Ruby MCGREGOR-SMITH

About Ruby MCGREGOR-SMITH

Ruby McGregor-Smith has been a non-executive independent director of Thales since her appointment at the company’s Annual General Meeting on 15 May 2024. A British business leader, she built her career in large-scale outsourcing, business services and financial leadership, with substantial exposure to operational management, transformation and corporate governance. She holds a BA in Economics from Kingston University and a postgraduate diploma in Global Business from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. She is also a qualified chartered accountant and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She began her career at Serco Group plc in 1991, where she spent nine years in a range of operational and financial roles. That early experience gave her a broad foundation in managing complex service businesses. In 2002, after a short period at Service Group International, she joined Mitie Group plc as Group Financial Director. She was promoted to Group Chief Operating Officer in 2005 and became Chief Executive Officer in 2007, a role she held until December 2016. As CEO, she led one of the UK’s major outsourcing and energy services groups, overseeing strategy, operational performance, financial discipline and shareholder value creation in a demanding market environment. Beyond executive leadership, McGregor-Smith has held a number of public and governance roles. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012 for services to business and diversity in business, and in 2015 she was made a life peer and took her seat in the House of Lords. She has also served as a non-executive board member of the UK Department for Education, President of the British Chambers of Commerce, and in several other non-executive and institutional roles. Her background is especially relevant to Thales because it combines board-level oversight, strategic judgment, experience of complex service operations, and a longstanding commitment to diversity and long-term organisational performance.