Rita Clifton CBE
Chair, and Chair of the Governance & Nominations Committee
I am delighted to be joining the Board of Simplyhealth as Chair at such an important time. Its purpose-led ethos, long and interesting history, and strong commitment to make a profound difference to so many people’s health and lives deeply resonate with me.
My early career in customer insight and brand strategy helped organisations across multiple sectors understand in depth what their customers needed and so helped to shape the best products and services for them. It also gave me extensive experience in how best to communicate their unique strengths. I fully believe that Simplyhealth has unique strengths that we can build on in the future.
My Board career spans major retail businesses like the John Lewis Partnership, where I am Deputy Chair, as well as leading health and financial services organisations like Bupa and Nationwide Building Society. These organisations all have distinctive ownership and governance models that enable them to take long term decisions for the benefit of their stakeholders, and which engage those stakeholders properly. This approach is important to me both personally and professionally.
I have also served environmental and sustainability organisations for over 30 years, on the Boards of WWF and the Government’s Sustainable Development Commission. There is a demonstrable connection between a healthy planet, healthy people and healthy communities, and Simplyhealth’s contributions here are inspiring.
Finally, I have two grown-up daughters and two tiny grandchildren! We all need organisations like Simplyhealth with a clear social purpose to drive meaningful change for future generations.