Dido Harding

Baroness Diana ‘Dido’ Harding is a revered businesswoman and politician, who is currently a Conservative Life Peer and Member of the House of Lords. Having navigated both the public and private sectors with success, Dido is widely known for her former roles which include being the Executive Chair of NHS Test and Trace and the Chair of NHS Improvement. With decades of experience working in CEO and executive positions, Dido is revered for her ability to help complex consumer-facing organisations navigate exponential growth and unprecedented change. Now hired as a speaker, Dido is booked to share her expertise on navigating change, business growth, corporate turnaround, crisis management and customer care.

Having led a career that encompasses all aspects of business management, Dido’s revered career began working as a Business Analyst and Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Co. She later went on to become the Retail Marketing Director of Thomas Cook, a role in which she was solely responsible for £20m of marketing and PR. Dido later joined Kingfisher PLC, where she became the International Sourcing Director and the Commercial Director of Woolworths PLC. In the 2000s, she moved to work as the Commercial Director of Added Value Foods for Tesco. Proving her worth as a talented manager and businesswoman, Dido was then promoted to International Support Director of Tesco, a role in which she led a team of functional leaders responsible for operational improvement. After working as the Convenience Director of Sainsbury’s, Dido was appointed as the CEO of TalkTalk in 2010, spending seven years spearheading the demerger from Carphone Warehouse and navigating the fallout from a cyber attack that revealed the details of over four million customers – a testament to her expertise on crisis management.

Since then, Dido has committed her expertise to working as part of the NHS, having worked as both the Chair of NHS Improvement and the Executive Chair of Test and Trace for the NHS. As the Executive Chair of Test and Trace, Dido was responsible for the creation of the NHS Test and Trace functionality, employing over 55000 people. Having also been the Deputy Chair of the Bank of England, the Senior Independent Director of Mind Gym and the Chair and NED of Genomics England, Dido’s executive career is truly decadent. In addition to her business commitments, Dido is also a horse racing enthusiast, having been a member of the Jockey Club and had her horse Cool Dawn win the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Dido has also released her own biography, titled Cool Dawn: My National Velvet, and has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration from Anglia Ruskin University.

Named on the 100 Most Powerful Women in the UK by Woman’s Hour and on the Woman’s Hour Power List of the 10 Most Influential Women, Dido is a businesswoman whose private and public sector career serves as an inspiration to all. Having also sat on the Economic Affairs Committee of the House of Lords, Dido’s knowledge is so broad that a variety of different industries benefit from her expertise as a keynote speaker. When hired as a speaker, Dido inspires audiences with the lessons she has learned during her career, encompassing everything from employee engagement and crisis management to corporate turnaround and customer care. When looking for a speaker with a decadent career to their name, guaranteed to inspire transformational leadership, hire Baroness Dido Harding today.