Hydra Associates
Rodney Baker-Bates After graduating from Oxford, Rodney qualified as a chartered accountant. His employment history includes: senior positions at Arthur Anderson; Assistant General Manager and subsequently Manager of the European, Middle East and Africa Areas Shipping Division at Chase Manhattan Bank; Group Finance Director of Orian Bank; Director of Prudential Assurance Co. and several executive posts at Midland Bank becoming successively Deputy Chief Executive of UK Banking, Managing Director of UK Banking and Group Financial Control Director. In 1993 he moved to the BBC where he was the Executive Committee Director responsible for both Finance and Information Technology.
Currently Rodney has a portfolio of directorships. He is chairman of the executive managing partners of C. Hoare & Co; chairman of the publicly quoted Westbury Property Fund; chairman of Burns e-commerce solutions and chairman of EG Consultancy Ltd.. He is a non-executive director of Lloyds Register of Shipping; and of Bedlam Asset Management Ltd and a council member of The Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses. He is also a trustee of Dolphin Square and a director of The City Arts Trust.
Previously Rodney has been chairman of Hydra Associates Ltd (1999-2000), sold to Hawkpoint Patners; chairman of The Change Partnership (1998-2001) sold to Whitehead Mann plc;chairman of CoralEurobet plc (1999-2002), sold to Charterhouse Venture Capital Partners; chairman of Zenith Entertainment Ltd (2001-2003), sold to Proven through a management buyout; a non-executive director of the Aspen Group plc (1997-1999), taken private by 3i's, and of Dexia Municipal Bank plc (1997-2001). He is a retired member of Terra Consilia, an advisory board to Terra Firma Capital Partners (previously Nomura Principal Finance Group).
James Purnell Is the Minister of State for Pensions Reform in the Department of Work and Pensions. Member of EURIM. His degree was in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. First elected in 2001. He was a researcher to Rt. Hon. Tony Blair MP during his time as Shadow Employment Secretary, 1989-92. After graduating, he went to Hydra Associates 1992-94, and then became a Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research 1994-95 on their media and communications project. He went on to become Head of Corporate Planning at the BBC from 1995-97. He then returned to work for the Prime Minister Tony Blair as Special Adviser on culture, media, sport and the knowledge economy from 1997-2001. In May 2005 he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and in 2006 he became Minister of State for Pensions Reform at the Department of Work and Pensions.
