UK names ex-Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson as investment minister
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain on Thursday appointed Poppy Gustafsson, the former CEO of cybersecurity firm Darktrace, as its new investment minister ahead of a global investment summit in London next week.
Gustafsson co-founded Darktrace in 2013 and led the company through its listing in London eight years later. She stepped down as chief executive in September, months after Darktrace agreed to a $5.3 billion takeover by U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
The investment minister – a role that sits jointly under the finance ministry and business department – will oversee a bolstered Office for Investment to strengthen ties with investors, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
“We’re upgrading the Office for Investment to ensure it is fit for purpose and has the capability it needs to make the UK the first choice for investment and the best place in the world to do business,” Starmer said in a statement.
Starmer’s new Labour government has been trying to drum up billions of pounds in foreign investment in the run up to the investment summit, which will take place on Oct. 14.
The government plans to expand the Office for Investment to include a new board chaired by Gustafsson with representation from the finance ministry, business department and Starmer’s office.
Starmer described Gustafsson as an “accomplished entrepreneur who brings invaluable experience to the role.”
She will sit in the upper chamber of Britain’s parliament, the House of Lords, allowing her to become a government minister.
