Dispatches

Born in Birmingham on 28 October 1955, Digby Jones began his schooldays at Alvechurch Primary School Birmingham before winning a major scholarship to Bromsgrove School in 1966. He gained an upper second class degree in Law at University College London in 1977 and took articles with the Birmingham corporate law firm Edge and Ellison in 1978. He was admitted as a Solicitor in 1980.

Digby made partner at Edge and Ellison in 1984, and it was in corporate finance and client development that he made his name. He was responsible for developing the firm's London presence and establishing its representation in many European countries and several states in America. He was involved in most of the major management buyouts and merger and acquisition activity in the West Midlands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was made deputy senior partner in 1990, becoming the firm’s senior Partner in 1995.

In 1998, Digby 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.

From 2000 to 2006, Digby served as director-general of the CBI, the Confederation of British Industry (the UK's 'Voice of Business') where he regularly visited businesses in the UK and worldwide, taking their views back to those who make the rules. During his appointment, he took the British business message to 70 different countries, internationalising the organisation and opening CBI offices in Washington DC and Beijing.

Following his departure from the CBI, Digby held a number of senior corporate advisory positions. In 2007, he served as the UK's skills envoy, campaigning for both private and public sector employers to raise the level of skills of all of their employees to Level Two by 2010.

Digby was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2005 New Year Honours list. He appears regularly on television, radio and in the newspapers, and is known for his firm views on several aspects of life in a globalised economy. He is an active public speaker at events and engagements all over the world, and is president of the Speakers Trust. He is also the Association of Speaker Clubs Speaker of the Year 2008.

From July 2007 to October 2008, Digby served as the UK minister of state for trade and investment, accepting a lifetime peerage in the House of Lords, where he now sits on the cross benches and is known as Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham. During his 15 months in ministerial office, he made 45 overseas visits, travelling to 31 different countries and meeting with the world's top business leaders and politicians. Following his departure from ministerial office, Lord Digby was appointed as a business ambassador for UK Trade and Investment.