Doctor of the University
A former Chair of the University’s Board of Governors, with a storied tenure at the Bank of England.
Stuart Iles was educated in Cardiff and at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth where he studied economics and politics, and graduated with honours in Economics.
In 1968, he joined the Bank of England, where he remained for most of his career, initially working in Financial Statistics and Economics divisions. He spent several years seconded to the Department of Trade and Industry as Assistant Principal responsible for export forecasting.
In the late 1970s, Stuart was appointed to the role of Economic Adviser to the Bermuda Government, working to the Minister of Finance.
On returning to the UK in 1980, he took over responsibility for financial forecasting on the monetary policy side of the Bank, with much of this work being undertaken in conjunction with HM Treasury.
He subsequently moved into international responsibilities, heading up the Bank’s North American economics and financial relations team.
In 1993, he returned to domestic operations, having been appointed the Bank’s Agent for Central Southern England. Later, he became the Senior Agent responsible for coordinating the Bank’s network across the UK and its assessment of economic conditions for the Monetary Policy Committee, on the basis of discussions with business leaders.
Stuart has been a member of the Government’s South East England Development Agency Advisory Council, the London and South East England Industrial Advisory Board, and has held directorships at several enterprise agencies.
He was a member of the University of Southampton School of Management Advisory Board, Chairman of Governors at Hollycombe Primary School and sat on several key committees as a governor on the University of Portsmouth Board of Governors (2004 – 2014). He served as Chair of the Board from 2009 to 2014.