Kathryn Elizabeth Swann (born 1964) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

retailer who served as chancellor of Bradford University From April 2015 To May 2019.

Early life

Born in

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...

, Hertfordshire, Swan
graduated
from the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, bu ...

in 1986 with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Business Management. She was ranked number 21 in the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikke ...

'' Women in Business, Europe's top 25, in 2006. She received an honorary doctorate from the

in July 2007.

Career

Swann was made

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of food & beverage operator SSP Group in September 2013, having been CEO of

WH Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

since November 2003. She previously held positions with

Tesco Plc Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

as a graduate trainee in 1989, Homepride Foods,

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

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 ...

and

Dixons Stores Group Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World (with stores increasingly dual branded 'Currys PC World'), Dixons Travel and its ser ...

. She then worked for

Homebase Homebase is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, u ...

, ultimately as Managing Director, and in 2000 was made Managing Director of Argos. In 2006 ''Fortune'' listed her as one of the 50 most powerful women in business. In April 2015, Swann was announced as the new chancellor of the

. The share price of SSP fell by 8% when it was announced in November 2018 that Swann is to step down from her post in May 2019.Times Kate Swann to step down as SSP chief executive
/ref>

References

External links

Colchester County High School for Girls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, Kate 1964 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bradford English chief executives English businesspeople in retailing People from Bishop's Stortford SSP Group Chancellors of the University of Bradford