Penny Hughes CBE (born 1959) is a British businesswoman, and the chair of IQ Student Accommodation. She is the former chair of

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated wi ...

and

The Gym Group The Gym Group is a chain of 24/7 no contract fitness clubs in the United Kingdom. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2015. Operations The company was founded in 2007 and its first site was in West London. It now has ov ...

Early life

Hughes was born in

West Kirby West Kirby is a resort town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, to the north-east lies Hoylake, to the east Grange ...

, the youngest of three daughters in a middle-class family. Hughes was educated at

Birkenhead High School Birkenhead High School Academy is an all-ability state funded girls' Academy in Birkenhead, Wirral. Introduction Birkenhead High School was the main Wirral private girls' school, but in 2010 became a non-fee paying Academy. It remains a member ...

. While at the school she represented the county at

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

in 1980.

Career

She joined

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, as a technologist, then moved to the sales and marketing department. She was then recruited by the

Milk Marketing Board The Milk Marketing Board was a producer-run product marketing board, established by the Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, to control milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom. It functioned as buyer of last resort in the milk market i ...

, and later joined

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

as a brand manager. By 1989, having successfully overseen the merger of the bottling interests of Coca-Cola UK and

Schweppes Schweppes (, ) is a beverage brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva; it is made, bottled and distributed worldwide by multiple international conglomerates, depending on licensing and region, that manufacture and sell soft drinks. Schwep ...

, she was appointed commercial director. In 1993, at the age of 33 she became president of the UK and Ireland businesses of Coca-Cola. She has been a director of the Bodyshop, GAP, Trinity Mirror,

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (, abbreviated SEB, is a northern European financial services group headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. In Sweden and the Baltic countries, SEB has a full financial service offering. In Denmark, Finland, Norway, ...

Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...

and

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

. She was a non-executive director of the

Royal Bank of Scotland Group NatWest Group plc is a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The group operates a wide variety of banking brands offering personal and business banking, private banking, investment banking, insurance an ...

between 2010 and 2018 and a member of the boards remuneration committee. She is a non-executive director of

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...

, Cable & Wireless and

Home Retail Group Home Retail Group plc was a home and general merchandise retailer based in the United Kingdom. It was the parent company of Argos and Habitat, and once owned the do it yourself chain Homebase before selling it to the Australian retailer Wesfarme ...

. She is a trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and president of the

Advertising Association The Advertising Association (AA) is a trade association representing advertisers, agencies, media and research services in the UK advertising industry. Its stated aim is to promote the “…role, rights and responsibilities of advertising and i ...

. In February 2018, Hughes was appointed as the chair of IQ Student Accommodation, the UK's largest provider of student housing. In September 2018, Hughes was appointed as the chair of

. In January 2020 it was announced that Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll would replace Hughes as chairman after purchasing a 25% stake in the company. In July 2022, Hughes stepped down as chair of

Honours

She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2011 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,

References

1959 births Living people People educated at Birkenhead High School Academy Alumni of the University of Sheffield British businesspeople People from Birkenhead Trustees of the British Museum Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from West Kirby NatWest Group people {{UK-business-bio-1950s-stub