Ann Beynon

Former Senior Adviser Welsh Affairs for Severn Trent Water and Former Director, BT Wales

Ann has held major roles in the private and public sectors. As BT’s Director for Wales until July 2015, she was the company’s senior representative, overseeing its commercial and policy agenda in the country. This required in-depth knowledge of all aspects of BT’s commercial activities across all its lines of business and engagement with BT’s central policy, public affairs and CSR teams. Ann managed BT’s relationship with the Welsh Government and all key opinion formers.

She is currently Severn Trent Water’s Senior Advisor on Welsh Affairs.

She is also a Non Executive Director of FUWIS (the Farmers Union of Wales Insurance Services). She was the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Commissioner for Wales until May 2016, and sat on its UK Board and its Audit and Risk Committee in addition to chairing the Wales committee.

Since April 2015 she has chaired the Advisory Board of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University. She chaired the Cardiff Capital Region Transition Board for the Welsh Government until May 2017 and is a member of the Welsh Government’s Valleys Task Force.

Ann was appointed as HRH the Prince of Wales’s Ambassador to the community in Wales in 2007, and chaired HRH’s charity Business in the Community in Wales, as well as sitting on its UK board for three years.

The then Prime Minister appointed her a member of the Royal Commission on the role of the House of Lords from 1999-2000.

She has worked in urban regeneration as Business Development Director at the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation and in European and UK media policy as Head of Public and European Affairs at S4C, the Welsh Language TV channel.

She has been a member of the Board of the UK National Film and Television School; a member of the Council of the University of Bangor (and a member of its Audit and Risk and Remuneration Committees); and a member of the Royal Television Society Council.
Ann was awarded an OBE in the 2008 New Year’s Honours for her contribution to business and charitable services.

She has a first class honours degree in Welsh from Bangor University and speaks Welsh, English and French fluently.