Sir Ian Michael Cheshire (m. 1977) was born on the 6 August 1959 in Borneo and grew up in Asia and Africa. He was educated at the King's School, Canterbury, and studied economics and law at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1980.
Ian's first job was with Boston Consulting Group, before working for Guinness, as Ernest Saunders' executive assistant, and Sears, before joining Kingfisher as strategy director in 1998, being promoted to Group Chief Executive in January 2008, having previously been MD of the B&Q business. He currently holds the position of chairman of the British Retail Consortium, the industry body in recognition of his influential status within the industry.
In 2012, Ian won The Guardian Sustainable Business Leader of the Year award. Throughout his career, Ian has been driving the sustainability agenda and embedding it into the core operations of Kingfisher. He places great importance on working with others, engaging with other business leaders and demonstrates that organisations can run successfully and invest in both short and long-term solutions to social and environmental challenges.
Ian was knighted in the 2014 New Years Honours for services to business, sustainability, and the environment.