Elizabeth Louise Botting

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 19 September 1939) is a British company director and former broadcaster. She was presenter of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''

Money Box A piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is a coin container normally used by children, featuring a slot at the top to insert coins or folded bank notes. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the " mecha ...

'' programme between 1977 and 1992. After her broadcasting career, she became one of the first female directors of a

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company, through her appointment to the board of CGNU (formerly

General Accident General Accident plc was a large insurance business based in Perth, Scotland. It merged with Commercial Union in 1998 to form CGU plc. History The Norie-Miller years The Employers' Liability Act 1880 ( 43 & 44 Vict. c. 42) opened a new are ...

, now

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

). She has also held non-executive directorships of other companies such as

Trinity Mirror Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

and

Camelot Group Camelot Group was an operator of lotteries, particularly the UK National Lottery from 1994 to 2024. It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 2018. The Camelot Group companies, of wh ...

. She founded the private wealth management firm Douglas Deakin Young in 1974, serving as its managing director and then chairman until it was sold to Duncan Lawrie in 2005. Over the years she has had an extensive portfolio of business interests.

Early life and professional career

Botting was born into a middle-class family, attending the local grammar school, Sutton Coldfield High School for Girls (now

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls (formerly Sutton Coldfield High School and Sutton Coldfield Girls School) is an 11–18 girls secondary grammar school and sixth form with academy status in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midland ...

) and went on to the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. After her graduation in 1961 she joined the British merchant bank

Kleinwort Benson Kleinwort Benson was a leading investment bank that offered a wide range of financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Two families, the Kleinworts and the Bensons, founded two different merchant banks in ...

as one of their first female analysts. Her marriage to the writer and explorer

Douglas Botting Douglas Scott Botting (22 February 1934 – 6 February 2018) was an English explorer, author, biographer and TV presenter and producer. He wrote biographies of naturalists Gavin Maxwell and Gerald Durrell (the former also being a personal friend ...

led to a career break as she gave birth to her two daughters,

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

(now a newsreader with

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

) and Kate. Her career in journalism started in 1970 when she began writing for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

''. She started broadcasting with

British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themsel ...

in 1971 and continued to do this until 1981. In 1974, she established the private wealth management firm Douglas Deakin Young, with the businessman George Douglas and John Deakin, a medical doctor. Her initial role was managing director, until her succession by Alan Warner in 1982, when she became chairman. She remained in this role until the firm was sold to Duncan Lawrie in 2005.

''Money Box''

In 1977, she was asked to be the founding presenter of

's ''

''. The aim of the programme was to make sensible personal financial advice available to ordinary people. The programme, which continues to be broadcast, covers a broad range of investment and tax issues, as well as covering major changes in social security. The popularity of ''Money Box'' increased, attracting up to three million listeners each week. Its political influence was highlighted by the fact that, at times, the Prime Minister's office asked to know the proposed content in advance. By 1992, Botting wished to pursue other business interests and was asked to join the board of

. This appointment was unpalatable to the BBC, and she decided to resign from the programme. She was succeeded by Alison Mitchell.

Later career

Botting has pursued many other business interests. In addition to Douglas Deakin Young and London Weekend Television, she served as non-executive director of CGNU (formerly

, now

) and

. She still remains a director of national lottery operator

. She also acted as a member of the Top Salaries Review Body between 1987 and 1994, and was rewarded by Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

with a

for her work and for services to journalism. Her interests have also extended to local radio, with ownership of a number of different stakes. In 1995 she chaired the consortium that was awarded the new local radio licence for

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

, launching the following year as The Bear. She also acted as professional pension trustee to

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

Blackwell Publishing Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publis ...

W H Smith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...

and the

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), incorporated by a Royal Charter, is the trade body and professional institute for agencies and individuals working in the UK's advertising, media and marketing communications industry. History F ...

. After the sale of Douglas Deakin Young in 2005 to Duncan Lawrie, she stepped down as chairman and now acts as a consultant. She is a patron of APT Action on Poverty (Registered Charity No. 290836).

Publications

* ''Making the most of your money'' (1984, 1985), with Vincent Duggleby

References

External links

BBC Radio 4 Money Box 25th Anniversary ProgrammeProfile of Money Box on TV Cream
{{DEFAULTSORT:Botting, Louise 1939 births Living people Alumni of the London School of Economics BBC newsreaders and journalists British businesspeople British business and financial journalists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls British women television journalists British radio presenters British women radio presenters Women business and financial journalists