Carolyn Fairbairn

Dame Carolyn Julie Fairbairn DBE (born 13 December 1960 ) is a British businesswoman, former director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, and a former non-executive director of the Competition and Markets Authority, Lloyds Banking Group, BAE Systems, and the UK Statistics Authority. She has been the Chair of the Royal Mencap Society since March 2022.

Early life and education Fairbairn attended Bryanston School as a sixth-form scholar. She graduated with a BA in economics (double first) from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, then an MA in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania, followed by an MBA from INSEAD in France.

Career She began her career as an economist at the World Bank. In 1985, she became a business and financial journalist, writing for The Economist magazine.

In 1988, she joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant and, during a seven-year career, rose to partner. She worked with companies in sectors including brewing, DIY retailing, computer services, investment management and newspapers, advising on mergers, business expansion, cost control and global competitiveness.

Fairbairn briefly rejoined McKinsey & Company in 2006, before becoming director of corporate development and strategy at ITV plc between 2007 and 2010. She joined the company at a time of crisis as the advertising market collapsed following the financial crash. She was put in charge of ITV's emergency cost-reduction programme to cut the company's cost base by 25%. This enabled ITV to weather the storm and subsequently return to growth. She resigned just over a year later in May 2022 to take up the position of Chair of the Royal Mencap Society.

Confederation of British Industry (CBI) In June 2015, it was announced that she would replace John Cridland in November as director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, as a result of which she would resign all other positions aside from her chair of the charity, Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Fairbairn has spoken about her vision for the CBI saying, "I've spent most of my working life in British business and believe deeply in its purpose as a creator of fulfilling jobs, quality of life and prosperity. I'm committed to using my experience to speak up passionately on behalf of British businesses of all sizes on the national and international stage."

Personal life She is married to Peter Chittick and they have three children. Chittick is Canadian, trained as a lawyer, and met Fairbairn when they were students at INSEAD. He is a multimillionaire property developer, and together they own the "boutique" Hotel Crillon Le Brave in Provence, France.