Cridland steps up to become CBI boss

THE CBI’s deputy director-general John Cridland is to become the new director-general of the business support organisation.

Mr Cridland will formally take the helm at the employers’ organisation at the end of January when Richard Lambert, who has led the CBI since July 2006, steps down.

Mr Cridland was chosen from a field of 45 candidates.

Helen Alexander, the CBI’s president, said: “His motivation, energy and appetite for change meant that John Cridland was, without doubt, the best person for the job.

“As deputy director-general, he has been Richard’s right hand man and an invaluable chief operating officer. He has been instrumental in helping to shape business and public attitudes on issues ranging from the minimum wage and flexible working, to industrial relations and the environment.”

Mr Cridland said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been chosen to lead the CBI at this critical time for business.

“There are many challenges ahead in getting the economy growing and no one thinks that securing the UK’s economic future will be easy. But business people across the country are rolling up their sleeves and getting on with the job.

“I strongly believe that a combination of innovation, dynamism and plain hard graft will help re-build the UK’s international reputation and will ensure that the UK is the best place to invest.”

Mr Cridland, 49, joined the CBI as a policy adviser in 1982 and became the CBI’s youngest-ever director in 1991, when he took over the environmental affairs brief. He moved on to human resources policy in 1995, and has been deputy director-general since 2000.