Shirine Khoury-Haq
Shirine Khoury-Haq (born 1971) is a British and Australian businesswoman, and CEO of The Co-operative Group since August 2022.[1] She is the first female chief executive of the business since the Co-op was founded in 1863.[2][3] Prior to joining the Co-op in 2019, she was COO of Lloyd's of London.[4] Early life and educationKhoury-Haq was born in Beirut, Lebanon,[5] and is of Arabic and Turkish heritage.[6] Her father worked in the oil industry, so they lived in several countries growing up.[5] She learned English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, in addition to her native Turkish language.[5] She attended high school in Australia, followed by the Australian National University, where she earned a bachelor of commerce degree in accounting and economics.[5][1] She earned an MBA from Ohio State University and is a US certified public accountant,[7] and holds a postgraduate management diploma from the University of the West of England in Bristol.[1] CareerEarly in her career, Khoury-Haq worked in finance and operations at McDonald's, and was responsible for improving sales and profitability at 160 restaurants.[5] She then moved to IBM,[8] and was based in the US for three years, followed by six years in the UK.[5] In 2007, she became group head of operations and UK chief operating officer at Catlin Group, which was then the largest syndicate and managing agent within Lloyd's of London.[5] In 2014, she was appointed COO of Lloyd's of London, where she remained for five years,[4] and implemented a programme to modernise the way that Lloyd's operates, by using technology and hiring people from outside the insurance industry.[5] Khoury-Haq joined The Co-operative Group in August 2019,[4] serving as chief financial officer and head of the life services division, which sells insurance and provides funeral care and legal services.[8][3] In May 2022, she was appointed interim CEO following the departure of Steve Murrells, becoming the group's first female CEO in its 159-year history.[4] She was confirmed as permanent CEO in August 2022.[1] Khoury-Haq is one of only a handful of women CEOs leading FTSE 100 or equivalent businesses in the UK.[6] She earns an annual salary of £750,000, plus a bonus,[2] bringing her total remuneration to over £1 million in recent years.[3] Personal lifeKhoury-Haq has twin daughters.[9] In 2022, she told The Sunday Times that each of her children would receive a single Christmas gift in solidarity with people experiencing financial difficulties.[2][10] She lives in Cheshire, England.[1] References
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