Shevaun Haviland has worked on both sides of the government-business relationship, giving her an unusual understanding of where policy and commercial reality fail to meet.
Shevaun Haviland’s career is difficult to reduce to a single sector.
Consulting in London and New York was followed by Walt Disney, global agency roles, digital innovation and edtech.
Then she moved into government.
From 2016, Haviland worked across the Cabinet Office and Number 10, including leading business engagement and the Inclusive Economy Partnership. Her job was partly one of translation: helping government understand business, and business understand government.
In 2021, she changed sides of that relationship again, becoming Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce.
The timing was formidable. British businesses were emerging from the pandemic while navigating new trading arrangements, rising energy costs and wider economic uncertainty.
Haviland now represents businesses back to the institutions she once worked inside.
Knowing how both sides of the conversation operate does not make the disagreements disappear. It does make it harder for either side to pretend the other is simple.
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Podcasts
AI, Growth & Exports: How Britain Can Compete Again with Shevaun Haviland CBE
Is Britain still one of the best places in the world to do business? In this episode of Tomorrow: The Future Forum Podcast, Oli Barrett MBE sits down with Shevaun Haviland CBE, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, to explore the biggest opportunities and challenges facing UK businesses.…
