Simon Burke

Simon Burke is a business leader in the retail and consumer sector.

A chartered accountant by training, he was CEO of Virgin Entertainment and several other retail and leisure companies. More recently, he has worked as chair or senior director in a variety of consumer businesses including Majestic Wine, Bathstore.com, Hobbycraft, and the Co-op Group; he is currently chair of Bakkavor PLC, the FTSE 250 food producer, and of Blue Diamond, the UK’s largest garden centre group. He has also been Senior Independent Director of the BBC and is Audit Chair of the National Lottery.

Outside of business, Simon serves as a magistrate, is chair of a charity supporting classical music students, and pursues diverse interests including astronomy, medieval history and piloting light aircraft.