Sir Nicholas Montagu : Full Biography : SPEAKERS for BUSINESS

Sir Nicholas Montagu

Ex-Chairman of the Inland Revenue

Full Biography

Nick Montagu has been at the heart of Government for over twenty years. As a high-flying civil servant, under both Conservative and Labour administrations, he has worked on some of the most vital and controversial issues of the day. Pensions, rail privatisation, public service reform - Nick has played a leading role in all of these.

For nearly seven years, Nick led the Inland Revenue through the greatest changes in its 200-year history. Transforming the tax department that everyone loves to hate into an organisation that treats taxpayers as customers was a major challenge. Managing change, shifting cultures and merging new units into the Revenue made his job about as remote from that of the traditional Sir Humphrey Mandarin as you could imagine.

Ask Nick how he did it and he will say "Communication is all." He changed the Revenue from an instinctively secretive and closed Department to one that kept its own people and customers in the picture and led the Labour Government's public service initiatives. His own outstanding communication skills were critical here.

Nick is an exceptionally experienced and effective public speaker, making around 70 speeches a year during his time at the Revenue. From serious conference occasions, to lighter after-dinner ones, he can speak absorbingly and wittily about his experiences under very different Ministers and in very different jobs, and the lessons he draws from them. Unlike many civil servants, he has always regarded strong contacts with the private sector as critical to his success, and his themes reflect this.

Nick's honours include honorary doctorates recognising his work, and appointment by The Prince of Wales as his first-ever public sector Ambassador for Business in the Community. He was voted Personality of the Year by "Accountancy Age" readers - a rare accolade for a Revenue Chairman from the accountants.