Lord Jones to serve IT group

Lord Digby Jones, the ex-minister and former director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, has been hired by Harvey Nash as an advisor to the recruitment and IT group.



He joins the outfit on a brief to "maximise growth" in its UK and international markets, a task that will be made easier thanks to his last two jobs sending him to over 70 countries.



Having been the face of the CBI, the employers' body, and the trade and investment minister, his contacts are expected to prove useful to Harvey Nash's executive search business.



But the company insisted that Lord Jones would be doing more than just shaking hands, as part of his role to help the tech group determine its growth plans over the next five years.



"Lord Jones has tremendous insight on the technology sector, the challenges around IT for business", Paul Smith, global managing director of outsourcing at Harvey Nash told CUK.



"He will be very hands on, not just meeting and greeting. He is very much focused on improving science based skills in the UK which is in line with Harvey Nash values."



Lord Jones' appointment by the IT group cements a long-standing link between the two, evidenced in part by Harvey Nash sponsoring events the CBI put on when he was at its helm.



Accepting his role, the 53-year-old spoke of admiring Harvey Nash for a number of years, before being described by its chief executive Albert Ellis as a "long-standing friend and business associate".



Lord Jones added: "I'm looking forward to supporting their continued growth and promoting the competitiveness of the Harvey Nash brand across all of their markets, in the UK, Europe, Asia and the USA."



He also said Harvey Nash was seen as a "trusted and respected British brand" – something the son of corner shop owners from Birmingham seems to have a penchant for.



In addition to now being "global business ambassador" for Harvey Nash, Lord Jones is chairman of Triumph Motorcycles, corporate advisor for Jaguar Cars, Land Rover and JCB, and is also the chairman of the international advisory board at HSBC.