Dido Harding

Dido Harding

The Hon. Diana "Dido" Harding[1] is an English businessperson, the current Chief Executive of TalkTalk.[2]

Harding is the daughter of Lord Harding, and the grand daughter of Field Marshal John Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton, who commanded the Desert Rats in World War II.[3] Raised on the family pig farm in Dorset, she was educated at St Antony's Leweston from 1978–85. She then graduated from the University of Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, where she studied under Vernon Bogdanor and alongside David Cameron;[1] and then at Harvard Business School, gaining an MBA.[4]

On graduation she joined management consultancy McKinsey & Company.[5] Leaving to become marketing director at Thomas Cook Group, she was then appointed commercial director at Woolworths Group. She then joined Tesco within Sir Terry Leahy's office as international support director,[3] before being appointed commercial director of “added-value foods” in 2001.[4]

Resigning her position in October 2007, she joined the Board of Directors at Sainsbury's as Convenience Director. She was named CEO of Talktalk[when?], during the period when the group split its Carphone Warehouse retail operation from the group telecoms operation.[6] She was appointed a non-executive director of British Land plc in January 2010.

In October 1995, she married John Penrose, now MP for Weston-super-Mare. The couple have two children, and live in London during the week, and Somerset on the weekends.[7]

Harding is a keen horse racing fanatic. A member of the Jockey Club, in 1993 she borrowed £7,000 from her bank to buy an Irish thoroughbred, hoping to ride him in ladies' point-to-point races. In 1998, her horse Cool Dawn won the 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup.[8][9]

Books

  • Dido Harding (8 Mar 1999). Cool Dawn: My National Velvet. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1840181796. 

References

  1. ^ a b "Dido Harding". Brough Scott. http://www.broughscott.com/story.asp?NewsID=248. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  2. ^ http://www.talktalkgroup.com/corporate-information/corporate-governance.html
  3. ^ a b Andrew Parker (December 3, 2010). "New chief rings the changes at TalkTalk". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c34b13a8-ff1d-11df-956b-00144feab49a.html#axzz1I2luzjoS. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  4. ^ a b Sarah Butler (October 9, 2007). "Business big shot: Dido Harding". The Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article2617601.ece. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  5. ^ David Prosser (17 November 2010). "The Business On Dido Harding, Chief executive, TalkTalk". Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-business-on-dido-harding-chief-executive-talktalk-2136031.html. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  6. ^ James Hall and Rupert Neate (15 December 2009). "Ex-Tesco high-flier Dido Harding to head demerged TalkTalk". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/6820259/Ex-Tesco-high-flier-Dido-Harding-to-head-demerged-TalkTalk.html. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  7. ^ "John Penrose". The Conservative Party. http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Penrose_John.aspx. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  8. ^ Dido Harding (8 Mar 1999). Cool Dawn: My National Velvet. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1840181796. 
  9. ^ http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=10917296&ticker=TALK:LN&previousCapId=84118320&previousTitle=CABLE%20%26%20WIRELESS%20WORLDWIDE

External links


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