CIPD appoints Peter Cheese as new chief executive

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has announced that Peter Cheese will take over as chief executive.

Cheese is currently chairman of the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) but will be leaving to join the CIPD on 2 July.

Peter Cheese,  new CIPD chief executive.

Prior to this, he held a number of global consulting and non-executive roles and has had a long career working at management consultancy Accenture.

He will be taking over from Dr Sue Upton, who was appointed interim managing director after Jackie Orme, the former chief executive, stepped down from the post due to health reasons.

Gill Rider, president of the CIPD, commented: “The CIPD board is delighted to appoint Peter Cheese as the institute’s new chief executive. With his high-level, global experience of business and his track record in HR thought leadership, he is ideally placed to lead the next phase of the CIPD’s ambitious plans.

“Peter is committed to extending both the value the CIPD gives to its members, and supporting the growth of the HR profession to deliver ever greater value to global workforces and businesses. In our search, in keeping with our aspirations for the CIPD, we set our sights high and were delighted to be able to select Peter from an exceptionally strong field of candidates.”

Peter Cheese biography:

• 1979: Began a 30-year career at Arthur Andersen (later Andersen Consulting, then Accenture) as a graduate trainee, specialising in IT, business process and organisational change.
• 1990: Promoted to partner, working in manufacturing, travel and hospitality industries.
• 1996-2001: Co-led Accenture’s enterprise resource planning practice across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India.
• 2002-2009: Global managing partner at Accenture’s talent and organisation performance consulting practice.
• 2007: Lead author of “The Talent Powered Organisation” and recognised by Consulting Magazine as one of the top 25 consultants worldwide that year.
• 2008: Appointed European board director at Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Europe (a non-governmental organisation focused on the development of entrepreneurial, financial and employability skills in young people through business engagement in schools and universities).
• 2009: Appointed executive fellow, London Business School (associated with the faculties of strategic management and organisational behaviour).
• 2009 to date: Held portfolio of global consulting and non-executive roles.
• 2010: Appointed chairman, Institute of Leadership and Management.