UK Music appoints Catriona Laing as the new Chair of UK Music

UK Music has appointed Catriona Laing CB as the new Chair of UK Music, the collective voice of the commercial music industry.  

She takes up the role at the beginning of June and succeeds Lord Watson of Wyre Forest who is standing down after six years of leading the UK Music Board – the two-term limit set under the organisation's rules.  

Following an extensive recruitment process led by Eton Bridge Partners, which saw over 200 applications from individuals across music, the creative industries, as well as wider public life, UK Music's Board of Directors appointed former senior British diplomat Catriona Laing.  

Catriona's 35-year career has seen her serve as both the British High Commissioner to Nigeria and Ambassador to Zimbabwe, as well as a number of other senior diplomatic and government postings, including as Deputy Head of Tony Blair's Strategy Unit, and International Director in the Ministry of Justice. She worked alongside NATO as Head of the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan, and led the UN Mission in Somalia. Catriona is an economist by background and has led a range of work to promote UK trade and investment.    

Most recently, she has been responsible for the Soft Power initiative at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to support the Government's foreign policy objectives. In this role she has worked in collaboration with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on plans and projects to ensure the Government takes a more targeted approach to supporting the huge global appeal and appetite for UK music, which delivers immense financial, cultural and strategic benefits to the UK.  

In her new role as UK Music Chair she will work with UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl and UK Music's member organisations to champion and campaign on behalf of the world-leading sector, which contributes £8 billion a year to the economy, generates £4.8 billion in exports and supports 220,000 jobs.  

Welcoming the appointment, UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl said: “I'm delighted that Catriona is the new Chair of UK Music at such a critical time for the music industry. Her wealth of experience, and deep passion for music, will be invaluable in helping unite our world-leading sector behind our key policy objectives of UK Music and our members.  
 
“As one of the Government's key pillars for growth, our sector has an important role to play in helping create the rewarding jobs of the future while tackling the challenges we face as a sector, such as the impact of Artificial Intelligence and the barriers to EU touring.”  
 
UK Music Chair Catriona Laing said: “It is a huge honour to become the new Chair of UK Music and take on this role to champion our fantastic music industry which is one of our greatest assets.  
 
“I hope to use my experience leading the Government's Soft Power initiative, my background as an economist and working across different sectors to build on the success of UK Music and our sector.  
 
“I would like to pay tribute to Lord Watson for the work he has done over the past six years and his tireless work helping the industry get back on its feet after the Covid pandemic.  
 
“I look forward to working with UK Music's members to deliver on our key aims in an increasingly competitive global market.” 
 
Catriona is the first female chair of UK Music which was formed in 2008. Links to photos of Tom Kiehl and Catriona Laing can be found under notes to editors.