Sam Laidlaw

• Chief Executive Officer, Centrica, United Kingdom

1977, BA in Law, University of Cambridge; 1981, MBA, INSEAD, France. 1981-2001, with Amerada Hess, including Executive Vice-President, responsible for international business; President and Chief Operating Officer; 2001-02, Chief Executive, Enterprise Oil, Europe's largest independent oil and gas company; 2003-06, Executive Vice-President, Chevron Corporation, responsible for new business worldwide and regional responsibility for Russia, Middle East and North Africa. Non-Executive Director, HSBC Holdings. Member, Prime Minister's Business Advisory Group. Chairman: CBI Higher Education Task Force; UK Council, INSEAD. Trustee, Raft, a medical charity. Fellow, Royal Society of Arts.