. He chairs the Academy’s industry-focused Diversity Leadership Group, part of the BIS STEM Diversity Programme. He is an industrial advisor for J. F. Lehman in New York.