Sir David Robert Varney (born 11 May 1946) was the chairman of

HM Revenue and Customs , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

from its establishment in April 2005 to the end of August 2006. He was named as a recipient of a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

in the 2006 New Year's honours list. In the same year he was awarded an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws (LL. D.) from the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

Private sector career

After graduating in Chemistry from the University of Surrey, where he was President of the Students' Union, Varney joined

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

in 1968. In 1990 he was appointed Head of Marketing, Branding and Product Development for Shell International Petroleum and in 1991 was appointed a Managing Director of Shell UK with responsibility for downstream activities. He was appointed a Director of Shell International Petroleum in 1996. In June 1996 Varney joined BG (formerly

British Gas British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...

), as Chief Executive designate of the proposed BG plc and was appointed Chief Executive the following year, overseeing the successful demerger of Lattice plc. He was Chairman of mobile phone operator mmO₂ between 2001 and 2004. He was also Chairman of

Business in the Community Business in the Community (BITC) is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the Prince's Charities of King Charles III (formerly the Prince of Wales). BITC work ...

and is president of the Chartered Management Institute.

HM Revenue and Customs

HM Revenue and Customs was formed from the merger of the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

and HM Customs & Excise in April 2005. Varney was appointed as the first executive chairman of the merged organisation having carried out that role in a shadow capacity from October 2004. Varney's previous career as a private sector executive differs from the traditional career path of senior Civil Service heads. On taking the role, Varney faced a number of key challenges including maintaining business-as-usual while delivering around 12,000 staff cuts under the

Gershon Review The Gershon Efficiency Review was a review of efficiency in the United Kingdom, UK public sector conducted in 2003-4 by Peter Gershon, Sir Peter Gershon. Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, then Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister respectivel ...

and moving jobs out of the South-East of England under the Lyons Review. Following the ending of his chairmanship of HM Revenue and Customs, he took up a role at

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ...

as a permanent secretary. In December 2006, he delivered the report "Service Transformation: a better service for citizens and businesses, a better deal for the taxpayer",The Varney Review
which aimed to improve the UK's service performance in interacting with citizens and businesses.

References

External links

Accountancy Age profileLyons Review
Living people 1946 births Alumni of the University of Surrey Knights Bachelor Chairmen of the Board of Inland Revenue Chairmen of the Board of HM Customs and Excise Chairmen of HM Revenue and Customs British civil servants Alumni of the Manchester Business School {{UK-gov-bio-stub