Who’s Who in 2020?

December 3, 2019

Who's Who 2020 is the 172nd edition of one of the world's longest established and most comprehensive general reference books, brought right up to date for the year ahead with nearly 700 new names for 2020.

It contains more than 34,000 autobiographical entries, carefully updated for maximum accuracy from information personally supplied by the biographee. After 171 years, Who’s Who is still the most reliable directory of the noteworthy and influential people in every area of public life.

Who’s Who 2020 features a wide variety of new entrants, from television presenter Johnny Ball and Chief Executive Officer of Help for Heroes Melanie Waters, to the Director of the National Space Academy Anupam Ojha. The inclusion of Recreations in the entries provides an extra insight and this year’s new entrants boast a wide array of activities. Whilst QC Samantha Broadfoot is the ‘frontwoman of a rock band’ in her own time, Kate Arthurs (Director of Arts, British Council) includes ‘shipping containers, witchcraft and Venn diagrams’ as her interests. Norman Fulton (Head, Food and Farming Group, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland) is a self-proclaimed ‘fixer of broken things’, Heather Self (Founder of Women in Tax) spends her time on ‘the restoration of an ex-BR 9F steam engine’ and Dr Zoé Whitley (Senior Curator at the Hayward Gallery) passes the time with ‘infrequent bouts of yoga, frequent baking for friends and family, and too many hours lost in WhatsApp groups’!

ARTS

As always, members of the arts world are plentiful in the 172nd edition of Who’s Who. Victoria Hamilton, who played the Queen Mother in past series of The Crown, and actress Katherine Parkinson of The IT Crowd, Humans and Doc Martin are both new additions for the 2020 edition. The Principal Dancer at the Royal Ballet, Matthew Ball, and opera singer Neal Davies are also new to Who’s Who this year. Paul Roseby (Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre), Dawn Walton (Artistic Director and CEO of Eclipse Theatre) and James Dacre (Artistic Director of the Royal & Derngate Theatre in Northampton) are all included in the latest list as well.

MEDIA

Journalists are a strong contingent in the updated edition. Paul Webster (Editor of The Observer), Nicholas Hugh (Chief Executive Officer of the Telegraph Media Group), Gabrielle Huddart (Group Editorial Director of Lifestyle at Hearst UK and Editor in Chief of Good Housekeeping magazine) and Albert Read (Managing Director of Condé Nast Britain) are just a few of the latest additions from the writing world. Director of News and Current Affairs at BBC News, Francesca Unsworth, Sky News’ Political Editor Elizabeth Rigby, and James Rea, Director of Broadcasting at Global, also all land on the pages of the 172nd edition. Olly Smith who is a wine columnist and TV presenter (being the wine expert on BBC One Saturday Kitchen) is a worthy addition as well.

BUSINESS

Thirty-five of the additions for the 2020 edition from the business and finance sectors are women. Ina De (Managing Director of J. P. Morgan) and Sarah John (Chief Cashier and Director of Notes at the Bank of England) are both additions from the banking world. Female business leaders that are new to the list include Judith Batchelar (Director of Sainsbury’s Brand at J. Sainsbury plc), Rakhi Goss-Custard (Non -Executive Director of Rightmove plc, Kingfisher plc, Schroders plc) and Dame Sandra Lau (owner and Managing Director of Tropicana Ltd). Food and drink businesses are heavily represented with Fernando Peire (Director of The Ivy and The Ivy Club), Jeremy Chan (Co-Founder and Head Chef at Ikoyi Restaurant), Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne (Founder and Board Director of Genius Foods Ltd) and Sir Edwin Harrison (Director of Naked Coffee Ltd) all featuring as new additions.

SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY

From the science and technology sectors, Anne-Marie Imafidon (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Stemettes) and Johnny Ball (writer, lecturer and television presenter) are both new to the 2020 list. Professor Joe Smith (Director at the Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers), Professor Ian Tomlinson (Director of the Cancer Centre at the University of Edinburgh), Mark Lynas (author and environmentalist) and Mark Campanale (Founder and Executive Director of Carbon Tracker Initiative) are all included in Who’s Who 2020 as well.

CHARITY and CAMPAIGNING

Health and care charities feature heavily in the new additions to Who’s Who 2020: Helen Walker (Chief Executive of Carers UK), Dr Helen Pankhurst (Senior Advisor to CARE International), Dr Crystal Oldman (Chief Executive of Queen’s Nursing Institute), Mark Rowland (Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation) andDame Laura Lee (Chief Executive of Maggie Keswick Jencks Cancer Caring Centres Trust) have all been included. The importance of wildlife charities has also been acknowledged through the addition of Sandy Luk (Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Conservation Society) and Matthew Shardlow (Chief Executive Officer of Buglife – the Invertebrate Conservation Trust).