Suren, who joins from the British Chamber of Commerce (‘BCC’), in this newly created role, will oversee ICAEW’s economic thought leadership work, and direct policy work on trade, technology and financial services.
Suren Thiru is an Economics graduate of Aberystwyth University, and holds a MSc in Financial Economics from SOAS, the University of London. He is a regular commentator on the UK economy on TV, radio and national press, and started his career as a market economist at Leaseplan UK, the largest vehicle management and leasing provider.
As Head of Economics at the BCC for nearly 10 years, Suren led the organisation’s UK and global economic initiatives, including the delivery of key economic research for events and stakeholders, such as the Bank of England and HM Treasury. He provided strategic advice and analysis in support of policy and undertook key submissions for the Budget, as well as policy and thought leadership work across financial services, tax, Brexit and international trade.
Prior to that, Suren worked as an economist at the Lloyds Banking Group for five and a half years, developing new research to maintain the group as a thought leader on the UK economy; as well as compiling research on corporate lending, UK mortgage and savings markets, commodity markets, international finance and investment.
Peter van Veen joins ICAEW as Director of Corporate Governance and Stewardship, with over 20 years’ experience of working with, advising and serving on boards.
Peter holds postgraduate degrees in Corporate Governance and Business Ethics, and Economics, from the University of London and is a graduate in Economics from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Until recently, Peter worked as a Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer for several multinational enterprises headquartered in the Netherlands, France and Japan.
Previously, Peter spent over six years at Transparency International UK (TI-UK) where he set up the Business Integrity Programme. In this role he also served on the advisory board of AIM Progress the European Brands’ ethical supply chain initiative and led the development of publications, including on managing supply chain risk and on incentivising ethical behaviour.
At TI-UK, Peter regularly provided expert input into standard setting initiatives such as the International Ethical Standards Board for Accountants, UN Global Compact and Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). He also inputted into UK and French parliamentary consultations.
Peter has worked in corporate strategy and management consulting at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), Bertelsmann and Shell.
Iain Wright, Managing Director, Reputation & Influence, ICAEW said:
“Our members have a positive role to play in the running of businesses and the economy, whether managing or advising companies at a time of uncertainty and change. By having strong governance and perceptive insights into ICAEW’s strategic themes of how technology and trade impact the economy, and with our new directors of Peter and Suren’s calibre in place, it strengthens our value to members, on vital issues of corporate governance and economic matters.”
ENDS