Sharon White, the former chief executive of Ofcom, has been awarded a Damehood as one of a host of business figures recognised in the New Year's Honours List. Ms White, who stepped down from the media watchdog last month to become chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, was praised for "refocusing Ofcom's mission around consumers" and in promoting more diversity in broadcasting during her tenure. You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Join Facebook to connect with Sharon White Williams and others you may know. Find out more He is joined by entrepreneurs behind some of Britain's most innovative companies, including Rishi Khosla, chief executive of fintech start-up Oaknorth, who received an OBE.Meanwhile, the founders of designer clothing empire Matchesfashion.com, Ruth Chapman and Tom Chapman, were awarded OBEs for their services to the fashion industry. While the regulator’s relations with BT are much improved, tensions with the BBC are high, as work such as a review of the scope of its news output raises hackles in W1A. Sharon White stepped down from her role at Ofcom last month At John Lewis she will nearly double her £450,000 pay package.The daughter of Jamaican migrants, White was born and raised in east London. Few of those who know her well are surprised White has now made the leap from Ofcom into full-time business as chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. View the profiles of people named Sharon White Williams. Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, and Jonson Cox, who chairs water regulator Ofwat, were also recognised, both becoming CBEs. Patterson has since admitted that BT’s failure to grasp the seriousness of Ofcom’s intent was a major factor in his premature departure last year.White has shown herself ready to take on big interests and wear such criticism. 117 Followers, 71 Following, 23 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Sharon (@sharonadyewhite) She had been at Ofcom since 2015 and, in that time had taken on major upheavals, including overseeing the legal separation of BT and Openreach.
You need to be a subscriber to join the conversation. Ofcom had appeared resigned to tinkering around the edges of the situation.White’s review signalled a massive shake-up, but one that would be delivered under fierce political, legal and public protest from BT. She excelled at school and won a place to study economics at Cambridge, she met her husband Robert Chote, a fellow Cambridge economist who now runs the Office of Budget Responsibility. BT, which had been forced to open up its network to rival providers in 2006, was at first complacent. The married couple sold the business two years ago in a deal that valued it at £800m. Its network unit, Openreach, had become a fountain of cash, yet broadband service standards were lamentable. Sharon White is no shopkeeper but John Lewis is not a normal shop. She will leave Ofcom with few real enemies, and nobody expects her to struggle with the day-to-day business of retail. Find out more Dame Sharon White’s first full day as chairman will be tomorrow New John Lewis boss Dame Sharon White has hired a key lieutenant at the struggling retailer as she battles to revive its fortunes. Yet the public glare of the John Lewis Partnership and the urgency of the threats faced by the high street are alien to White and a challenge even to someone of her talents.We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. White joined the civil service in 1989 rising in step with Chote to become known as “Mr and Mrs Treasury” until they took on their separate high-profile quango roles.The new chief executive’s first big job was to help scrutinise BT’s £12.5bn takeover of the mobile operator EE, which to the fury of rivals she waved through. The supportive decision proved no guide to her approach to Britain’s former state telecoms monopoly, however.In 2015 White launched the first full-scale review of the telecoms market in a decade.
Though the 52-year-old has been routinely linked with top public sector jobs, including Governor of the Bank of England, she made clear that a return to a Whitehall gripped by Brexit chaos and paralysis held limited appeal. The Telegraph values your comments but kindly requests all posts are on topic, constructive and respectful. Read our community guidelines in full Read our community guidelines in full