Henry Staunton (businessman)

Staunton was chairman of Ashtead Group plc, a plant hire company (1997 to 2004), and was a non-executive director of EMAP plc, a consumer magazine and media company (1995 to 2002). In 2002, Staunton was forced to resign after a government ruling that he could not be on the board of both Granada and Emap.^[12] He has also been on the boards of ITN, a British news broadcaster, and BSkyB – the operator of the UK's largest digital pay television platform – and international fashion retailer New Look.^[13][14]

Staunton was appointed to the board of Legal & General on 1 May 2004^[15] and was vice chairman and senior independent director^[16] until his retirement from the board in May 2013.^[17] He was also a non-executive director of Standard Bank from December 2005 to September 2016,^[18] of Ladbrokes from September 2006 to May 2010,^[19] and of The Merchants Trust plc from May 2008 to December 2014.^[20]

In 2010, it was announced Staunton was to join the non-executive boards of WH Smith plc^[21][22] and Capital & Counties Properties.^[23] He was appointed chairman of BrightHouse, a rent-to-own retailer, in July 2014.^[24] He retired from WH Smith in June 2022^[25] and from Capital & Counties Properties in March 2023.^[26]

Staunton was appointed chair of Post Office Limited in December 2022. He was removed on 27 January 2024, following disagreements with the Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch on matters including the appointment of a new independent director. This action came as the government sought to strengthen governance at the state-owned company in the wake of the long-running Horizon IT scandal.^[27][28] The following month, in an interview with The Sunday Times, Staunton said he had been asked by a senior civil service official shortly after his appointment to slow the payout of payments to sub-postmasters affected by the scandal so that the government could "limp into the next election".^[29][30] The next day, Badenoch told Parliament that Staunton had been under "formal investigation" for misconduct.^[31]

Outside his business life, Staunton sits on the advisory board of the University of Exeter Business School.^[32] He plays Eton Fives^[33] and golf. His clubs include Walton Heath Golf Club^[34] and the RAC.^[35]