Dr Giles Clarke CBE DL
Member since 1998
Giles Clarke CBE DL was Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, the governing body for cricket, from 2007-15, and a Director of the International Cricket Council, the world governing body from 2007-18.
He chaired the Pakistan Task Team from 2010-18,for which he was awarded the honorary title of Chaudhary by the Pakistan Government in 2017. He was previously Chairman of Somerset CCC from 2002-2007.
He was a National Council member of the Learning and Skills Council from 2002-07, responsible for all adult learning and workforce training, and of the Adult Learning Committee, both accountable to Parliament. He was Deputy Chair of the EU Taskforce on Skills and Mobility, whose report he presented to the Barcelona Summit in 2003. He has been a member of YPO,the largest Chief Executive group in the world,since 1993,and Chair of the London Chapter. He is currently Chair of YPO Gold Eurochapter.
Giles is an entrepreneur, founding Majestic Wine, Pet City and Safestore. His private interests include Westleigh Investments, WCBS Limited, ATL Telecom Limited, Boston Tea Party Ltd,and Promatic Group .
He is a former President of The Dolphin and Canynges Societies, Deputy Chair of Bristol Old Vic, Council member of University of Bath, a Patron of Changing Faces and Future Hope (orphan rescue school in Kolkata). He and his wife Judy, who is a governor of Barton Hill School, support inter alia the Bristol Children’s Hospital, where they funded a ward, Redcliffe Youthworkers, and various critical projects for food and youth sport. Since the 1890s Giles's family have been involved in Bristol public work. His great-grandfather created the family company ES&A Robinson, paper manufacturers who were the first company to pay women equal wages, before WW1. His mother Stella was the first woman governor of the BBC, the first woman both to chair a British university (Bristol) and the Magistrates Association, and founded the Community Self-Build Association.
Giles, who is an Adge Cutler and Bristol City fan of long standing, studied Persian and Arabic at Oxford and Damascus Universities, and speaks a number of Asian languages, having done business and travelled extensively in the Indian sub-continent. He was Master of the Society of Merchant Venturers in 2010/11, and was Chair of the Investment Strategy Group from 2008-2021, managing St Monica Trust's endowment which grew over 400% in value over the period, with considerable assistance and advice from many Merchants. He was a co-funder with many Merchants of Merchants Academy and is looking forward to the first England player coming out of the Clarke Sports Hall!