Member of the Advisory Board, Cambridge Judge Business School
Chair, Dunelm Group
Chair, Premier League
Senior Independent Director, Experian
Non-Executive Director, British Airways
Cambridge affiliations
- MBA, Girton (1994)
Professional history
In January 2023 Alison took on the roles of Chair of football’s Premier League and Chair of Dunelm Group.
Alison joined Whitbread in October 2015 as Chief Executive Officer and stepped down from the Board in March 2023. Whitbread is the oldest and largest hospitality company in the UK, employing around 40,000 people and operating a portfolio of hotel and restaurant brands, including Premier Inn, in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. Until recently, Whitbread also owned and operated Costa Coffee, which operated in 35 countries across a variety of distribution platforms. Costa Coffee was sold to The Coca-Cola Company in 2019 for £3.9bn.
Prior to joining Whitbread, Alison was Group Director of Lloyd’s Banking Group’s Retail Division; the UK’s largest retail banking business. She was responsible for the Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland retail businesses, in addition to the Retail Business Banking and UK Wealth businesses. Prior to joining Lloyds Bank, Alison was Executive Director for Retail Distribution and Board Director at Santander UK and previously held senior roles at Barclays Bank in Retail, Corporate and Commercial Banking.
Alison is the Senior Independent Director at Experian, a Non-Executive Director at British Airways, and Chair and Trustee of The Prince’s Trust Group Company.
Society & charity work
- Chair & Trustee, The Prince’s Trust Group Company
