The Board

Sir Victor Blank (61)
Chairman

Sir Victor Blank was educated at Stockport Grammar School and St Catherine?s College, Oxford. He qualified as a solicitor with the law firm Clifford-Turner (now Clifford Chance), becoming a partner in 1969. In 1981, he moved into investment banking with Charterhouse, becoming Chairman and Chief Executive in 1985. He was a director of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc from 1985 to 1993. He joined the Board of GUS in 1993.

Sir Victor retired from investment banking in 1997, having become Deputy Chairman of GUS the previous year. He became Chairman of GUS in 2000 and is also Chairman of Trinity Mirror plc.

Sir Victor is a member of the Financial Reporting Council and Chairman of the Industrial Development Advisory Board. He is a member of the Council of Oxford University. He chairs two charities, WellBeing and UJS Hillel, as well as the Council of University College School.

Sir Victor is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine?s College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Companion of the Institute of Management.

Terry Duddy (48)
Chief Executive,
Argos Retail Group

Terry Duddy began his career at Letraset in 1978, initially in personnel management and later in product management. He joined the Dixons Stores Group in 1984, where he held various commercial positions, including Sales Director of Currys, Product Marketing Director of the Dixons Stores Group and, latterly, Managing Director of PC World.

Terry Duddy joined GUS in August 1998 as Chief Executive of the newly acquired Argos, becoming a director of GUS later that year. In 2000 he was appointed Chief Executive of the Argos Retail Group.

Andy Hornby (37)
Non-Executive Director

Andy graduated from Oxford University, with an MA in English, before joining the Boston Consulting Group where he spent three years working principally on media and retail projects. From there he went to Harvard Business School and obtained an MBA. On his return, Andy joined Blue Circle, where from 1993 to 1995 he was Business Development Director of Blue Circle Home Products. He moved from there to ASDA where he held a number of senior general management roles culminating in him becoming Managing Director of George, ASDA?s clothing business.

In November 1999, Andy joined the board of Halifax as Chief Executive, Halifax Retail. Following the merger of Bank of Scotland and Halifax in September 2001, he became Chief Executive of the Retail Division of HBOS plc, a position he currently holds.

Andy joined the Board of GUS in January 2004.

Frank Newman (62) (USA)
Non-Executive Director

Frank Newman is Chief Executive of The Broad Center, a non-profit organisation focused on improving the management of public school systems. He is Chairman Emeritus of Bankers Trust Corporation, having served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 1999. He also serves as an adviser to private equity investment firms and financial institutions. Frank Newman joined the Board of GUS in 2001.

Before joining Bankers Trust, Frank Newman was the Deputy Secretary of the United States Treasury Department. He served in the Treasury Department from early 1993 until late 1995. As Deputy Secretary, Mr. Newman was the number two official and Chief Operating Officer of the department.

Previously, Mr. Newman spent six years with BankAmerica Corporation, where he was Chief Financial Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Board. Prior to joining BankAmerica in 1986, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Wells Fargo Bank.

Mr. Newman is a director of Dow Jones & Company and Korea First Bank. He is a member of the advisory board of Renault and Nissan. He is also a board member of three public-purpose organisations: the Carnegie Hall Society, Cornell University Weill Medical College, and MDRC (public policy research).

Lady Patten of Wincanton (50)
Non-Executive Director

Louise Patten joined the Board of GUS in 1997 and chairs the Remuneration Committee. She is also Chairman of Brixton plc and a non-executive director of Bradford & Bingley plc and Somerfield plc, as well as Senior Adviser to Bain & Co.

Louise graduated from Oxford University in 1977 and went from there to Citibank. She remained in banking until 1985, when she moved into management consultancy. In 1993, Louise joined Bain & Co, the global strategy consultancy, as a partner.

Louise has considerable experience as a non-executive director. She was a director of Harveys Furnishings plc from 1993?2000 and of the Catholic Building Society from 1993?1997. Louise is senior non-executive director and remuneration committee chairman of Somerfield plc, whose board she joined in 1998, and was its interim Chairman from 1999?2000. In 2001, she joined the Board of Brixton plc as a non-executive director, taking over the chairmanship of Brixton in May 2003. In December 2003, Louise was appointed a non-executive director of Bradford & Bingley plc.

John Peace (55)
Group Chief Executive

John Peace joined the Board of GUS in 1997, becoming Group Chief Executive in January 2000. In June 2002, he was appointed Chairman of Burberry Group plc, in advance of its partial flotation by GUS in July 2002.

John Peace joined GUS in 1970 and held several senior IT management positions before co-founding CCN in 1980. This was the company formed by GUS to market information services to retailers and other lending organisations. In 1991, he was appointed Chief Executive of CCN, which was by then one of Europe?s largest information services companies.

During the mid-nineties, CCN was combined with a number of other US and European businesses to form a global information services organisation called Experian, with John Peace as its Chief Executive worldwide.

John Peace is Chairman of the Board of Governors of Nottingham Trent University, a member of the Board of Companions of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Sir Alan Rudge (66)
Non-Executive Director

Sir Alan Rudge was Deputy Chief Executive of BT until November 1997 and Chairman of WS Atkins until March 2001. He joined the Board of GUS in 1997 and also serves as a non-executive director on the Board of SESA AG. He is currently President of CELTEL International BV, Chairman of ERA Foundation Ltd and Pro Chancellor of Surrey University. Sir Alan is the senior independent director of GUS.

Sir Alan has a PhD in Electrical Engineering and is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a past President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and past Chairman of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Oliver Stocken (62)
Non-Executive Director

After qualifying with Arthur Andersen, Oliver Stocken became a director of NM Rothschild & Sons and subsequently Managing Director of Barclays Australia and of Barclays Merchant Bank in London.

At the inception of BZW Holdings in 1986 he was a member of the Board, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 1990 and later Finance Director. In May 1993 he became Group Finance Director, Barclays PLC, finishing this role in September 1999.

Oliver Stocken was appointed to the Board of GUS in April 2000 and chairs the Audit Committee. He is Deputy Chairman of 3i plc and a non-executive director of The Rank Group plc, Standard Chartered plc, Pilkington plc, Novar plc, Searchspace Group Limited, Rutland Trust plc and Stanhope plc.

Oliver Stocken is also a Trustee of the Natural History Museum; Council Member and Treasurer of the Royal College of Art; Chairman of Finance and Member of the Committee of the MCC, and Trustee of the Henley River & Rowing Museum.

David Tyler (51)
Group Finance Director

David Tyler graduated from Cambridge University, where he read Economics, in 1974.

He spent the first 11 years of his career working for Unilever in a variety of financial, commercial and strategic jobs. In 1986 he joined County NatWest where he worked in senior financial control roles. He then worked for Christie?s International from 1989 to 1996 as Finance Director and as President of Christie?s America.

David Tyler has been Group Finance Director of GUS since February 1997. Aside from his financial role, he also has responsibility for the development of Group strategy. Since June 2002, he has been a non-executive director of Burberry Group plc, and is a non-executive director of The Lewis Group (GUS? South African retailing business).

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.