Steve Williams
Steve Williams was appointed to the Board of Arts & Business in July 2008, and he is currently the chairman. He is also the Chief Legal Officer and General Secretary of the Unilever Group.
Following law school, Steve joined Slaughter & May’s tax planning and commercial departments and was admitted as a Solicitor and a member of the Law Society in 1972. In 1975, he joined the Legal Department of Imperial Chemical Industries (“ICI”), transferring in 1984 to the company secretary’s department where he became one of two assistant company secretaries in 1985.
He was appointed Joint Secretary of Unilever in 1986, and General Counsel of Unilever in 1993. From 1995 until 2004, he was a non-executive director of Bunzl PLC. In 2004, he joined the Board of Arriva plc where he is Senior Independent Director. In May 2008, he joined the Board of Whitbread plc as a non-executive director.
He is a member of the Company Law committee of the Law Society and of the Companies committee of the Confederation of British Industries (“CBI”). In addition, he is chairman of the De La Warr Pavilion Art Centre, and a trustee of Moorfields Eye Hospital. Steve is a member of the RAC, 2 Brydges Place, the Euston Club, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Chevalier du Tastevin.
His interests include contemporary art, professional football, pulp fiction and vulgar automobiles.