Nominet announced Andy Green as new Chair of its Board of Directors

Nominet announced the appointment of Andy Green CBE as Chair of its Board of Directors, and Eva Lindqvist as Non-Executive Director.

An experienced director, Andy is a National Infrastructure Commissioner and Chair of WaterAid UK and Vice Chair of the Disasters Emergency Committee. He was formerly CEO of BT Openworld, BT Global Services and Logica.

In an email to members, Green set out a suite of strategic reviews, that will draw on research underway and will be shared with members at the AGM in the autumn. Those are:

• A strategic review of all non-registry related services.
• A review of Nominet’s wholesale price for domains.
• A review of the reserve funds held by the company to determine a suitable level for reserves and options for using unallocated reserves.
• A review of remuneration policy to ensure the company can attract talented people at reasonable cost.
• A review of the public benefit spending of the company to ensure it is set at an appropriate level and supports the UK’s digital economy and society.
• A review of the ways in which Nominet engages with members and seeks advice and input on key decisions.

Andy Green said: “Nominet holds a critical role in UK digital infrastructure; running the national domain name registry, keeping the UK namespace secure and resilient and protecting public services. It does that job extremely well, but the EGM showed that the organisation had failed over a number of years to engage sufficiently with members about the scope and direction of the company. I want to reset that relationship, starting now.

“I start my term as Chairman committed to: controlling costs (including executive pay); delivering value to Members; restoring Nominet’s reputation for great Public Benefit work at scale and; communicating transparently with members about the future direction of Nominet.

“Nominet is a public benefit company, and that must be our North Star. The work we do and the way we use the proceeds of that work, must align. Trust must be rebuilt and the next phase of change will address the fundamentals that will shape the company’s future.”

Commenting on the appointments, Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said: “As custodian of many of the most visited domains on the internet, including gov.uk and essential public services, Nominet has a huge responsibility to keep our digital economy running smoothly and securely. I welcome the reform process set out by Nominet’s new chair, and am pleased to see it taking steps to improve its relationship with its members and renew its focus as a public benefit company.”

Eva Lindqvist joins the Nominet Board as Non-Executive Director and will chair the Remuneration Committee. Eva has extensive executive and non-executive experience across the European technology and telecommunications sectors.

Eva Lindqvist commented on her appointment: “Nominet benefits from very solid foundations – over 25 years playing a vital role in the digital economy. Executive compensation has clearly been an issue, and the company has already taken steps to address this by closing its long-term incentive scheme. I’m looking forward to playing my part in ensuring our purpose, objectives and remuneration are closely aligned.”

Nominet announced support for two further initiatives as part of Nominet’s social impact programme, which aims to help a million young people tackle the challenges of growing up in a digital age.

• Funding the UK Safer Internet Centre.  Nominet has committed to core funding for the UK Safer Internet Centre for the next three years. This secures the future of the helplines and advice it provides year-round, and the activities around Safer Internet Day, which reached over 3 million young people last year.
• Kickstarting careers in coding. Nominet is working with The Institute of Coding to help young people secure qualifications and jobs in a much needed part of the digital economy.

Andy continues: “In response to member concerns, public benefit spending has already increased significantly; this financial year’s spend of at least £5m reverses the previous trend.  Moving forward, we will ensure funding is and remains restored to appropriate levels, taking the size of reserves into account in our review.”

Andy Green and Eva Lindqvist were appointed on 21 July 2021. Details of the process have been set out in a memo to members.

Rob Binns, Acting Chair since the EGM, commented: “With Andy on board the next phase of change gets underway. Andy has an ambitious agenda for the coming months, an appetite to tackle the key issues raised by members, and a breadth of experience to help resolve them. I’m delighted both Andy and Eva are joining Nominet at this important time.”