Lord Digby Jones, Former British Trade Minister, to Speak Dec. 15 on "Global Innovation: Building Synergies in Tough Economic Times"

Lord Digby Jones, former British Trade Minister, will speak Dec. 15 on the topic of "Global Innovation: Building Synergies in Tough Economic Times" at the luncheon meeting of the Economic Club of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the British American Business Council - Pittsburgh Chapter.

Lord Jones was formerly Minister for Trade and Investment at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and at the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory from June 2007 to October 2008.

He served as Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the UK’s "Voice of Business," from 2000 to 2006, where he regularly visited businesses in the UK and worldwide, taking their views back to those who make the rules.

The Dec. 15 event will be held at the Omni William Penn Hotel, 530 William Penn Place, Downtown, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Tickets are $30 for members, $40 for non-members and $20 for students. Tables of eight are $220. Reservations are required. For reservations, send email to reservations@econclubpgh.org.

During his appointment he took the British business message to 70 different countries. He met on a regular basis political, business and media figures in the United Kingdom and around the world. From 2006-2007 he advised Deloitte, Jaguar, JCB, Barclays Capital and CSC. In addition he was a private adviser to HRH the Duke of York and was the UK Government's Skills Envoy.

In 1998 Lord Jones joined KPMG as vice chairman of Corporate Finance, acting as close adviser to many public companies across the United Kingdom and in KPMG’s global markets. He is a Corporate Ambassador for the Cancer Research UK Corporate Ambassadors and is a Fellow of UNICEF. He is also a non Executive Director of Leicester Tigers Rugby Club.

Lord Jones is married to Pat and they divide their time between homes in Warwickshire and London. In his spare time he takes a keen interest in military history, having visited the sites of many famous battles throughout the world.