Coventry Building Society, the UK's sixth largest building society, is pleased to announce the appointment of The Rt Hon. Gillian Shephard to its Board of Directors.

Gillian Shephard early career was in education and the media. Her distinguished political career began in 1987, when she was elected to Parliament as the Member for South West Norfolk, a seat which she has continued to hold ever since. Following ministerial appointments at Social Security and HM Treasury, Mrs Shephard joined the Cabinet in 1992 as Secretary of State for Employment. Her subsequent Cabinet appointments were as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1993-94), Secretary of State for Education (1994-95) and Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1995-97).

Following the change of Government in 1997, Mrs Shephard was a member of the Shadow Cabinet, with responsibility for "shadowing" the Leader of the House of Commons (1997-98) and Environment, Transport and Regions (1998-99). She retired from the Shadow Cabinet recently, but remains a Member of Parliament.

Commenting upon Mrs Shephard 's appointment, Sir Geoffrey Whalen, the Society's Chairman said:

"I am delighted that Gillian Shephard has accepted our invitation to join the Society's Board. As a former Cabinet Minister, she has a wealth of experience and expertise to bring to the Society's affairs at this particularly important stage in our development. My colleagues and I are looking forward to working with Mrs Shephard to bring further success to Coventry Building Society for the benefit of our saving and borrowing members."

Commenting upon her appointment, Miss Shephard said:

"I am delighted to be joining the Board of Coventry Building Society which, as one of the most successful societies in the country, has demonstrated that building society status can deliver real competitive advantage to members. It has a clear strategy to remain a building society and I am delighted that I will have the opportunity to play my part in helping to bring the benefits of building society membership to more and more people.

"Building societies have made a significant contribution to this country’s development and I am convinced that they continue to have a vital role to play in providing competition, choice and diversity in the financial services market of today and tomorrow. I will be doing all I can to ensure that this happens, so that present and future generations can continue to benefit from the advantages which building society membership bring."