Allan Cook

Allan was appointed as Chairman of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult in March 2018.

Allan Cook was a non-executive director and chairman of WS Atkins from September 2009 until July 3rd 2017 when Atkins was acquired by SNC-Lavalin. He was chairman of Helios Towers plc until March 2018. He is a chartered engineer with more than 40 years’ international experience in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. He was chief executive of Cobham PLC until the end of December 2009. Prior to this he held senior roles at GEC- Marconi, BAE Systems and Hughes Aircraft. He was deputy chairman of Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) Limited until December 31st 2015 and is a member of the operating executive board of J.F. Lehman & Company based in New York.

Allan was Industry co-chair of the defence Growth Partnership (DGP) until December 2018 when he then became chairman of HS2. Until August 2016 he was the lead Non-Executive Member of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS.) He was chairman of the UK Trade & Investment’s Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board until October 2013, and chairman of FINMECCANICA UK Ltd and chairman of Selex ES until the end of December 2014. Until March 31st 2017 he was also chairman of SEMTA – the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies. He is past president of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) and past president of the Society of British Aerospace and Defence Companies (SBAC.) He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering where he has served as a Trustee and Vice President. He also chairs the Academy’s employer-focused Diversity Leadership Group. Allan became a Fellow of the China 48 Group Club in December 2015 and he is also a member of the Chairman’s Forum with the World Economic Forum. He was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in 2008 and received an honorary Doctorate in Science from Cranfield University in 2016.