Chairman of Capgemini UK plc Christine Hodgson, has been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List for her services to education.

The New Year Honours List recognises people who have made remarkable contributions to public life by helping others or excelling in their field. Christine’s award is a tribute to her education outreach and being an ambassador for apprenticeship programmes that have fostered diversity at Capgemini.

Youth unemployment is a persistent problem for the UK economy. Christine was asked by the Government to set up and Chair The Careers & Enterprise Company, the aim of which is to help inspire and prepare young people for the fast-changing world of work. The ambition was to create a network of business volunteers helping to connect the worlds of business and education and to give young people valuable work experience.

The Careers & Enterprise Company is now at the heart of the Government’s careers strategy with 200 ‘cornerstone’ businesses committing to support careers education in schools in disadvantaged areas and over 2,500 senior people from businesses, including some Capgemini colleagues, working with schools and colleges to improve careers provision.

Transforming careers education

“Through my work with The Careers & Enterprise Company I have seen how careers education is key to transforming the opportunities and lives of young people and be a real driver of social mobility. After decades of underperformance, when careers provision was patchy and poor, we are now witnessing radical change – driven by a new world-class approach. Careers education is improving fast and is having a real impact on the job choices and life chances of young people," Christine comments.

“More than two million young people are now meeting regularly with employers and learning about the world of work – up 70 per cent in two years. National performance, as measured by the Gatsby Benchmarks, has improved by 50 per cent over the same period. Disadvantaged areas like the Black Country, Tees Valley and The Humber are among the highest performing in the country," she continues.

“We have now seen that young people are becoming better informed and prepared for the world of work – it’s opening their eyes to the vast range of opportunities out there and improving their life chances, as they make the move from education to employment.”

An impressive career history

Christine has a first-class honours degree from Loughborough University of Technology. She has worked with Capgemini in a number of UK and global roles and chairs the Capgemini Group Sustainability Board, as well as the UK Women’s Business Network.

Prior to joining Capgemini, she spent time as Corporate Development Director on the board of Ronson plc and a number of years at Coopers & Lybrand where she specialised in Corporate Finance.

Christine is the Senior Independent Director of Standard Chartered plc, and sits on the board of Business in the Community. She is a member of the Finance Committee of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

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