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"It will be my aim to get better Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) representation in boardrooms across the country... Diversity drives better decisions,” declared Lord Karan Bilimoria who took on two new responsibilities during the pandemic: president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and visiting fellow at the University of Oxford based at the Centre for Corporate Reputation.
"As the four nations of our country embark upon an ambitious economic recovery plan, I will do all I can to help ensure we build back better through inclusive and sustainable growth,” stated Bilimoria when taking over as CBI president last June. Founder of Cobra Beer and chairman of Cobra Beer Partnership Limited, a joint venture with Molson Coors, he is the first president from a BAME background to be elected president of CBI that was founded in 1965 when the British Employers’ Confederation, the Federation of British Industries and the National Association of British Manufacturers joined together to form this not-for-profit organization.

 

 

 

 

 

Ensuring the CBI "is seen as a home for entrepreneurs and small and medium sized enterprises... during this hugely important time for UK business” was his topmost priority, the others being establishing the UK as a trading powerhouse, championing the UK’s unique soft power offer, and increasing inclusive workplaces.
Founder chairman of the UK-India Business Council and a founder member of the Prime Minister of India’s Global Advisory Council, Bilimoria’s "experience, global outlook and tenacity will prove invaluable to the CBI and the UK business community,” Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI director-general, was quoted on their website, cbi.org.uk
Last September Bilimoria was appointed a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford. This independent research center within Oxford University’s Saïd Business School aims "to understand how the reputations of organizations are created, sustained, enhanced, destroyed and rehabilitated,” according to its website www.sbs.ox.ac.uk. The Centre is supported by "an outstanding group of international research fellows from academic institutions around the world, as well as many distinguished visiting fellows from business, the media and other organizations,” acknowledges the website, introducing Bilimoria as one of the 53 visiting fellows.
"Visiting fellows provide valuable insight and guidance into our research agenda, provide access to data and other sources of relevant information for our work, and also engage within our MBA curriculum. Lord Bilimoria’s leadership of the CBI together with his expertise as a successful entrepreneur will be a hugely valuable resource,” remarked Rupert Younger, director of the Centre. Looking forward to "contributing to and championing” the Centre’s work, Bilimoria commented that the Centre’s efforts to recognize "the value of social approval assets in business has global impact.”
An independent crossbench peer since 2016, Bilimoria has also been a Bynum Tudor Fellow at Kellogg College, University of Oxford for the last four years. He is currently president of the UK Council for International Students Affairs, honorary ambassador for the Judge Business School, Cambridge University, and honorary fellow of the Sidney Sussex College Cambridge. His other academic appointments include serving as a former chancellor of Thames Valley University (now the University of West London), the youngest university chancellor in the UK to be so appointed. When functioning as chancellor of the University of Birmingham, he was the first Indian born chancellor of a Russell Group University in Great Britain. Bilimoria is a graduate in law from the University of Cambridge and had qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst and Young.