Former Henley Business School Dean appointed to new role of CILEx Group Chair

Professor Chris Bones has been named the first chair of the CILEx Group, a crucial role in the governance restructuring of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx).

Professor Bones is an experienced executive and non-executive leader in the private, public and third sectors.

He has a track record in transformational change and significant experience of higher education, as well as being an adviser to government and public institutions on corporate governance and leadership.

He is currently co-founder and chair of Good Growth Limited, a digital services company that works with some of the country’s biggest retail names, Professor of Creativity and Leadership at Manchester Business School and non-executive director of MK-LF Partnership, which helps companies develop their senior female talent.

Earlier in his career, Chris held senior HR roles in Diageo and Cadbury Schweppes, before becoming the first non-academic Dean of Henley Business School. He is still its Emeritus Dean. A noted columnist and broadcaster, his book ‘The Cult of the Leader’ won the CMI/British Library ‘Management Book of the Year’ prize in 2012.

Former roles including chairing of the trustee board of the Terence Higgins Trust, and of the supervisory board of AIESEC, the world’s largest non-profit youth-run organisation. He also spent five years on the Government Skills Management Board.

The CILEx Group board will be at the apex of CILEx’s new governance structure, the aim of which is to separate out its duties to the public interest, the profession and independent regulation.

The Group board, with an independent chair, will have an overarching duty to the public interest. It will be charged also with protecting CILEx’s Royal Charter and its reputation.

Underneath will be the boards of each CILEx company: CILEx Professional, dedicated to promoting the profession’s interests; CILEx Law School, delivering legal education; and Group Services, providing business infrastructure to all parts of the group. CILEx Regulation will continue to have its own independent board.

CILEx President Millie Grant says: “Our governance reforms are driven primarily by a desire to embed best practice within the organisation and ensure its operation is transparent and promotes good decision making.

“CILEx is a multi-faceted organisation and in Chris, I believe we have a person with all the right skills to ensure these goals are met. CILEx intends to lead the way in good governance in the legal sector, and Chris’s appointment is a critical step towards that goal.”

Professor Chris Bones says: “This is an exciting time to be joining CILEx. The new governance structure has a great deal to commend it and the challenge to take it from the page to reality appealed to me a great deal.

“This is a great time to be a Chartered Legal Executive, with more opportunities than ever for them in the legal market. I look forward to playing my part in their continued success by ensuring that CILEx is an organisation with which they will be proud to be associated.”