Ian Charles Watmore (born 5 July 1958)[1] is a British management consultant and former senior civil servant under three prime ministers, serving from October 2016 as the First Civil Service Commissioner.[2]
This career involved IT and consulting in the private sector, and involved him joining the board of e-skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT, from 2000 until 2006,[5] and serving as the president of the Management Consultants Association from 2003 to 2004.[4]
Government career
Watmore joined the civil service of the United Kingdom as the first Government Chief Information Officer (GCIO), taking over as head of the e-Government Unit, the direct successor to the Office of the e-Envoy in September 2004.[6] Fifteen months later, at the end of 2005, the Cabinet Office announced that Watmore was that next month to succeed his boss Sir Michael Barber, as the second ever head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, reporting directly to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretary.[7][8]
Eighteen months later, it was announced that Watmore would leave the Civil Service to be the new Chief Executive of The Football Association, succeeding Brian Barwick starting the job in June 2009.[10] He resigned from this post nine months later, on 19 March 2010, and was replaced by Alex Horne, initially in an acting capacity and later as General Secretary.[11]
Three months later, following the General Election, Watmore returned to government as the Chief Operating Officer of the Cabinet Office, heading up the newly formed Efficiency and Reform Group.[12]
Sixteen months after that, on 11 October 2011 it was announced that Watmore would become Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office, replacing Sir (now Lord) Gus O'Donnell, whose three roles were split after his retirement at the end of 2011.[13] However, he only held this role for six months, announcing in May 2012 that he was resigning to spend more time with his family.[14][15] He was replaced by Richard Heaton.
Watmore is a lifelong supporter of Arsenal,[18][19] and has had several sport related appointments. He has been a board member of the English Institute of Sport since 2002,[4] and in March 2012, he joined the England Rugby 2015 board.[4] He is the non executive chair of Quantum Sport, a sports agency which represents his son, Duncan, who is a professional footballer.[20] He had been chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board since 1 September 2020.[21] On 7 October 2021, he stepped down as ECB Chairman with immediate effect,[22] after serving only 13 months of his five-year term.[23]
^ ab"Ian Watmore". Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. HM Government. 2007. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
^ abcdef"WATMORE, Ian Charles". www.ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who 2015 (online ed.). A & C Black. 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
^Stevenson, Alexander (2013). The Public Sector: Managing The Unmanageable. ISBN978-0-7494-6777-7.
^"Watmore appointed". The Football Association. 18 February 2009. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2012. via Wayback Machine
