Member of the House of Lords and Enterprise Advisor to the Prime Minister

After qualifying as a solicitor from University College London, Lord Young spent 20 years building up his own companies before entering Parliament in 1975 as a Conservative Member of Parliament. During his parliamentary career, Lord Young served as the Secretary of State for Employment and as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry during the 1980s.

After the 1987 election where he had a key role, he became Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade. He retired from government in July 1989, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Party until June 1990. That year also saw the publication of his book The Enterprise Years.

Lord Young was invited to become Executive Chairman of Cable & Wireless PLC in October 1990 where he served until November 1995. He founded Young Associates Ltd, a Private Equity house in 1996 where he is currently Chairman and is also Chairman of a number of companies on AIM.

Lord Young was the President of the Institute of Directors from 1993 to 2002 and is currently Enterprise Advisor to the Prime Minister.