WPP appoints Ilube to board

WPP has named Tom Ilube CBE to its board as an independent non-executive director.

Ilube is a technology entrepreneur and educational philanthropist, and the founder and CEO of AIM-listed Crossword Cybersecurity Plc, a technology commercialization company focused on the cyber security sector.

He is also a non-executive director at the BBC, where he serves on the audit and risk committee, and chairs the fair-trading committee. He also manages protected disclosures across the network, chairs the diversity and inclusion advisory group, and recently supported the appointment process for the new director general.

He has also worked as a managing director, consumer markets at Callcredit Information Group. There, he also founded “Noodle,” a credit reporting service.

Before that, Ilube founded and was CEO of Garlik, a venture capital-backed identity protection company, sold to Experian in 2011.

He has also worked as chief information officer at Egg Banking plc. His 30-year career in the U.K. technology sector also includes roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Goldman Sachs and the London Stock Exchange.

He also chaired the U.K. Government Technology Strategy Board’s Network Security Innovation panel, and was a member of the High-Level Expert Group on Cyber Security at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

He is also the founder and chair of the African Gifted Foundation.

Additionally, he was made a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) by City, University of London, and an Honorary Doctor of Technology by the University of Wolverhampton, and received his CBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to technology and philanthropy.

Ilube is also an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and an Advisory Fellow at St Anne’s College. He also served as Chair of Ada.

He was also the founding chair of Governors of Hammersmith Academy and in 2017 topped the Powerlist ranking of the most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the U.K.

Ilube said:

“Under its new management team, WPP has become a leader not only in creative services but also the provision of technology solutions for clients, so it’s an exciting time to join the Company. I look forward to working with the Board and executive leadership as WPP evolves its offer and delivers its strategy to grow the business, and to contributing to discussions around diversity at the Company and across the industry.”